Oh wow .. here is another one of my seed babies that another GW member has ... I just love it!!! Notice the speckling on the inside of the flower ... I just love this one.

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Thank you so much for sharing this with me Wendy

Wow, those are gorgeous. They were all grown from seed? How long did that take? I have a bunch that have never flowered, because I've never planted them in a sunny enough location, till this year, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So far, they are about 8 feet tall, but no flowers yet. Some were left here when we moved in, so I'm curious to see them flower.

I started them off indoors this spring and they only got into the ground about midsummer when I found all of them homes. I know alot of the seeds I started were the Regal Red variety but these ones were off of my "novelty" cannas. Its nice to see such good results.

Laura

Very nice babies! That peach and yellow one is something else!

BP

I know its beautiful isnt it .. now Im kicking myself in the butt for not growing them at home .. at least I know where it is :o) I cant wait to pick some seeds :o)

Laura

I didn't realize Cannas would bloom the first year from seed.
I have been cutting the bloom off and discarding it when the flower gets a bit spent, to encourage more bloom But will watch for this and keep seeds overwinter.

Is that what you do.

Hi Diane .. do you have some of my seed babies?? Cannas started from seed will stay fairly small the first year but when you replant the rhizome the following year the plants should get to their normal size. So something that is only a foot tall maybe a meter tall next summer. So watch your placement :o0

Anywho .. you have to leave the flower stock on until the seeds rippen. Not all cannas will produce a viable seed or come true to seed ... its a bit of a hit and miss situation :o) but you will see the seed pods plumping up. Once the outter husk of the seed pod becomes brown the shell will begin to split .. this is when you can harvest the seeds.

When you go to sow the seeds you have to nick the outter shell ... this is a pain but well worth the trouble. I use a pair of dog nail trimmers and needle nose pliers to nick the coat. Then I soak them over night ... sometimes longer ( I have to admit I do tend to forget them sometimes) Toss them in some soil ... bottom heat helps but isnt always necessary .. I dont use any and I have almost 100% germination rate. Tropicanna and pretoria do not produce viable seeds .. at least not for me.

I think I got some babies but they have not bloomed yet.

I'm in Dundas - are you interested in swapping some canna seeds? Have 4 or 5 varieties and had success with all. I also have cottage up north, and want to establish some cannas there as well.
Thanks!

My roseman cole canna ended up producing seeds. The other canna around it was, tropicanna black, and richard wallace. Only 9 seeds, but, now that I know if they wprout theyll flower... that makes me more interested in what the results will be!!