That was the year that was - Malcolm

As we reach the end of the year, full of memories, some good and some bad, we can look forward with anticipation to what the next year will bring us. Gardening attracts those of a philosophical nature, and now that the winter solstice is past and the days are now starting to lengthen again we can start planning next years garden.

La Rochelle in France, harbour and promenade

But we should not forget the lessons we have learnt from the dreadful weather suffered in Europe this summer. Global warming means a turbulent weather pattern, with each year being different from the last. The summer flooding, with clouds everyday, meant that our Cannas were deprived of much light and although they rallied in the autumn, it was still the worst year for Canna that we have experienced. However, we were lucky compared with many others, who had their plant stock destroyed.

This year we did not need to store water, but at Claines Canna we are still proceeding with installing a large storage tank at the highest point of the garden complemented by some small pumps to transfer rain water into the tank. The day will arrive when we will be in severe drought, and with the rapidly changing weather patterns that could be 2008.

A holiday in France meant we came back with many more Canna specimens, again!

Next year we have the International Canna Trials to look forward to, links at the foot of this article, and our thanks to all who have supported Keith, Christine and us in this effort, which will enhance the growing of Cannas considerably.

Canna 'Roi Humbert', grown for 100 years at the Nantes Park Department, France.

Finally, Margaret and I would like to thank all of our Canna friends for their continual kindnesses, sharing their gardening treasures and advice. The Canna world is still small, so let us all look forward with tolerance to enjoying our Canna friendships in 2008. May you all have a very happy and prosperous new year, and we look forward to seeing you at the Canna Trials in 2008.

Margaret and Malcolm Dalebö



Why not visit the Canna Trials in 2008?

Great Dixter and Cannas

Great Dixter is a house in Northiam, East Sussex close to the South Coast of England. It has a famous garden which is regarded as the epitome of English plantsmanship.

The original house at Dixter, which dates from the mid 15th century, was acquired by a businessman named Nathaniel Lloyd in 1909. He had a 16th century house in a similar style moved from Kent and the two were combined with new work by the architect Edwin Lutyens to create a much larger house, which was rechristened Great Dixter. It is a romantic recreation of a medieval manor house, complete with great hall, parlour, solar and yeoman's hall.

Nathaniel Lloyd and Lutyens began the garden at Great Dixter, but it was Nathaniel's son Christopher Lloyd, a well known garden writer and television personality, who made it famous. The garden is in the arts and crafts style, and features topiary, a long border, an orchard and a wild flower meadow. The planting is profuse, yet structured, and has featured many bold experiments of form, colour and combination. One of the most famous innovations was the use of Cannas in the "exotic garden", that was previously the formal rose garden.

The exotic garden illustrated to the 'old school' that it was possible to have fun in the garden and to create dazzling colour from June until first frosts. For Christopher shapes were everything but colour was also important. But was what he was doing really that radical? Anna Pavord, in her forward to the last Lloyd book, Exotic Planting for Adventurous Gardeners, points out that when he planted tropical bananas, cannas and castor oil plants in the rose garden at Great Dixter, it was new and daring - "almost sacrilegious - even though exotic gardens were the height of fashion in the latter part of the 19th century."

The garden is currently managed by Fergus Garrett, who worked closely with Lloyd up until his death in 2006 as Head Gardener and introduced a number of innovations into the planting scheme.

The house and garden are open to the public on a regular basis and study tours are available. A charity called the Great Dixter Charitable Trust has been established to ensure that the property is preserved.

Visitors to the International Canna Trials in 2008 might well want to visit this very famous and special garden.

Great Dixter. (2007, October 31). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:12, December 11, 2007

Introducing Canna 'June Ranger'

A New Introduction

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured pink, staminodes are large size, edges irregular, petals yellow, self-cleaning, good bloomer. Introduced and offered for trial by James Ranger.

Canna Trial progress

The Canna Trial for 2008 is taking shape. The trial entries are exceeding expectations, and the web site is now almost complete.

The site includes a Journal, to allow recording of the Trials progress, and allowing registered users to vote on the cultivar photographs, send E-Cards of the photos, and to enter their own comments against each photograph.


A Feedback feature allows registered users to enter into discussion about events and issues concerning the trial.

In addition, there is a forum devoted to the subject of Canna cultivar groups, and it is the organisers ambition to have a formal definition of the Canna Cultivar groups agreed by the end of 2008.

