How to Plant Canna Bulbs

If you've ever been to a public garden or zoo in the summer and admired a tall, tropical-looking flower with bright red, pink, orange or yellow flowers, you were more than likely admiring cannas. This impressive, beautiful flower is very easy to grow and blooms all summer long. The canna flower will thrive in the heat of the summer sun requiring very little maintenance. You don't have to be a master gardener to enjoy these gorgeous flowers right at home.

Things You'll Need

• Organic mulch, if desired
• Canna bulbs
• Shovel
• 10-20-10 general purpose fertilizer

Instructions

1. Locate a site with full sun. Cannas can be planted directly into the ground or in a large pot. They prefer good, loose soil which can be achieved by digging into the soil and turning it over with a shovel to loosen it up.

2. Plant canna bulbs (actually called rhizomes) horizontally with the little bud eyes or nodes pointing upward if possible. If you're not sure which end should go up, just stick the bulb in the ground horizontally and it will grow upward anyway.

3. Space the rhizomes 12 to18 inches apart and at a depth of approximately 4 to 6 inches. Each bulb planted will produce 3 to 5 additional bulbs so you need to allow room for spreading.

4. Water bulbs with a general water-soluble fertilizer or sprinkle in a granular form of fertilizer right over the bulbs. Anything with a 10-20-10 composition will work nicely.

5. Cover the bulbs with soil and tamp the top lightly. Add approximately 1 to 2 inches of organic mulch if desired to help conserve soil moisture.

6. Water generously once a week to give the roots a really good soaking throughout the entire growing and blooming season.

7. Fertilize at least one more time during the growing season.

Tips & Warnings

• Hummingbirds love the cannas with the smaller, tubular type of blooms.

• Cannas grown in zones 7-10 can stay in the ground during winter, but cannas in zones 6 and colder need to be dug up and stored during the winter months.