How to Dig Up and Store Canna Bulbs for Winter

By
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu

David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience.

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Updated on 03/26/24
Reviewed by
Debra LaGattuta
Debra LaGattuta
Reviewed by Debra LaGattuta

Debra LaGattuta is a Master Gardener with 30+ years of experience in perennial and flowering plants, container gardening, and raised bed vegetable gardening. She is a lead gardener in a Plant-A-Row, which is a program that offers thousands of pounds of organically-grown vegetables to local food banks. Debra is a member of The Spruce Garden Review Board.

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Project Overview
  • Working Time: 30 mins - 1 hr
  • Total Time: 1 hr - 1 wk
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Estimated Cost: $5 to $10

Canna is one of several tropical garden plants that can be grown in northern climates with specialized care. Technically, the roots of cannas are rhizomes, but they are commonly referred to as bulbs because the root structure closely resembles that of a classic plant bulb. In warm climates (USDA hardiness zones 8 to 10), canna bulbs can be left in the ground over winter, and the plants perform reliably as perennials, coming back year after year. However, north of zone 8, the bulbs will die if they spend winter in the ground. In colder climates, the plants are either treated as annuals and discarded at the end of the season, or the bulbs are dug up and stored for winter and replanted the following spring.

Orange canna lily flower

The Spruce / David Beaulieu

Storing the bulbs is fairly quick and easy, depending on how many you have to dig up. However, they require some monitoring while they're in storage.

What Is a Rhizome?

Rhizomes are plant stems that grow below the ground, not above the ground. Rhizomes have multiple functions, such as sending out new shoots and using nodes to send out roots into the soil to perform asexual reproduction by vegetative propagation. Often roots grow from the bottom part of the rhizome while shoots grow from the upper portion of the nodes. The thickness, size, and growth patterns of rhizomes vary greatly from plant to plant, yet the basic functions and characteristics are the same.

When to Dig Up and Store Canna Bulbs

Dig up canna bulbs for winter storage in the fall after the foliage has died back but before deep frost has arrived. Most gardeners dig up their bulbs immediately after the foliage has been killed by the first light frosts in fall or early winter. Light surface frost won't penetrate down to the buried bulbs, but a deep frost can ruin them.

Replant the bulbs in spring after the ground has fully thawed and all danger of frost has passed. This usually means late spring for most gardeners.

Tip

The digging and storing technique for cannas will work for many tropical plants that grow from bulbs, tubers, corms, or rhizomes. These include elephant ears, blood lilies, caladiums, and dahlias.

Before Getting Started

Over a growing season, a single canna bulb (actually a rhizome) can become much larger, developing offshoot structures. You can propagate new plants by cutting away these well-developed offshoots. This can be done in the spring, after you bring the rhizomes out of storage, or when you dig them up in the fall. If you do it in the fall, it's a good idea to dust the cuts with sulfur powder before storing the bulbs, which will prevent fungi from entering through the cuts.

How to Grow and Care for Canna Lily

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • Trowel, shovel, or garden fork

Materials

  • Newspapers or paper bags
  • Peat moss or vermiculite

Instructions

Materials needed for digging up and storing canna bulbs

The Spruce / Jason Donnelly

  1. Dig Up the Bulbs

    Just about any digging tool can be used to dig up canna bulbs. But because the bulbs are typically planted 4 to 6 inches deep, a shovel or garden fork will often be the best option.

    • Keeping the shovel blade or garden fork away from the plant stalks, dig down and raise the bulbs out of the soil.
    • Use your hands to loosely separate the bulbs and attached stalks from the surrounding soil.
    Overhead view of digging up spring bulbs

    The Spruce / Jayme Burrows

  2. Remove the Foliage and Clean the Bulbs

    • Next, cut back the foliage to 2 to 3 inches from the top of each bulb.
    • Gently wash the loose soil off of the bulbs.
    • Do not thoroughly scrub them, as this can scratch the bulbs and make them susceptible to rot.
    Cleaning and inspecting the canna bulbs

    The Spruce / Jason Donnelly

  3. Cure the Bulbs

    Before storing canna bulbs, it is best to cure them by air-drying them in a warm, dry location for seven days. A well-ventilated garage or closet makes a good curing location. Curing toughens up the outer skins to help the bulbs resist rot during storage.

    Allowing canna bulbs to cure before storing them

    The Spruce / Jason Donnelly

  4. Wrap and Store the Bulbs

    • To store cannas indoors over winter, wrap individual bulbs in newspapers or small paper bags.
    • When wrapping, include a small amount of dry, sterile growing medium, such as peat moss or vermiculite. The growing medium will absorb moisture and help to prevent rot.
    • Place the wrapped bulbs in a cardboard box or large paper bag. Do not allow the bulbs to directly touch one another.
    • Store the bulbs in a cool, dry location that does not fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
    Wrapping and storing the canna bulbs in brown paper bags

    The Spruce / Jason Donnelly

  5. Monitor the Bulbs

    • Periodically inspect the bulbs over winter.
    • If you find spots of rot on any of them, either discard the entire bulb or trim away the rotten portion.
    • The following spring, carefully inspect all the bulbs, discarding any that are soft or rotten.
    • Then, replant the rest.

    Don't be discouraged if you lose a few bulbs to rot or severe desiccation. Experienced gardeners are generally happy if 80 percent of their bulbs survive the winter.

    Monitoring the bulbs throughout winter

    The Spruce / Jason Donnelly

Moving Potted Canna Bulbs Inside

Cannas that have been grown in pots can be stored in their containers without the need to dig them up. To store them in their containers, cut the foliage down to soil level. Then, move the entire container to a cool, dry location that won't fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. A basement or the inner wall of an attached garage can be an ideal location.

Flowers
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  1. Pearce, R. Plant Freezing and Damage. Annals of Botany, vol. 87, no. 4, 2001, pp. 417–424., doi:10.1006/anbo.2000.1352