Can the Canna Lily Grow in Minnesota?

A Tender Rhizome

• Even though cannas are not winter hardy in Minnesota, they are worth growing, for there is nothing remotely like them among hardier plants. Cannas spring from a rhizome, a fleshy root that many incorrectly call a bulb; and to make matters more confusing, gardening books and nurseries often include them under the rubric "tender bulbs." To add to the problem, cannas or "canna lilies," are not lilies at all, another reason that common plant names -- as opposed to the Latin -- get us into trouble.

Starting Cannas

• The simplest way to come by a canna is to buy one that has been started at a garden center. This is a good solution if it doesn't occur to you to buy one until late May. For enterprising gardeners who perk up as the days lengthen each March, it is fun (and cheaper) to buy the rhizomes and start your own plant indoors. Make sure each piece of rhizome has at least two eyes, and place the rhizome horizontally, with eyes pointing up, on top of the growing mix. Then cover with two inches of soil, and then water them.

Growing and Overwintering

• In Minnesota, plant cannas outside when all danger of frost has passed, usually toward the end of May. When summer's heat arrives, the plant will grow quickly, forming its signature leaves that unfurl one by one. In the fall, you can wait to dig the rhizome until the first light frost has withered the leaves. At that time, dig and thoroughly dry the rhizome before storing it in an open box of sphagnum peat moss in a cool basement. Check the rhizome during the winter to ensure that it remains firm and dry. In the spring, those humble rhizomes will once again transform into stately plants.