Better hurry, the season is quickly ending. As the beautiful canna flowers fade, unusual green pods begin to appear. Do you think to yourself - is there anything I can do with all those pods? (Besides stumping your gardening friends!) Well, I’ve thought about those pods for the past few weeks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
So now I have a handful of pods... They would otherwise be composted when I clean up the garden the next month. What about growing new cannas from seed?
Okay, here’s how to tackle the seeds: allow the green pods to mature. You will know when they are ripe when the pod splits open on its own and brown/black seeds can be found. (If you cut open a pod and the seeds are white or beige, they are not ripe!)
Store harvested seed in a sealtight jar in the refrigerator for the winter. The time to start canna seed will be next February. At that time, you’ll have to nick or chip the hard seed coat (if you don’t, it will never germinate!). Germination is best when temperatures are around 70 degrees F.
A word to the wise: not all cannas will produce seed. And those that do: you may not get what you had - they don’t always reproduce true from seed. But try your hand at it anyway. If all else fails, the garden centers will have plenty for sale next growing season!
Donna W. Moramarco aka Donna In the Garden