Canna, Mr. President
Cannas prefer full sun; however they can take part shade (give them at least 4 –6 hours of morning sun). Plant the cannas no deeper than they were in the nursery container. If you have bare root cannas, plant 4 – 6 inches deep. Cannas should be planted 6 – 12” apart. Adding a good long release fertilizer to the planting hole will help them have better blooms.
Cannas will bloom from late spring through late fall early winter in south Texas. After a canna stalk blooms, cut it back so another shoot can come up. Cannas are frost tender. After the frost, cut the foliage back to tidy up the garden and wait for spring and a new set of shoots to come up.
Cannas are good as a background plant in perennial borders, and some are good specimen plants. Some are 8 feet tall while others are on 30 inches tall. The dwarf varieties are also great in larger containers and in the middle to front of your garden. Some varieties of cannas are more prized for their foliage (Happiness has bronze foliage) than for their flowers. Every three to four years you can divide your cannas to put in other places of your garden. Dig them up, cut them back, break them apart, and re-plant them. A good time to do this is in the early spring.