Re: Canna's

I don't know how you could miss the explosion of
Cannas being grown throughout England as leave in the
ground perennials, there certainly is a track record
for  being able to grow them outdoors.  The key
constraints seem to be mulching heavily in winter,
providing full sun and excellent drainage to avoid
rotting out the rhizomes in winter, similar to the
care Dahlias would require.  If they can be grown with
-8C winter temps, and survive in the ground, it is
obvious that winter wet is more dangerous to their
longevity than the cold.  They do extremely well
through the maritime Pacific Northwest Coastal zones,
very similar to most of coastal Britain.

As to the white variegated foliage forms of Cannas;
they are very prone to burning in full hot sun here in
California as well, and are probably best with dappled
cool sun or morning sun only, and lots of overhead
spray irrigation or misters to keep the humidity up. 
I suspect that this cultivar does better in hot humid
southern USA or south Florida than dry air
mediterranean climates.

Very easy to grow here with sufficient dry season
irrigation, but definitely not drought resistant or
low maintenance where one is concerned about shabby
dying flowers or perfect foliage.  Most of the large
flowered forms have an unfortunate tendency to hold
onto their old flowers, and the foliage is dessert for
slugs and snails here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Species/forms which have cleaner flowering
habits,(they don't require deadheading), include the
very statuesque C. iridifolia/ehemannii, and C.
indica.  I also particularly like C. 'Cleopatra' for
the gold striped foliage and red and yellow splotched
flowers, stunning in bloom, if not exactly tasteful...





		
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