I'm a newbie to cannas myself, but everyone I know around here who has cannas (my grandmother, aunt, neighbor, and kind stranger who shared his 'Richard Wallace' cannas with me) just leaves them in the ground and they come back each year with no problem. We're in 7A - Chattanooga, TN - if that helps.

Im in zone 7 near the jersey shore, and they do not winter here.
Hope it helps.
melanie

I'm zone 7b in Texas and they come back just fine for me.

Peggy

There are people around here in zone 6 that have cannas planted and come back year after year. We saw -5F last winter. I planted several, and none came back. I think it just has to be an established planting for them to come back.

7b VA cannas come back and reproduce.

unless they are overgrown i leave them in the ground and they come back fine by spring

For me they only survive the winter if I plant them up against the foundation of the the house. I always dig up all my other ones.

To those of you that have cannas that survive the winter in zone 7 which ones are they? I would love to be able to leave them in the ground.

I have Red King Humbert that survives every year planted up against a south foundation wall. None of the others have come back. We have clay soil, and usually get a lot of rain in the spring, which I'm sure contributes to rotting.

Some gardeners in my area seem to have luck with cannas overwintering, especially in a sheltered location or near buildings, but I've never had any of several different cannas survive a winter outdoors even with mulch. I do see them popping up around the city in spring, apparently having survived the winter with no care at all, so maybe my clay soil is just too wet in the winter.

No problem to overwinter them here in heavy clay, with maybe a layer of chopped leaves for mulch (if I get around to it!). They've come back every year for 15 years, although I will admit to being only 10 miles away from the "dividing line" for zone 8 (and it seems to be moving this way!).

For the past two years I have overwintered Red King Humbert, Wyoming, Lucifer and Tropicanna. The first year I threw a couple of inches of straw over them. This year I just took some trash bags full of leaves and put them on the beds. I overwinter calla lilies the same way. My low last winter was 4 deg F, this year 10 deg F.
Steve

I live in Western North Carolina Zone 7 and they come back each year bigger and better for my ex. This will be my first year but all my friends say they will come back. Good luck, Happyseed (Sonja)

I live in Pikesville Md. The only ones that make it through the winter are the ones against the house.
All the others get dug up and are stored along with my Bannanna Trees.
Some have made it through the winter with mulch, but it is not worth taking a chance.
Growing Stuttguart, Lucifer,Bengal Tiger and Tropicanna.

This is my first season of overwintering cannas and so far so good. I might mention that I cover them with a foot of leaves in the fall too. I peaked at them the other day along with my ginger plants and they all seem to be growing under the leaves. With it still early in March I covered them back up though. I also have had luck with a banana tree. It came back very well last summer and was covered the same way. I live in near Mt. Vernon Virginia close to the Potomac river which keeps me a little warmer than surrounding areas.

they probably can be protected in zone 7 but it takes a long time in the spring until they emerge.

if you store them, they can be given a head start indoors and will be very large plants by the summer

My canna are pushing up their first shoots right now. We cut the
dead leaves back in late fall, and then mulch with about six inches
of material (mostly oak leaves).

Josh

Western central Alabama- mine are about 4" tall, cannas grow everywhere here- all overwintered outside.