Family: Cannaceae (kan-AY-see-ay) (Info)
Genus: Canna (KAN-uh) (Info)
Species: x generalis (jen-er-RAY-liss) (Info)
Cultivar: Wyoming

Category:
Tropicals and Tender Perennials

Height:
8-10 ft. (2.4-3 m)
10-12 ft. (3-3.6 m)

Spacing:
9-12 in. (22-30 cm)

Hardiness:
USDA Zone 8a: to -12.2 °C (10 °F)
USDA Zone 8b: to -9.4 °C (15 °F)
USDA Zone 9a: to -6.6 °C (20 °F)
USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F)
USDA Zone 10a: to -1.1 °C (30 °F)
USDA Zone 10b: to 1.7 °C (35 °F)
USDA Zone 11: above 4.5 °C (40 °F)

I would say with good mulch cover it would be alright in Charlotte area, we can do some zone 8 stuff in these parts...but just in case cover it well.

Those u see around do stay in the ground year 'round and are fine...but if this is a prized one take care of it so it will multiply...

:) Fran

I got my first cannas from a grower in Rutherfordton, NC, which can get pretty cold in winter. He said to cover them with 5" of mulch the first winter, then add another few inches to the cover in the second and third years. After that, they should be fine. I have had few to no losses if I follow his advice. If you have wet winters, with freezes after rain, I think I would clip the dead stalks back early on - to limit a pathway for rot and freeze - I mostly cut mine back in the early spring, as I am too lazy to do it in the fall.

A friend nearby, but slightly warmer in winter than I am - she rarely gets a frost when I do - has had problems overwintering yellow cannas (for whatever reason there may be correlating color and tenderness), so no longer tries, but she has more than enough to do in her large garden that she doesn't add extra mulch in the fall - her philosophy is that things are pretty much on their own - she does baby some very choice specimens, but after them, has neither time nor room.

If you especially prize this one, and can't replace it easily, I think I might dig part of it to overwinter in an unheated area in damp sand or sawdust, so if the outside ones to croak, you have some. If they all survive, then you have more. If they are as vigorous as many of the common ones, then you will have more than you know what to do with in a few years, and maybe even WISH some will die over the winter! ;-)

I'm in Hickory and now leave my cannas in the ground all winter. I have both yellow and red ones. The first year I dug them up and then replanted in spring, but now I just leave them, mulch a bit, and they come back every year. Some of them are in a very sunny, southern exposure and some are in afternoon shade. Both are mlutiplying quite nicely.

I asked this same question last year as I was new to the NC mountains. I split the difference and dug some up and left some in the ground. The ones in the ground survived, the ones I dug up didn't grow again this year when I re-planted them. Guess I won't be doing that again! I saw it is safe to leave them with some layers of mulch.