Click here to visit the 2008 Canna Trial website

Canna toughies

Use herbicide in tank sprayer to tame wayward canna lilies

Oakland Tribune, Aug 23, 2003

Q. I removed a patch of canna lilies that was growing out of control. I was surprised to find that some rhizomes went down 2½ feet (95cm). My problem now is that I didn't get rid of all of them. They are starting to shoot up between the newly planted plants. The only thing I could find on the Internet to control the tubers was to burn them. Obviously, that is not an option. Any suggestion on an herbicide I can use?

A. Canna lilies can be a nuisance as they are hard to keep contained in one location. This is true of all types of rhizoming plants. All it takes is a little piece left behind to perpetuate the plant.

For your situation, Roundup is the ideal herbicide to use. The leaves and not the roots absorb Roundup, so it can be applied carefully around other plants without harming them. Protect the desirable plants with a cardboard plant shield. You could surround each plant with a shield or the unwanted canna shoots. Personally, I would isolate the unwanted shoots, apply Roundup, then move the shield to the next cluster.

I suggest using a tank sprayer to apply the herbicide instead of a hose end sprayer. It is easier to concentrate the spray in a single spot and the spray drift is minimized. You'll have to be persistent as it's a battle of attrition, but you should win it.

Some of the larger specimens can be vigorous growers

Malcolm's comments:
In case you have not read it, here is a quote from one of the funniest, tounge in cheek, articles I have encountered about Cannas:

"Ridiculously easy to grow, cannas will take root if dropped on sand, soil, asphalt, cement or slag heaps of radioactive waste. Before the arrival of the dumpster, towns had back alleys where garbage was hidden from view. Cannas grew so thick that people assumed the flowers appearance was a government beautification project. What convinced them otherwise was that the cannas throve - which they would not have had it been a government project. The truth is that these back alley orphans grew from roots discarded by gardeners who had exhausted other disposal methods like napalm, burial at sea and encasement in cement."

Canna-and-Where-It-Grows

Christmas Pressies

Dale has kindly provided several of her recent photographs as Christmas Pressie wallpapers, so brighten up your PC with these great new images.

Just click on the link to the right to display the image, then right mouse click and use "Set as Background" to save to your own machine and install automatically as the system wallpaper.


Keep enjoying the festival of the season...

Introducing Canna 'Solar Flare'

Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA introduced three exceptional new cultivars for 2005, amongst which was Canna 'Solar Flare''. Described by Mr Hallman as, "Flowers are gold with streaks and swirls of rich orange-red. Foliage is a very dark bronze to brown. This is a stunning color in the garden."

Mr Hallman stated that, "This canna really gets peoples attention. I don't know what else to say about this canna other than it's stunning and very limited. Fertile both ways. But not easy. Grows 4' Tall."

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!

The Dalebo and McDonell families wish our Canna friends all over the world a very happy holiday season and, if appropriate to your beliefs, a very merry Christmas too.

May those from wintry climes keep their stored Cannas warm and dry and not have the pong of rotting rhizomes spoil their festive appetites. As you wipe the icicle from the end of your nose ---

Remember that somewhere in the world a Canna is always in bloom.

May those south of the equator find time to walk amidst their cannas now in full bloom, and give thanks for these wonderful plants that so readily reward our efforts to grow them where they were never designed to grow. May your day not be too hot to enjoy your festivities and end with much needed soaking rains. (We really are nuts to eat pud in the middle of a hot summer).

May Santa bring you all lots of well composted manure!!

Admiral Courbet - not a wilting flower

An interesting heritage cultivar was created by Monsieur Antoine Crozy in the mid 1880's, named for Amédée Courbet (1828–1885), who was a French Admiral, and was particularly active in Asia.

Courbet was born in Abbeville, France in 1828 as the youngest of three children. His father died when he was nine years old. After education at the École polytechnique, which is a higher education establishment run under the supervision of the French ministry of defence, he joined the French navy and gained rapid promotion. He was appointed governor of New Caledonia from 1880 to 1882, then commander of the Naval Division of Tonkin in 1883. He established the Protectorate of Annam after shelling the Annamite imperial capital at Hué during a succession crisis and compelling the new Emperor to submit to French authority.

