Canna ‘Tropicanna’ 9cm

The huge rainbow-coloured leaves of ?Tropicanna? look incredible with their purple, orange, pink and green stripes which are ideal for showing off the equally colourful bright orange flowers. These magnificent plants bring an exotic look to your garden and love growing in pots or sunny borders. Overwinter in a frost-free place.

Top Tips

• Hold off cutting off old flowers – new flowering shoots come up within the dead flower and, a month or so later, will produce more flowers.
• Purple and striped varieties will fade in the sun so provide shade to retain their colours.

Care Guide

• Water freely in dry spells.
• Apply a general-purpose liquid feed in midsummer.
• Little pruning or training is needed, just stake clumps in exposed positions.
• When a flower spike has no more buds, prune it down to the next side shoot where a secondary flower spike should develop.
• If temperatures are maintained above 10?C (50?F) cannas will remain in growth all winter and flower occasionally.
• Lift the plants in autumn after the foliage has been frosted. Break large clumps into two or three and pot the pieces into 10in (or so) pots. You can then overwinter them in any frost-free shed or greenhouse, keeping them just slightly moist.
• When the plants start to push up their red shoots in spring, bring them into a light place, water well and protect them from late frosts.
• By June, growth will be well under way and they can be planted out once more.