Extreme Canna Growing, 1896

Garden and forest. / Volume 9, Issue 429. [May 13, 1896, 191-200]

Canna Notes.

To thoroughly prove the capabilities of a Canna the necessary conditions must be provided. These are good soil, with cow-manure added, an abundance of water and plenty of space. Two wheelbarrow-loads of cow-manure are often allowed for a single bulb. One load should be spread on the top of the bed and the soil forked out, and another dumped in the excavation. The well-mixed soil should then be thrown back and the bed neatly finished for low-growing marginal plants. A pail of water in the morning and liberal spraying with the hose at night is advisable.

The season of 1895 added two more Cannas to our tested list. Antoine Chantin (Farquhar) proved highly satisfactory. Its habit is graceful, with abundant foliage of a light but vivid shade of green, which contrasts charmingly with the flowers. I know of no other Canna which produces so many blossoms to a flower-stalk. I have counted from six to ten lateral clusters on a single stalk, seven or eight of them in bloom at one time. The color is pleasing and true to the description given – cherry-salmon.

Geoffrey St. Hilaire was less satisfactory. It is a good strong grower, but stiff in outline, and the leaves are not so purple or chocolate-colored as we are led to suppose. The flowers are said to be deep orange or capucine-red. The shade of red is far from agreeable and out of all harmony with the foliage. Dark-leaved Cannas should never be planted near a highway if the hose is to be used, as dust from every passing vehicle settles and sticks remorselessly upon the wet leaves.

Pittsford Mills Vt. - G. A. Woolson.