He was put in charge of all French armed forces in China in 1884, and led the Sino-French War. He destroyed the newly-built Chinese Fukien fleet in the 1884 Battle of Foochow and organised the invasion and blockade of Formosa (Taiwan) capturing the Pescadores and occupying Keelung from 1st October 1884 to July 1885. He died two days after having obtained peace with China and its famous Black Flags on the ship Bayard anchored outside the port of Makung on 11th June 1885.

Pierre Loti was an officer ("Enseigne de Vaisseau") under Courbet. He wrote:

“He was very careful not to shed French blood. His battles were highly organized, worked in advance with so rare a precision that the result, often decisive, was always obtained by losing very little of ours; and then, after the action which he had undertaken with total absolutism, he became again another man, very soft, making the visit of the ambulances with a generous and sad smile. He wanted to see all the casualties, even the humblest, to hold their hand, and they died more content, more comforted by his visit.”

Newspaper of the day showing the Bayard, flagship of the French Navy in China.

Three ships of the French Navy have been named in his honour, including the stealth frigate Courbet, presently commissioned.

The Canna introduced in honour of the admiral is a medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green; clusters of flowers are open, yellow with carmine spots, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning, low bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white; tillering is average. Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France in 1888.

Our earliest reference to this specimen is the RHS awarding a First Class Certificate (Cannell 1888). Still being grown in both Europe and Australia.

Introducing Canna 'Spiderman'

When discussing his architectural specimens, the American Canna hybridist Brian Williams confided that, "These are not the regular cannas most people look for but I find them useful and thought I would offer them in the spring. I use these varieties as a back drop for my other cannas. Tall growing with flowers held high above the foliage, they all of these are 7ft tall and up." Amongst these cultivars he includes Canna 'Spiderman'.

Mr Williams confided that, "This has a unique look to it, growing 9ft (2.9m) tall with bright small red flowers and bluish green leaves, each with a distinctive red border. Easy to grow, and lots of flowers and seeds. "

Winter Solstice

The winter solstice occurs at 06:08 am GMT on the 22nd December this year. The Earth in the northern hemisphere lies cold and still, subdued by the harsh winter. Animals and insects are in hibernation, awaiting the return of the light and warmth - and often we feel like doing the same. Our Cannas are tucked up in winter storage, hopefully safe from the frosts.

Canna 'Breuil', an old Crozy favourite

That is the shortest day of the year. Animals react to the changing seasons with changes in mood, metabolism and behavior, and human beings are just the same. Those people who suffer most are being affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also called the "winter blues." The problem stems from the lack of bright light in winter. Researchers have proved that bright light makes a difference to the brain chemistry but why some people suffer and others don't is not clear.

Canna 'Baronne de Renowardy', another old Crozy cultivar

From now on the days will start lengthening, and while we in Europe normally have the most serious winter weather in January, the fact that we are seeing more light helps lift the "winter blues" as we look forward to Spring. As gardeners, this can also be a pleasant time for us, the seed and plant catalogues still provide hours of planning and expectation for what is to come. Sending out orders for new varieties and organising swaps with fellow enthusiasts starts to arouse the feeling of expectation.

Canna 'Alt Württemberg', a large Crozy Group cultivar from Wilhelm Pfitzer

Many plants are triggered by the circadian rhythm and daylight hours. Others seem to respond more to temperature and, in particular, to the absence of hard frost. Cannas are in the latter category, as they are under the soil, with nothing growing above, and not able to sense the length of day. However, in February the temperatures will start rising and as long as there is sufficient moisture then the old starch machines (my gentle nickname for Cannas) will slowly grind into action again.

Roll on, says me...

Naming new cultivars

For those not familiar, the naming of a cultivar should conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (the ICNCP, commonly known as the "Cultivated Plant Code"). For this, it must be distinct from other cultivars and it must be possible to propagate it reliably, in the manner prescribed for that particular cultivar. With Canna cultivars that is normally by asexual means, as very few Canna cultivars grow true-to-type. The Tropical Series are the only exception to that general statement.

International Cultivar Registration Authorities (ICRAs) are appointed by the ISHS (International Society for Horticultural Science) Commission for Nomenclature and Cultivar Registration. In the 50 years that the ICRA system has been established it has contributed significantly to the stability of cultivated plant nomenclature.

Purpose
The scheme operates under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) and its mission is to prevent duplicated uses of cultivar and Group epithets within a defined denomination class (usually a genus), as well as ensuring that names are in all other respects in accord with the latest edition of the ICNCP.

