Pandora's box of tricks, 1897

Garden and forest. / Volume 10, Issue 512. [December 15, 1897, 489-498]

More Orchid-flowering Cannas.

PANDORA is another of the Orchid-flowering Cannas from the list of Dammann & Co. We have the variety from the originators, and have been enjoying its blossoms in the greenhouse since September. The plant is dwarf, growing about three feet high. But these are young plants closely potted in the house, so that we may expect a larger growth of strong plants out-of-doors. The foliage is very dark red, splashed with lighter greenish red. The flowers most closely resemble those of America, described in GARDEN AND FOREST, vol. x., p. I78, with the attractive, full-rounded form of those of Italia, with reflexed petals (not staminodia). The petal-like staminodia are bright, fiery cherry-red, heavily splashed and overlaid with a darker velvety red, giving a peculiarly rich appearance. Pandora and America please us the best of all the Italian or Orchid-flowering sorts.



The varieties Bavaria and Burgundia (Dammann) have also been in blossom with us since September 13th. These are both of comparatively dwarf habit, the foliage being smaller and narrower than in the better-known Italia, Austria and Burbank. They both give blossoms of the Italia type, it being frequently difficult or entirely impossible to separate the three, Bavaria, Burgundia and Italia, by the blossoms alone. Bavaria tends to have more solid red at the centre, so that it becomes rather a yellow-bordered flower, of somewhat the same marking as Queen Charlotte; Burgundia is more spotted and looks a trifle more like Florence Vaughan; Bavaria usually has upright petals, while Burgundia commonly shows its Canna flaccida parentage in reflexed petals. We had Italia and Austria in large beds on the open lawn throughout the summer, where they gave moderate satisfaction. Their large growth and heavy luxuriant leaves give a fresh, semitropical foliage effect worth consideration; but the blossoms are not, upon outdoor plants, an item of much importance.

University of Vermont. Professor F. A. Waugh.