Does anyone know how to store canna lily during the winter? I usually leave them in the ground and they come back year after year. My nephew's company plants canna lilys (landscaping company) every year then at the end of the season they dig them of and throw them away. He's going to save them for me this year. Should I store them until spring? If so how...in dirt? Thanks!
calla lilies should be dug before a hard frost. Cut the tops back so theres 2 inches of stem left. Dry for 2 to 3 weeks in a dry warm spot, brush off the dirt and remove the dried stem. Pack them in peat moss, vermiculite, or sawdust. Dont let them freeze or get too hot (45* to 55*F) Or since you are further south than me. You can try to pot up a couple and treat them like a houseplant.
Or if you are talking about Canna's, which are not a true lily but some still call them a lily, they can be stored pretty much the same way as Calla Lilies. I have kept bags of them in our backroom (equivalent to a garage in temperature range) thru a winter. They had been given to me and I just didn't get around to planting them until spring. We did have some nights of freezing temps but nothing major. And since our winters are very mild compared to some, mine stay in the ground year round, I just throw more mulch on them in the fall.
Daphdaph, I dig mine up in the fall and toss them into a milk crate. I store them in my crawl space until about March when I pot them up again.
When I was in New England I'd dig them up in the fall. Cut off any stems and trim the roots. Then I'd put them in a brown paper bag and keep them in the basement till spring.