Scope of authority
The system is both voluntary, and non-statutory and it does not confer any legal protection over the name or the plant. Such protection has to be sought through statutory schemes such as Plant Breeders Rights or Plant Patents, which differ between counties. The ICRA system is in effect the horticultural worlds attempt at self-policing of nomenclature and is truly international in its scope. ICRAs are not responsible for assessing the distinctiveness of the plant in question.

How it operates
The ICRA system depends upon the co-operation of all involved with the creation and marketing of new plants. Normally, all that is required is the submission of the plant name and any other required data to the ICRA, and in most cases there is no direct cost to the applicant. Although an ICRA is entitled to charge a small fee to cover their costs, most provide this indispensable service without charge.

The ICRA will:

• validate that in all other respects it is in accord with the ICNCP,


• initally, notify the registrant of the success, or not, of the application.
  

Applicants must understand that registration will be refused if the name has been used before and should always await the ICRAs decision before implementing any marketing for the plant, the ICRA are not responsible for any losses incurred in this respect.

Formally establishing names
Each ICRA is also charged with the responsibility of ensuring that new names are formally established (i.e. published in hard copy, with a description in a dated publication). Establishment in this context is an important concept since it is only after such publication that the name has precedence for its use for a particular plant.

Whilst the ICRA will ensure through its own publications that names are established, it is recommended that registrants should not necessarily rely on this and should also try to ensure that their new names are securely established as soon after registration as possible.

It is not sufficient to release details onto the Internet, as that is not considered to be hard copy.

The Canna ICRA

The ICRA for Canna are the Royal Dutch Bulbgrowers Association, known worldwide as the KAVB. The cultivar naming service is free of charge, and below are links to enable anybody interested in naming a new cultivar to do so.

http://www.clainescanna.co.uk/KAVB/KAVB_RegistrationForm.pdf

http://www.kavb.nl/

Star of the Day 'Mrs. Alfred F. Conard'. (syn. Miss Oklahoma, Watermelon Pink).

Looking so fresh and pretty in my stockbeds in south eastern Australia at the moment is Canna X 'Mrs. Alfred F. Conard'. Although she hasn't yet reached her eventual height of 1 m. 60 cms. (5 '), her first flush of blooms is as breathtaking as always. In my humble opinion this is the best pink Canna ever bred even if the blooms are a little too big for my tastes. They are so opulent they almost scream decadence!

The substance of the staminodes is exceptionally thick and rivalled only by the old dark salmon Crozy cultivar 'Camille Bernadin'. This Canna is very unusual as with its great substance it looks to be a triploid yet it sets one to three seeds per pod. Canna X 'Mrs. Alfred F. Conard' was raised by Wintzer for the Conard & Jones nursery in the USA and was released in 1915. It truly is a milestone Canna and should never have had its name corrupted.

For many years it has been sold by Horn Canna in the US as Miss Oklahoma. Here in Australia it was preserved in the collection of Mrs. Thelma Reiss and was distributed by her daughter Vicki Staal under the family's nickname Watermelon Pink. More recently it was imported into this country by Bernard Yorke under the name Miss Oklahoma.

This is a classic example of why cannas should not have their original names changed. Importing live plant material into Australia is an expensive process as they must undergo lengthy quarantine and virus testing. The expense could have been spared if it was known that Miss Oklahoma and Watermelon Pink were both synonyms for 'Mrs. Alfred F. Conard' and she was well and truly established here in Australia.

This is one Canna that should be in everyone's collection.

Right: is a picture of 'Mrs. Alfred F. Conard from the Conard & Jones catalogue of 1915.

Star of the Day 'Colibri'.

Looking particularly fine and withstanding adverse weather better than most of the pale cannas with pink spots is one that came to me as 'Colibri'.

'Colibri' is said to be synonymous with 'Confetti' and was bred by F. Lombard and released by Wilhelm Pfitzer in 1892 under the name 'Colibri'. It seems to have been renamed 'Confetti' on its import into the USA.

I have plants under both names and they are similar, but not identical. 'Colibri' being of short height with flowers well above the foliage and that I have as 'Confetti' is a dwarf grower with bigger and heavier pink spots and the flowers held just above the leaves. It's a real tiddler.

