362 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
masses, and — when desirable — good center plants for beds. They 
are much used for subtropical effects (see Plate V). 
Cannas grow 3 to 10 feet or more high. Formerly they were 
valued chiefly for their foliage, but since the introduction, in 1884, of 
the Crozy Dwarf French type with its showy flowers, cannas are 
grown as much for their bloom as for their foliage effects. The flowers 
of these new kinds are as large as those of gladioli, and are of various 
shades of yellow and red, with banded and spotted forms. These 
flowering kinds grow about 3 feet high. The older forms are taller. 
In both sections there are green-leaved and dark coppery-red-leaved 
varieties. 
The canna may be grown from seed and had in bloom the first year 
by sowing in February or March, in boxes or pots placed in hotbeds 
or a warm house, first soaking the seeds in warm water for a short time 
or filing a small notch through the coat of each seed (avoiding the 
round germinating point). It requires two years to raise strong plants 
of the old-fashioned tall cannas from seed. Sow in light, sandy soil, 
where the earth may be kept at 70° till after germination. After the 
plants have got well up, transplant them to about 3 or 4 inches apart, 
or place in pots 3 inches wide, in good rich soil. They may now 
be kept at 60°. 
The majority of cannas, however, are grown from pieces of the 
roots (rhizomes), each piece having a bud. The roots may be divided 
at any time in the winter, and if early flowers and foliage are wanted, 
the pieces may be planted in a hotbed or warmhouse in early April, 
started into growth, and planted out where wantéd as soon as the 
ground has warmed and all danger of frost is over. A hardening of 
the plants, by leaving the sash off the hotbeds, or setting the plants in 
shallow boxes and placing the boxes in a sheltered position through 
May, not forgetting a liberal supply of water, will fit the plants to take 
kindly to the final planting out. 
Plant out roots or started plants when there is no longer danger of 
frost. For mass effects, the plants may stand twelve to eighteen inches 
apart; for individual bloom twenty to twenty-four inches or more. 
Some gardeners plant them not closer than twenty to twenty-four 
inches for mass beds, if the soil is good and the plants strong. Give 
them a warm sunny place. 
