Cannas are one of the best plants for adding height and color to containers. Cannas are one of the few plants that bloom and continue to show off during the hottest weeks of the summer. This makes cannas perfect for container gardening. They make it easy to add magnificent color to a deck, sidewalk, porch or balcony. Professional looking containers are a snap using a three step approach!

Red Futurity Cannas Contrast with White Begonias

Pretoria Cannas with Green and Purple Sweet Potato Vine, and Coleus (Customer Photo Credit: Charles from CT)

Niagara Park creates fabulous containers with cannas, purple heart plant, pink begonias and variegated vinca vine. Container Gardening - Thriller, Filler and Spiller! Use the thriller, filler, spiller approach for professional looking containers. Thriller: Cannas make great thriller plants because of their height and color. Any height works great! Plant green or bronze foliage cannas to contrast with your filler and spiller plants.

Australia and Red Futurity have extremely dark leaves that pop against light colored filler plants. Add extra intrigue with variegated cannas like Durban and Pretoria. Don't be afraid to use giant varieties like Musifolia and Grande that create dramatic looking containers. Filler: Use plants with similar sun requirements like geraniums, begonias, coleus, petunias, dusty miller, sun caladiums, periwinkles, black-eyed Susans, daylilies, purple fountain grass, and lantana. Think of these plants as the meat on a yummy sandwich. Choose blooms and foliage that contrasts with your cannas or with your spiller plants. Spiller: Plants that flow from the sides include purple or green sweet potato vine, ivy, calibrachoa, trailing begonia, asparagus fern, variegated vinca vine, purple heart plant or nasturtium. The spiller plants finish your look and give it that extra dose of curb appeal. A Little Extra Care Provides Big Rewards A little TLC will keep your containers looking top-notch all summer. Container gardening, in general, requires more water than flowerbeds. In comparison to flowers in your yard, containers dry out more easily. We recommend using containers with a minimum diameter of 20 inches. Starting with a high-quality potting mix is a big plus for rewarding summer color. Once planted, use the finger test to know if your containers need water. Stick your finger one inch into the soil. If the soil is dry, add water. It is very hard to over-water cannas! A daily drink of water is not too much during the hottest weeks of the summer. Two or three applications of 5-10-5 or 10-10-10 fertilizer throughout the summer will feed the plants in your containers, assuring an abundance of healthy blooms! Cannas look great by themselves or add a few more plants to achieve the thriller, filler, spiller approach.