Which is the real 'Colibri'? I've no idea yet, but then I tend to have pink spotties on cream grounds coming out my ears! Maybe someone else can tell me if this really is 'Colibri'. I suspect the other might be 'Doyen Jean Libaud'.

My 'Colibri' is looking so pretty at the moment that I just had to share despite my confusion over identity.

Star of the Day 'Capricornia' (syn. Souvenir d'Azza Gray?)

Without a doubt, the most generous blooming, eye-popping Canna I grow is one now being sold in Australia as 'Capricornia'. It was imported from New Zealand and I believe it to be one of the old Bendigo cannas imported to that country from Australia in the 1960s. Many of these cannas from the old Bendigo collection made their way to New Zealand without any name tags attached. Naturally they had to have a name to be sold in New Zealand, so many were renamed. I believe 'Capricornia' to be one of these lost identity/new identity cannas. I have another clump of this same Canna which I acquired directly from the remnants of the old Bendigo collection, without a name.

The outstanding characteristic of this generous performer is the branching ability of each flowering stem which goes on producing branches of bloom for over six months. No less than thirteen sequential heads of bloom branch from each spike. If my season was longer, perhaps there might be more, but the frosts usually overtake them before they are done producing. The flowers are extremely weatherproof and of a wonderful clear vermilion red illuminated with a faint blush of gold.

I believe it to be the old Crozy hybrid 'Souvenir d'Aza Gray'. But so far have been unable to find

multiple proofs for this identity. This old Canna was in the Bendigo collection as late as 1991 and no other on the old list of their cultivars matches the description as well as 'Capricornia' does. In the old literature the floriferous nature of 'Souvenir d'Aza Gray' is particular commented upon.

This ability to throw many fresh branches from each spike is not something that Canna breeders have given much consideration. The average canna will give three or four sequential branchings from the flowering spike. Additional branching is a very valuable characteristic and one well worth exploring and breeding towards.

Star of the Day. 'Salmon Gladdy'

The Canna blooming season is well under way in the Southern Hemisphere so to cheer up those Canna enthusiasts who are now in the grip of winter, I'll regularly share photos of those cannas that are looking particularly outstanding right now in my garden in south eastern Australia.

'Canna X 'Salmon Gladdy' is a recent hybrid created by Bernard Yorke of Queensland, Australia. For a couple of seasons Bernard was experimenting with using 'Red Stripe' and even Canna indica as seed parents and crossing them with pollen from various large flowered hybrids including 'Pretoria' and 'Wyoming' and others of his own sumptuous hybrids. The aim was to produce very tall growing cannas with spectacular foliage AND good large flowers. The result was his "Gladdy Series".

Most of the successes came from the 'Red Stripe' crosses but 'Salmon Gladdy' was an exception as its seed parent is surprisingly Canna indica and it is a very spectacular Canna. Bernard has now abandoned the use of C. indica as a parent as useful offspring were almost non-existent save for this one. I have not yet extricated the name of the pollen parent from Bernard. Perhaps he might post the answer in the comments section of this blog?

This hybrid is very tall with wonderful dusty, purple blushed, widely lanceolate foliage. Flowers are a delicate flesh apricot-pink, with picotee edges to the staminodes and about 7-8 cms (3-4") in diameter, held aloft of strong stems.

These tall foliage cannas are in great demand here in Australia. They are used to dress swimming pool surrounds in our warm temperate areas to impart that lush, tropical atmosphere. Cannas are far more accommodating than other tropicals in the range of climates in which they thrive.

Introducing Canna 'Romance'

Released in 2005 by Mr Brian Williams, the well known Canna hybridiser from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, was Canna 'Romance'.

Brian described the new culivar as being "A dwarf to 4 feet tall with dark purple foliage. The flowers have a mixture of colors from orange to pink that change with age. It is self cleaning and is a great bloomer. "

New Italian Group cultivar

While most Canna breeders have been concentrating on developing new cultivars from the Crozy originating stock or even crossing back to species, Mr Bernard Yorke, in Australia, has also been experimenting with the Italian Group (what used to be called x orchoides) material. The picture below is a reminder to us all that we should not forget about the other possibilities.

