Bad Canna weather in England again!

Garden and forest. / Volume 8, Issue 395. [September 18, 1895, 371-380]

Foreign Correspondence.

London Letter.

NOT only was the display at this week's meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society large and brilliant, but many novelties were shown, notwithstanding that this is the dull season when every one who can get away is out of town. A great gathering like that on Tuesday indicates how active is the interest in horticulture here since it can induce so many amateurs and professional growers to devote a day each fortnight for the admiration of the new and rare plants that have come into season since the preceding meeting.
The brilliancy of the exhibition was chiefly due to the magnificent array of Gladioli, new hybrid Cannas, Dahlias and the finest types of hardy perennials.

...

Canna 'Star of Ninety-one'

The Cannas were from Messrs. Cannell, who are among the principal growers and introducers of these increasingly popular plants from the French and German cultivators. There were numerous new varieties shown, but none of this year's novelties, in my opinion, eclipse some of the older kinds, though a few show original markings and combinations of colors. Those worthy of special note were Colibri, pale canary-yellow, with a blotch of deep crimson in the centre-this is quite distinct in color; Quasmoda, vivid scarlet, broad petals sharply edged with yellow; Beaute Poitevine, brilliant scarlet and large; Aurore, very large flower, glowing scarlet; Madame de l'Aigle, scarlet, with yellow edge, in the way of the German Königin Charlotte; Sunset Glow, orange-scarlet, yellow edge. These are all first-rate Cannas, but I do not see that such fine sorts as Madame Crozy and Star of Ninety-one are eclipsed in their particular colors by the new kinds.

This has been, one would think, a favorable season for open-air culture of Cannas, but the best I have seen are not to be compared in growth and flowers with those I have seen in the United States, or in India during the winter season, when they bloom continuously for four months if the seeds are constantly picked of. In England I fear we shall always have to grow these beautiful plants under glass.

Kew. W. Goldring.

Crozy Cannas in 1895

Garden and forest. / Volume 8, Issue 394. [September 11, 1895, 361-370]

FEW bedding plants give as much satisfaction as the modern French Canna. Cannas are easily cared for in winter, easily started in spring, and with good, rich soil are almost a certain success. The general characteristics of the florists' Canna are so well marked that, although scores of new.varieties are introduced every year, it is quite easy to include all the best in a selection of twenty. There are lacking the trifling differences we find in Roses, Carnations and Chrysanthemums which fix the popularity of one variety above another in different sections of the country. The best crimson Canna is the best everywhere. The same can be said of other colors.. In the march of improvement every step is toward a certain ideal which all growers and raisers aini for. The typical Canna should have the terminal truss, or spike, erect and well developed; the flowers should be large; the petals broad and long-limbed, so as to make an evenly rounded flower, standing well out, spreading rather than erect, not bunched, but evenly distributed on all sides of the flower-stem. The new crimson F. R. Pierson comes nearest to this ideal.

Canna 'Florence Vaughan'

Captain Suzzoni, until this season the best light-spotted yellow, is now superseded by Madame Montefiore, the flowers of which are rounder and more evenly placed. Mrs. A. D. Cowing is another fine variety of this color, but much more dwarf than either, and better suited for the front row. Eldorado, one of this season's introductions, is a very fine yellow, with faint spots. It is practically yellow. It has not, however, done well so far as I have seen, so that further trial will be required to properly test it. Should it prove free and vigorous it will be an acquisition. Florence Vaughan (see above), as a dark-spotted yellow, is without a peer. As a bedder it is practically orange, as seen from a distance of twenty-five yards. It shows up well everywhere. In form and the arrangement of its flowers on the spike it is equal to the best type. Madame Dugas is the one variety which, in point of beauty, comes nearest to Florence Vaughan, but the tones are softer and the habit more dwarf. Rose Unique is a free-blooming pink. This is about all that can be said in its favor. It suffers by comparison and should never be massed with other Cannas. Its place should be among subtropical plants.

