Im no canna expert, only started growing them last year or so, but ive seen them for sale on craigslist pretty cheap. They multiply every year, and unless one has infinite planting space, folks are willing to trade or part with cheaply the extras they have. Id like to try some Tropicannas myself.

I live in New England and have been growing 3 different varieties of Tropicannas for a few years in containers, and bought some from Lowes as plants, and some from Willowcreek Gardens online catalog as rhizomes. I just bring the whole container into the basement each winter and then start to water them again in April and take them outside once it's above 50 at night. They reproduced a lot over the last few summers though so I'm going to unpot them, divide and move into a more pots. I found info about how to dig and store them on the Tropicanna website too. We're up on a hill and get a bit of wind and it has done some damage to some of my plants. I would recommend not putting them out in the middle of an open area if you get a lot of wind. They would probably love the heat of a brick house though. And I don't think they're toxic to animals - our pets are always around my plants.