The picture above has a distinct resemblance to Canna 'Wyoming'. The pollen parent is either C. 'Wyoming' or C. 'Pretoria', as experiments were made with both as pollen parents at the same time. Mr Yorke commented that "The leaves are just a shade lighter than C. 'Wyoming', but the flower is remarkably similar. Where the interest lies in this seedling is the fact that this is probably the first published large floppy orchoide type bred in the modern era of Canna breeding. The modified petal-like staminoides seems particularly large too. Even larger than the old hybrids of this type produced by Dammann & Co. and Wintzer a century ago."

[Ed. The only recent cultivars of this type appear to have been mutations. Whilst the diploid Italian Cannas are all seed sterile, the pollen is still fertile, although less fertile than that from the Crozy types, and is still a practical proposition that offers different possibilities. The colour range available from Italian cannas is restricted, but they still have interesting possibilities.]

Developing Canna agriculture

In a bid to develop an alternative source of starch for the Thai food industry, a team of biochemical technology scientists embarked on a comprehensive study of canna. The study is a collaboration between a number of higher educational institutions and scientific agencies. Leading the study team are Associate Professor Dudsadee Uttapap, associate dean for academic affairs of the Bioresource and Technology School, King Mongkut Institute of Technology Thon Buri, and Professor Dr Yasuhito Takeda from Kagoshima University’s Faculty of Agriculture in Japan. The study has mainly been funded by the Thailand Research Fund, via the Royal Golden Jubilee PhD Programme, and the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotec).

Dudsadee says canna starch’s outstanding attributes are its high elasticity, high viscosity, high retrogradation, and clear paste. Hence, it has very high potential to be developed as a raw material for noodles or a thickening agent in the food industry. In Vietnam, canna noodles have become more and more popular. This is because the noodles exhibit very high tensile strength. They stay firm and lose minimal solidity during cooking. Dudsadee says her team intends to develop a comprehensive knowledge of canna, especially the breeds grown in Thailand, and the feasibility of developing the canna industry in this country.

It’ll take years to complete the whole study process, she says. In her opinion, Thailand’s starch industry has very high potential to accommodate canna starch production, given that most of the required equipment and infrastructure are already in place.


But before the industry could begin investing in canna starch, comprehensive knowledge about the plant, its yield and related products have to be fully developed, she says.


Genetic attributes of edible canna must be developed as well, says Dudsasdee, so that the starch’s production costs can be lowered. Genetic development could help increase canna productivity. More importantly, canna roots have a myriad of rootlets, making current starch-processing very time consuming and costly. This is because starch producers have to pay rather high wages for the processing, she says.


Dudsadee says her team has completed only about 40 per cent of the whole study process. She identifies two key obstacles, limited funding and equipment for the slow progress of the study. So far, they have completed their study on the physical attributes of canna starch for example, the structure of the starch molecules and its pasting properties. Now she plans to explore the relationships of canna’s growing periods and different attributes of the crops from different growing periods. Information about the relationships will enable relevant agencies to guide farmers on the length of appropriate growing periods that yield the most cost-effective productivity for canna, Dudsadee says.

Introducing Canna 'Get-it'

Released in 2005 by Mr Brian Williams, the well known Canna hybridiser from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, was Canna 'Get-it'.

Brian confided that "This was one of my first canna hybrids. It has dark leaves with large bright orange flowers that are spotted with a darker orange to red. It grows to about 6ft tall and is also self cleaning. A great bloomer and a strong grower. "

Most mutations during the summer months

In biology, mutations are changes to the base pair sequence of the genetic material of a plant. Mutations don't just happen by themselves. The likely stimulants can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during cell division, by exposure to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens, or viruses, or can occur deliberately under the plants own cellular control during processes such as hypermutation.

In 1976, K. P. George and G. G. Nayar of the Bio-Medical Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Bombay-40085, India published a paper in which they described how the frequency of spontaneously occurring mutations were recorded in the Canna var. ‘Yellow King Humbert’, under the synonym of C. ‘Striped Queen’”, over a period of two years. The cultivar is also known under the synonyms of C. ‘Queen of Italy and ’C. ‘Cleopatra’. The studies have indicated that the mutation rate was high from January to April (the Indian summer) and low from July to September (the Indian winter). Among the floral parts, petals showed the highest mutation rate followed by sepals and staminodes. The size of the mutant sector also varied according to the stage at which the mutations occurred.

Introducing Canna 'Ada'

Released in 2005 by Mr Brian Williams, the well known Canna hybridiser from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, was Canna 'Ada'.

