So you like canna in your garden...

I love growing cannas. Their large, mostly upright leaves and bright, towering blooms have such a tropical feel. Here's a shot from a week or two ago that shows the red canna blooms rising above everything, with upright foliage (just below the deck in the photo), and more in the foreground:

In St. Louis cannas are borderline cold-hardy, which means that sometimes they can be left in the ground over the winter. My own experience says that this works best in warmer microclimates -- it won't work everywhere in the garden. Near the bakery in Maplewood there is a garden that seems to have just the right conditions for canna to thrive...

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...and I do mean THRIVE!

Clearly these are not dug and replanted every year -- you'd need a barn to store them! (Click for larger versions of the next two images)

They are planted along a railroad track, and must get good winter sun exposure on this southeast facing slope.

The tracks cut the street, forcing it to dead end, but on the other side of the tracks...

...you can still enjoy this planting!

Using satellite maps I can see that this house does not have a back yard, so this is the only space they have to garden. They surely are using it well!

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