Re: Overwintering Cannas and Hedychium
- Subject: Re: Overwintering Cannas and Hedychium
- From: T* &* M* R*
- Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 09:08:33 +1300
> Bette McTigue 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.
Bett
I don't grow cannas now though I have lived with them previously, but if
you cut down the stems in Autumn, just like you would for dahlias, it
will do the rhizomes no harm at all.
And if you want to store them I am sure you don't need to go to anything
so expensive as packing them vermiculite. Unless the storage area is
very dry you might not even need any packing at all, but some crumpled
or shredded newspaper in a box would almost certainly be quite
sufficient. Just keep an eye through the winter and damp it down
slightly if you see any sign shrivelling.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand, SW Pacific. 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Time