Brian reported that "This hybrid was named for my Aunt Ada who is terminally ill. The plant grows to about 4 ft tall with bright green leaves. The flowers are very bright pink with a volatile yellow rim. It blooms heavily and also self-cleans."

Split stem novelty

Raelene from Australia reports a unique canna incident, an old cultivar, Canna 'P.J. Berkman', that has grown a stem that then branched into two separate stems.

It is usual for the stem to start branching once it has reached the level where it stops growing leaves and starts growing inflorescence instead.
Raelene is growing it on, and we all hope that it repeats it's great trick, as we can do with more diversity.


[Ed. No canna authorities that we approached have experienced or heard of this phenomenon previously. However, we now understand that a breeder in England has raised a new cultivar that exhibits this behaviour]

Introducing Canna 'Autumn Dragon'

In 2002, Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA introduced his new cultivars for the year, which caused a stir at that time. One of the introductions was Canna 'Autumn Dragon'.

Mr Hallman was quoted as saying, "The flowers are light sherbet to peach and the foliage is dark. This is one of the lightest colored flowers on a dark leaf on the market. Great contrast between the foliage and the flower. Excellent! 3 ft. Tall. The breeding is C. 'Louis Cottin' x C. 'Rosy Leaf'".

Thanks to Sylvia Thomas, Texas, USA, for allowing us to use her copyrighted photograph.

Canna blues?

Brian Williams, a hybridiser from the USA, reported on a new seedling he grew in summer 2005. He stated that "It has been fairly odd, not to mention extremely beautiful, to watch it grow. "

First the seedling produced its first bloom, and it created great excitement, as it was a maroon purple coloured flower, very nicely formed. Next, the flower turned pinkish then red. Mr Williams was a bit concerned about this at first, but then new flowers came out the same as the first one. Finally, the seedling aged into blooms with red petals and purple looking tips.

Brian confirms that this is not a practical joke, and he confirms that the seedling really seems to have purple or some blue pigment in it. The parents of the seedling are both unnamed hybrids that Mr Williams raised last year.

[Ed. It has always been believed that Canna cultivars cannot produce blue flowers, which is why this seedling is so interesting.]

Canna 'Amandine'

In January 2006, Monsieur Raphaël ROGER of Belgium, EU announced his new cultivars for that year. The cultivars are registered with the KAVB. Amongst the new introductions was Canna 'Amandine'.

Canna 'Amandine'

Flower: Orange with a yellow border.

Foliage: Green

Height: 1m20

Email Mr. R. Roger

White Canna glauca in Louisiana

There is a popular myth that deep in the waterways of southern Louisiana, USA can be found white Canna growing wild, and protected by State Laws. The photograph to the left shows the normal yellow C. glauca. William Zierath of Petersburg, Illinois, USA, one of our leading Canna species specialists, has investigated this claim and reported his findings. Mr Zierath stated that:

• He had written to the gentleman who's web site had resurecteded the myth, addressing the issues below. He has not received any response. It appears that the web site may have been recently modified to remove references to a white-flowered Canna glauca. Click here to visit the web site.
  


• The web page about yellow cannas included a two-sentence reference to white-flowered Canna glauca in southern Louisiana. The first sentence "There are several acres of a white flowered species (C. glauca) near the Intercoastal canal and H-82 in Louisiana" is obviously derived from a one-sentence reference to the cannas in a 1972 book by Clair Brown entitled Wildflowers of Louisiana and Adjoining States. The sentence structure is the same and they agree to the point of referring to the Intercoastal Waterway as the Intercoastal canal.


• Those who have travelled extensively on the substandard highways and scenic byways of coastal Louisiana probably know that there are two channels of the Intercoastal Waterway that pass under Highway 82. The new channel passes under a high bridge near Forked Island. The old channel passes under a much lower bridge about 8 miles to the south. It is not clear from the single sentence which channel the cannas were alleged to have grown near.


• In October 1992, Mr Zierath canoed both ways from Highway 82 along both channels for about 2 miles, looking for these plants. He did not find them.


• Back in the 1980s, Mr Zierath knew a botanist who was working in Louisiana. He was unable to find any further information about white-flowered Canna glauca in Louisiana.


• With the exceptions of the above-mentioned book and the web site, Mr Zierath has never been able to find any indication that anyone was aware of the existence of white-flowered Canna glauca plants in Louisiana, or anywhere else.


