the cannas shouldnt be mush from the 1st snow....mine overwintered last year and it hasnt been that cold yet so i assume if u still wanted to dig them up they are still fine

I came here from eastern Washington State 42 years ago. Maryland has been very good to me but I still do not care for even the little snow we get here. From what you are saying would a good mulching save the canna's from digging. Never grew them. Steve in Baltimore

Dig them now. It's actually better to let them be hit by frost as cold will stop the growth and they go normally into dormancy. I used to grow them in ground and would dig only after a good frost. The cold isn't in the ground yet.

Can you overwinter cannas in zone 7 by mulching well? I've heard you can, but haven't tried it yet. Digging them and storing them really gets to be a chore.

I am right at the borden to zone 7 (between Baltimore and DC), and some did overwinter. But they got started rather late and weren't as lush as the ones that I dug. May be I'll need to fertilize. I bring mine in and start some ahead of time so they bloom earlier. It is a lot of work though, I admit. I agree with Celebrity that only the stems are mush, the roots should be just fine. I dug mine before the frost because I have the feeling that we are getting a hummdinger of a cold winter.

Well, I'm gonna try to mulch them pretty good and hope for the best. My brother is in Falls Church. He said his neighbor overwinters his just fine. His father-in-law is in Richmond and plans on trying to overwinter his. I was hoping just to mulch heavily and hope for the best. I am skeptical. I thought these things were only hardy to zone 9!