how-to slideshow: wake up, cannas, wake up

OUT OF THE BASEMENT THEY CAME YESTERDAY, the cannas I’d stored after frost last fall. It’s easy to keep these prolific rhizomes year to year and even have plenty to give away. All they ask is a little trimming of the dead bits in early spring, and for a headstart, perhaps potting up now while you wait for the weather to settle. Here’s how it goes, in a slideshow of images from yesterday’s canna cleanup:

Required equipment: a tarp, potting soil (confession: I use leftover from last year for this, not fresh), and leftover nursery pots, plus a pruning shears and perhaps a sharp knife. (Click on the first thumbnail to get started, then toggle from slide to slide by clicking the arrows next to each caption.)

: Canna plants are cut back to 8-12 inches after frost blackens their foliage, then the bulb-like underground structures called rhizomes are dug carefully and stored in plastic bags, left slightly open, in the basement all winter. We simply shake off the soil and let sit a few days on the porch or in the garage, so they’re not sodden when stored, but not really dry, either. Some people pack them in leaf mold or peat moss; I just toss them in bags.

: When the rhizome-filled bags come out of the basement in late March or early April here, I cut away any soft, decayed parts or hard portions that are no longer viable. A pruners is good; so is a sharp knife.

: I re-use old potting soil from last year’s various large pots to start the cannas (waste not want not), and leftover nursery pots I’ve stashed for the purpose.

: The discarded bits will not be firm, white and crispy inside, but discolored and soft. It’s easy to tell what to cut off.

: Some of the other parts that need removing are withered and dried up, and will have turned dark brown.

: When the trimming and cleanup is done, a pile of old stems, withered or soft rhizomes and dry, useless roots goes to the compost heap.

: To have a future, each piece must have an eye (the pointy bit). You can divide down to individual pieces or just cut or break the cleaned clumps into clusters of 3-5 rhizomes with eyes, which is what I do. I like a bigger plant to start with.

: After they’re potted up, I simply stash them in the unheated but insulated barn, where they are safe from deep freezes. (They’re stacked two deep to save space.) If the weather were a tad more settled, I would have moistened the soil first, but instead I’m waiting a week this year. Soon I’ll water them, and once they sprout they’ll spend daytimes outdoors. I’ll put all the pots into an extra cart I keep on hand for that in-and-out daily regimen, rather than pick up every pot twice daily. I do this with many plants, as I have nowhere else to give them a headstart to but my slightly-warmer-than-outdoors barn. In mid- to late-May, they’ll be transplanted into the garden or into larger barrels or pots.