Oh My Gosh!!
I thought I responded to this a while ago!!
YES- Canna's can grow from seed! They are one of my favorites to start as they come up strong- and as long as there is warmth and light- they continue on growing strong!
You must scarify the seed- I use a dremmel tool or a sharp file- and cut a line into the shell till I see white- no deeper!! And then soak them a day or two and plant in soil- not seed starting mix- and give bottom heat till they sprout- then add light with bototm heat. I start mine around 8-10 weeks before the last frost date for my zone.
They are fun to start indoors- I do hope you will enjoy them as well!
Julie

Ideally, you would leave the seeds in the pod until it is dry and they start popping out.

I scarify my canna seeds by putting them in a food processor with a cup of water and running it for about a minute or two. These buggers are hard.

I also put them in water for a day or two and sometimes they start sprouting right in the cup of water.

I love using them in a group planting, in a container on the deck, for a really tropical look.

-Sprout

Thanks very much for the pointers! I'm not very experienced with Canna's - last summer was the first time I planted them with any success. Come next March I'm going to give my precious two seeds a couple of good nicks and see what I can grow!

Just my 2 cents--

For years I dug up the rhizomes and overwintered them then planted outside in spring. They did well, but never had time to bloom. Then someone on one of the Forums suggested growing them as houseplants, and I now do. They're in large pots--I put them out on the deck in partial sun for the summer and they bloom, get pollinated by the hummers, who adore them, and I bring them into my sunroom for the winter. I collect the seeds and push them into the ground in the planters, and they product new plants. I imagine the nicking and soaking would speed this up, but I'm in no hurry; got all winter, LOL. Anyone else try growing cannas as houseplants?