So one year, over a decade ago, my mom and I were shopping for pretty flowers to fill wooden planter boxes for our back deck. I was unprepared for the joy these “not so hidden treasures” would provide us the whole season and more. Read on to find out what surprises these plants had in store for us.
So mom and I stumbled on to canna lillies quite by accident. Back then I wasn’t giving flowers the time of day. I would only look at plants that grew food, go figure. Flowers were just pretty little things, and I had no time to fuss with something that wasn’t feeding our family.
My mom happens to love flowers though, so I was learning about flowers even though it was not a personal interest of mine.
We stumbled onto this beautiful tropical looking flower and thought it looked so vibrant and happy. It practically jumped in our cart, you know how that goes.
So we brought our canna lillies home, I plopped it in a pot with some cheap-o potting soil, and I didn’t have high expectations for it’s survival.
To my surprise under my exceptionally neglectful gardening this plant continued to grow as hardy as a weed, only it was way more beautiful.
I think the real beauty of these plants is that they are unexpectedly rugged. At least I wasn’t expecting that from such a beautiful bloom.
I think I surprised us all when I took those cannas inside for the winter that 1st year. What?! I felt bad about subjecting them to a frosty death. Even I knew they probably weren’t that rugged!
To my surprise they actually bloomed indoors during the bitter cold season. I was so happy to have tropical looking blooms inside my home even while there was snow falling outside. I think it’s easy to get depressed during the coldest parts of the winter and these bright and beautiful flowers were a welcome reminder that long sunny days are not far away.
For me it seems a little strange to be talking about the bitter cold during some of the hottest days of the year but I have learned that some items are only available during certain seasons.
Unfortunately I may have missed the best shopping season to buy canna lilies but I know some of you may still be able to find them locally. If not you can find them on Amazon in both bulbs and seeds, and in different colors.
I have always just bought the plant so if you have any words of wisdom about starting cannas, please share! I do know that buying seeds is cheaper.
Buying bulbs on Amazon was about the same price as when I purchased my already established canna flowers at my local greenhouse. I live near an awesome greenhouse run by Amish folks though and they may in fact have the best plant prices ever!
Knowing that you can bring smaller cannas inside for the winter (and larger ones if you have the muscle), it isn’t as hard to invest money in them late because you know you can enjoy them for more than one season.
I’ll have to update my post eventually and let everyone know how many seasons I manage to keep these plants healthy. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Those of you without a green thumb will be pleasantly surprised at how easy these flowers are to “care for”, how hard they are to kill, and how happy they are to bloom and grow.
Do you have a plant that makes you happy? Have you bought a plant you knew nothing about that has impressed you with surprising qualities? Leave it in the comments! We are always happy to add new fun plants to our collection!
Thanks for reading with me! I hope you are having a happy day enjoying some sunshine (or at least having fun dreaming about it)!
Catch ya later!
Kat @CraftingGlow
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