I hade a pretty nice clump of about 60 or so cannae. Last time I researched, they were from some australian variety. Yellow and Red flowers and grow up to about 6 feet tall (some even up to 8).

About 2 months ago, I saw some orange spots on the leaves. I attributed it to the insecticide I had been using to kill off leaf curlers.

Last weekend, I did a bit of pruning and noticed the following:

1) Newborn canna wer just dying out at about 2 feet high or so
2) All my cannae in this area had the orange spots, but on other areas of the garden, cannae were fine, even though I had used the same insecticide
3) Canna were pushing other plants out.

I pruned about 50 of my 60 canna in that area, leaving me with just a fe left, which I will probably be pruning today.

I don't know if this happend because of some parasite, because they were so tight together they couldn't get enough sunlight (the new ones were growing really slim), or if it had anything to do with that nast winter (we only got temps of 45 degrees for 4 days straight).

Anyone have any pointers?

First, cut off all the infected foliage and get rid of it. Personally I would cut the whole clump down to the ground and dig and divide while you're at it. Don't put the clippings into a compost pile. Make sure that you clean up all the debris on the ground. You might check other plants and see if you have the same problem.

Rust is a soil borne disease and is usually spread by rain and sprinklers splashing it up onto leaves and stalks. You'll see it mainly on the undersides of leaves.

If you dig and divide, amend your soil with a good compost. Mulch with a good compost and keep an eye on the emerging plants. I kept my beds constantly mulched with homemade rough compost to keep the soil from splashing on the plants and buried soaker hoses under the mulch. I also used a summer oil spray on all the plants. Within two years I had it licked. In the Spring I raked up what was left of the old mulch and replaced it with fresh mulch. I tossed the old mulch just to be on the safe side.

That was no small thing as our neighbor's entire back yard was one huge mess of rust and we were downwind of it.

You've made me realize. I think the reason why that batch is infected and the others are not, is because it stands in a "wind corredor" between houses.

This weekend I did everything you said. Chopped everything down. I actually had about 80 canna in that area. Now there are 40 or so little babies, of about 6-12 inches high.

The area is now well ventilated, and I baught an anti-rust spray from the local nursery.

The only thing I haven't done is replace the soil and add mulch. I will be giving this some thought.

I have some red Ti plants which were also getting rust stains. For those I just ripped the stained leaves off as they don't reproduce so quickly.