• The original web page that aroused this investigation and another page at the same site both used to refer to penalties for poaching the white-flowered Canna glauca plants. In spite of being able to find information about the State of Louisiana's rare plant program, Mr Zierath was unable to find any information to suggest that the state considers this plant rare, in any way protects this plant or is in any way even aware of the existence of this plant.

Mr Zeireth stated that if anyone can come with further information about this subject, then he will be pleased to put additional time and effort into looking for this plant if he can get reliable information about it. If you want to contact me, then I will put you in touch with Mr Zierath.

Canna News: Canna Trial web site opens

Canna News: Canna Trial web site opens

Wot! no rhizomes?

All botanical descriptions of the Canna genus contain a reference, such as the following one quoted from the Wikipedia,

"The plants are large tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with a rhizomatous rootstock."

Please note the reference to rhizomes. One hundred and fifty years ago, Canna musaefolia was recognised as a Canna species. It was described by Monsieur E. Chaté, the author of the worlds first book devoted to Cannas, in the following manner.

"This species was formerly described in the English, Dutch, and German horticultural journals under the name of C. excelsa. It was named C. musæfolia by Monsieur Théodore Année, who introduced it into France in 1858, from the resemblance of its leaves to those of the Musa or banana-tree. It reaches a height of more than 8 ft. and has green, downy stems, and very large, oval, green leaves. Flowers small, orange-yellow. It is a tender species without rhizomes, and requires to be kept constantly growing. Peru."

The point of the quote being that there were no rhizomes. Canna excelsa (and by implication C. muaefolia) is accepted as a synonym of C. paniculata. However, all known Cannas have rhizomes or tubers. So, you can imagine our surprise when potting up a C. paniculata, started from seed this year, to discover that it was totally without rhizomes. I first thought this was some sort of freak, perhaps caused by the extreme weather we have *enjoyed* this year. The seed came from a reliable source, originating in Peru.

We now hear from Dale McDonnel in her excellent article The effects of drought on Cannas, 19 November 2007 on this blog, that she is also the custodian of such a Canna freak. Dale obtained her specimen from the old Bendigo Canna Collection. It long ago lost its identity and is either another of the very early French hybrids or a species Canna. Dale nicknamed it "The Bendigo Banana" because of its close resemblance to a Musa. It has never flowered for her and cannot be identified until it does. The foliage is a pale, lettuce green, poised on long, arching pedicels. The long leaves, have prominent, close veins, undulate margins and fold downwards. In windy weather these split and look just like Musa foliage. It does not tiller like other cannas. Each leaf stalk arises from an individual small conical knob.

In his book, Le Canna, Monsieur Chaté also described two hybrids that Monsieur Année had raised, based on C. musaefolia. The first was C. 'Musaefolia Minima' , which he described as

"Leaves of a whitish green, badly set. Flowers small, orange brown. No rootstocks. Introduced by Théodore Année, Passy, France, EU in 1860."

The second was C. 'Musaefolia Perfecta', which he described in the following terms

"Stems from 5 ft. to 6½ ft. high. Leaves broad, very firm, of a handsomish whiteish green. Flowers small, yellow. Roots fiberous, without rootstocks. Introduced by Théodore Année, Passy, France, EU in 1862."

It is too early to draw any conclusions, but it would appear that Dale has a specimen which is either the original species, or one of the two hybrids. Until it flowers, we will not know. All three possibilities have different flowers, so it should be possible to put a name to it then. In the meantime we are trying to keep our specimen alive and growing over the winter.

Based on Monsieur Chaté's descriptions we can speculate that what many gardeners call Canna 'Musaefolia' is, in fact, one of the five hybrids raised by Monsieur Année. Two of them are described above and have no rhizomes, so that leaves three known possibilities, C. 'Musaefolia Hybrida', C. 'Musaefolia Peruviana' or C. 'Musaefolia Rubra'. They may, of course, be an example of C. 'Musaefolia Grande', introduced by Herb Kelly from Venezuela in 1989.

Finally, we must not forget that there may have been subsequent cultivars raised in the interim period since Monsieur Chaté authored his classical canna book in 1867, however, all focus was switched to the floriferous Crozy Group from that time onwards. We have been lucky enough to acquire the three separate Musaefolia cultivars with rhizomes, all named. They were not spelled correctly, but hey, after 150 years that is not a big deal.