There is some divergence from the Madame Crozy type, but no decided improvement, and no variety is fit to supplant it, though variations from the Crozy type have given us many handsome varieties. Souvenir d'Antoine Crozy (see above) is undoubtedly the best. The scarlet ground is a trifle deeper in tone; the distinct yellow border is fully one-eighth of an inch deep and uniform. A mass of this Canna. at Mr. James Farquhar's, of Claredon Hills, Massachusetts, makes a beautiful display. Mrs. Fairman Rogers, which was honored with a silver medal by. the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, has proved disappointing so far as I have seen. It was shown from plants growing indoors as a giant Crozy, with a wide yellow border. Planted out it is in no way superior to Madame Crozy. Still further deviation from the Crozy type shows a wide and irregular yellow border, denoting the influence of the yellow varieties in the breeding. Queen Charlotte is the handsomest of these that I have seen; the yellow and the crimson in it are about equally divided. Next comes Vanden Berg, Junior, with scarlet in place of the crimson ground; the petals are broad and the arrangement of the flowers good. As a bedder this is a striking novelty of medium height and sturdy growth. Madame Bouvier is similar to the last named, but a foot taller.

We have some fine varieties of scarlet and orange shade. Paul Bruant is a scarlet, extremely rich in tone, with broad, wavy, satiny petals and a large well-developed spike. Mrs. J. M. Samuels is another good variety, with large, broad petals, of bright orange-red color. It is a fine grower. Helen Gould is a large, loose-petaled, orange-red, with a peculiar crystal-like lustre, which is perfectly charming. Among orange shades it is unique. General Mirabel (see right) is also orange-red. It is compact in habit and dwarf, and for this reason it is well adapted for the front row. Sunshine is a lustrous orange, in the way of Paul Marquant, but more dwarf. Both these varieties are better under glass, their flowers scorching easily under bright sunshine. There are few good varieties among vermilion shades; C. H. Molis and Columbia are the best. The latter has probably the largest truss of any known Canna, but is not of good form, being irregular and bunched.

There has been great improvement among crimson shades during the past few years. Alphonse Bouvier (see left) was a wonder. We had never seen anything equal to it. When Charles Henderson was introduced last year it was doubted whether it could possibly be an improvement on Alphonse Bouvier. It did not get strong enough last year to establish its claim, but this year it is everywhere in grand form. We have another Canna this season even better in form and nearer the ideal. As a crimson I do not consider it quite as good as Charles Henderson. The petal limbs are yellow, forming what would appear to be a yellow tube, and the staminate petal is also yellow, which, to my mind, detracts rather than enhances its value.

In dark-leaved varieties we should expect little improvement in the size of the flowers, since they are used principally as foliage-plants, but advance in size and color of the flowers has been as great as in the green-leaved varieties. I consider J. D. Cabos the most beautiful of all. The habit is sturdy and free. The spike is neatly formed and free from laterals; the color is clear orange. President Carnot is a giant and a grand foliaged plant. C. Vaughan carries a spike of scarlet flowers equal in size and form to any green-leaved variety.

Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield.

Canna 'America' arrives

Garden and forest. / Volume 10, Issue 480. [May 5, 1897, 171-180]

Canna, America. - We have just had this Canna in flower, the third in Dammann's list of so-called "Orchid-flowering" Cannas. It has been something of a surprise to us, for in some way we had formed the notion that it was inferior to Italia and Austria. In our present opinion, however, it ranks above both. The foliage seems to be stronger and tougher, and is of a color much harder to get in Cannas. It is dark bronzy-red, with irregular and inconspicuous dashes of lighter greenish color. The flowering-stem is tall and strong, bearing a large spike of flowers of the form and size of Italia. They are, however, of a most rare and striking color, a sort of brilliant apricot-red faintly spotted with darker salmon. The centre is canary-yellow, marked with the apricot-red of the body color, very much after the pattern of Austria and Burbank, except that in America the centre is lighter-colored than the wings. The blossoms are richer in appearance than any of the earlier Orchid-flowering Cannas. They do not appear to be better in substance, though; and this seems likely to prevent the general use of all the Canna flacida crosses in outdoor bedding. If it were not for this flabby quality of their blossoms they would soon very largely supersede the French dwarf Cannas for all classes of ornamental work.

University of Vermont. F. A. Waugh.

Here is a link to Canna 'America' on the veritable Karchesky & Harris canna web site.

Footnote:

At Claines Canna, we have never been successful with this cultivar, each accession has been suffering badly with Canna virus, and so we have no photograph of our own to accompany this article.

