BURGUNDY LEAF CANNA LILY Canna x generalis

Characteristics  Type: Bulb  Sun: Full sun  Zone: 7 to 10  Water: Medium  Height: 1.50 to 8.00 feet  Maintenance: Medium  Spread: 1.50 to 6.00 feet  Suggested Use: Annual  Bloom Time: July to August  Flower: Showy  Bloom Description: Red, orange, pink,  Leaf: Colorful-varies from burgundy to yellow, cream, bicolors light green, striped or solid Culture

Best grown in moist, organically rich, well-drained soils in full sun. Rhizomes may be left in the ground in USDA Zones 7-10. Plant rhizomes 4-6" deep in spring after threat of frost has passed. Plants can add color to your garden with their flowers or, sometimes, their colorful leaves. With their large red to purple leaves and colorful blossoms, burgundy-leaved cannas (Canna x generalis) bring double benefits and are especially pleasing in the back of a garden border or planted in groups in a mixed bed. They grow outdoors year-round in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10. To keep a burgundy canna plant looking tidy, remove the flower stalks once blossoms have faded, allowing the plant's leaf color to brighten your garden. Pot-grown cannas can be cut back, left in their pots and stored indoors without any watering during winter. You can increase the size of your burgundy canna planting by using a sharp knife to divide rhizomes, replanting the pieces in early spring, before new growth starts.

Noteworthy Characteristics

The ancestors of today's cannas were tropical plants from India, although modern hybrids also have species native to Central America and the American Southeast in their background. Cannas are generally tall plants, some up to 6 or 8 feet tall, and grow from underground stems, called rhizomes. Their flowers appear in summer and are tightly wrapped, with oval but pointed petals. Cannas carry their flowers on tall spikes, with buds opening in sequence, beginning at the lower part of the spike. Flower colors typically include red, orange, pink, yellow, cream and some bicolors. Foliage colors include shades of green, bronze and striped/variegated. Dramatic foliage provides considerable ornamental interest when plants are not in flower. Their large, paddle-shaped leaves can be 3 feet tall and are burgundy or reddish purple in a number of cultivars. Genus name comes from the Greek word kanna meaning a reed.

Problems

Rhizomes may rot in poorly drained wet soils. Watch for aster yellows. Japanese beetles, caterpillars, slugs and snails may chew on the foliage.

Garden Uses

Mass in beds or borders. Large containers.