Re: Overwintering Cannas and Hedychium
- Subject: Re: Overwintering Cannas and Hedychium
- From: W* G*
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 09:53:45 -0400
On 10/11/01 2:06 AM Bette McTigue (bette@madasafish.com) wrote:
>A very amateurish question from a chastened would be medit gardener.
>After last winter's disastrous outcome here in soggy England, thought I
>would overwinter above by drying out and storing in vermiculite - I think
>I read to let the frost blacken the foliage, but there's an awful lot of
>it, and these huge roots? ... Any advice appreciated.
No need to overwinter anything where winter never comes, but when I grew
cannas up north I would cut off the foliage even before the first frost,
wash the soil off the rhizomes, dry them for a day, and then store them
in a paper or burlap - not plastic - sack or a ventilated cardboard
carton in a cool place where the temperature did not go below 40F (5C).
Never bothered storing the rhizomes in vermiculite, perlite, &c, and they
came up when replanted after spring came round again.
William Glover
Nevis, West Indies