Canna origins

The Inca Empire stretched the entire length of South America in the Andes and included virtually every type of environment imaginable, ranging from tropical to ‘cold and miserable’. The Inca developed agricultural systems and plants that could grow in these diverse habitats and they were so successful that they were able to grow enough food to feed 15 million people with their "primitive" technology, but amazingly also had a 3-7 year surplus in reserve.

The Incas grew a diverse array of plants compared to "modern" systems of agriculture. The Conquistadors forced the Incas to switch to the use of "Western" plants such as wheat, barley, carrots, and broad beans. The Incan foods included a dozen root crops, 3 grains, 3 legumes and more than a dozen fruits. These plants are still grown and sold in markets in the Andes by rural, Indian peasants. However, the white and part-Indians are resistant to their use because they are "poor peoples' food".

Several of these crops were introduced to the rest of the world: potatoes, lima beans, peppers, and tomatoes. However, the majority of Incan crops are generally unknown outside the Andes. Resistance to Incan crops and agricultural methods has begun to lessen and there are movements by South American governments to take another look at these crops. The interest and research into these are in very preliminary stages for the most part and it is not clear how many of these plants, if any, will enjoy widespread acceptance. There are many barriers to overcome including adaptation of crops to climate, daylight, cultural bias, and diseases.

Achia, aka Canna 'Achira', an Agrigultural Group hybrid, has already made this exodus and is well established all around the world. In many countries it is so well established it is considered to be indigenous, and in some it prospers so well that it is treated as a weed.

Winter Storage

Cannas are tender perennials and are always active, unlike some bulbs that require a period of dormancy to complete their annual cycle. Cannas will continuously grow for 52 weeks of the year and are ever-blooming. However, they are also frost-tender and cannot survive outdoors in areas where they will become frozen. Therefore, if you live in a frost-prone area, there are two alternatives. The first is to cover with deep mulch and let the plant take its chances; this is only possible in areas where there is light frost, such as coastal areas where a maritime influence prevails. The second is to lift it and store indoors over the winter. This article deals with that option. There is of course a third option, sometimes used by public parks departments, and that is to treat Cannas as an annual and to lift and dispose, replacing with new rhizomes next spring. However, that can also be an expensive option.

Winter storage of pot plants

You have two basic options, the first is to simply remove the pot indoors into a conservatory or heated greenhouse, position where it can get sunlight and keep it growing throughout the winter as a houseplant, taking it back outdoors again when the threat of frost has gone, and after dividing and transplanting. The second is to cut the stems back down to the ground and store the pot and its contents in a frost-free place, such as a garage or greenhouse. Keep it barely moist throughout the winter, but do not over-water. Once the weather has warmed up you are ready to divide and transplant again.

Winter storage of garden plants

Once the first frost has blackened the foliage, it is time to cut the stems back to just above ground level and dig out of the ground. It is best to leave enough stem so that you can handle the plant without damaging it, it can always be removed later. The detached stems and their attached leaves make a rich compost, so remember to add them to the compost heap, rather than just dumping them. After digging out of the ground the Cannas should be cleaned and old rhizomes removed and discarded. The remaining rhizomes should be cleaned off and rinsed in a chlorox (bleach) solution, made up by mixing 1 part chlorox to 9 parts water. The rinsing will reduce the disease risk and its spread over the winter months.

After cleaning the rhizomes should be dried for a day or two, this will dry out cut ends. Remove the dried roots and store in a seed tray (flat in the US) or box. The rhizomes should be covered with dry general-purpose compost (peat moss in the US) or vermiculite or perlite and store in a cool place in the garage or similar. In some old farmhouses, there is a root cellar, which is perfect for Canna storage. Temperatures should not fall below freezing point, as Cannas have no tolerance of freezing conditions.

To avoid excessive drying, it is best to cover the tray or box with a layer of cardboard or a plastic bag. Make sure there is some ventilation by making several holes in the bag, otherwise the rhizomes, which are only semi-dormant will be depleted of oxygen and start to ferment.

Check periodically over the winter. Squirrels and other semi-dormant mammals can find your stored rhizomes a welcome food source over winter if they can get access. If any are looking too dry then spray with a little water, just enough to keep the tray on the moist side.

Best of luck this winter...

Growing in Pots

Cannas are ideal pot growers, but they do need root space. It is no use growing a large Canna in a small pot. The growing rhizome will distort and possibly break a small plastic pot. Recommended pot sizes are:

Plant size	Metric	Imperial
Miniature	10 litres	3 gallons
Small	20 litres	5 gallons
Medium	25 litres	6 gallons
Tall	35 litres	8 gallons
Giant	50 litres	11 gallons

If growing on a patio then a terracotta pot might be preferred for aesthetic reasons, but otherwise a black plastic pot with drainage holes and carrying handles for the larger sizes is recommended. They should be filled with either a good peat based compost or a quality loam. Some growers have been known to first half fill with rotted horse manure and then top up with a good garden loam.

Regular watering is a necessity, daily during long spells without water. The initial supply of nutrients in good compost will be consumed within a month and it is recommended then to feed with a balanced fertilizer at monthly intervals during the summer, supplemented by occasional liquid feeds, and at 3 monthly intervals over the winter storage period, as Cannas only slow down their growth over winter, and are not dormant like daffodils and other bulbs.

Unlike plants growing in the open soil of beds and borders, those restricted to containers have to rely on somebody to care for them. This commitment need not be onerous and for busy people the routine of watering, feeding and grooming their plants can be slotted in at the beginning or end of their working day. If anything, it provides a valuable excuse to slow down for half an hour.

Growing in pots gives a fine chance to grow not only Canna but to experiment with companion planting and growing many plants that may not normally have been considered. Providing a riot of colour for a summer showing on an otherwise barren patio or decking is something to look forward to on those long summer days and evenings. Equally, when most summer flowering plants have stopped their colour riot, the Canna and a select few can still provide a rich pageant of colour.

Basically there are two ways that Canna in pots can work for you. The first is as large architectural plants in a large pot and grown mainly for foliage and the tropical drama they bring to the patio or decking, in fact, some people remove the flowers as they appear so as not to affect the vigour of the foliage growth. These benefit from some companion planting, if only to bring colour and interest at soil level. The second approach is to use small, modern Cannas as the centrepiece of an artisitic colour arranagement. The contrast between various foliage colours, shapes and textures can make an aesthetically pleasing display.

Pfitzer goes International, 1893

Garden and forest. / Volume 6, Issue 289. [September 6, 1893, 371-380]

The Columbian Exposition

The German department at the World's Fair shows two Cannas, in its collection on the wooded island, which appear to be new to America. One is C. ‘Germania’, a plant of the C. ‘Madame Crozy’ type, with very large, bright light red flowers faintly margined with gold and having a yellow throat. C. ‘Kaiser Wilhelm II’ is a taller plant, with flowers of clear red. Both are shown by William Pfitzer, of Stuttgart, who has also sent for exhibition a painting of a new Canna which he calls Königen Charlotte. The picture, see above, shows an enormous truss of the Madame Crozy type, but with a broader band of gold and five very large and well-developed petals.

Helping the pollinators

We have not had a good seed harvest this year, and we have automatically blamed the terrible summer we have endured. However, even if we have flowers in bloom we still need pollinators to assist when we are not there! Are we doing enough to ensure that we get enough bumblebees living by the collection? We have started planning ahead for next year to try and ensure we maximise natures natural pollinators.

Bees need flowers for sustenance, and our Cannas need bees for pollination. But it's important all the flowers we grow, not only cannas, provide the food that bees need. It's vital that we provide flowers throughout the bumblebee's life-cycle, straight through from March to September. Here in the temperate north, cannas start their flowering season in June, carrying on flowering until the frosts arrive, normally late October or early November, so that provides the goodies from early summer onwards. So, as canna growers, our gardens also need to provide flowers that will supply them with food from March through to June, when the Cannas kick-in.

The old Foliage Group varieties are particularly favoured by natures pollinators

So, the secret will be to try and keep continuous flowering, and it's also a good idea to have at least two nectar- or pollen-rich plants in flower at any one time during this spring period. The nectar feeds the adult bee, while the pollen is collected to feed the young. Of course, the more flowers you have, the more attractive your garden is to bees, so you can never have too many!

Most double flowers, especially modern roses, are of little use, because they're too elaborate. Some are bred without male and female parts, while others have so many petals bees can't get to the nectar and pollen to collect it. This is the main reason why Cannas are popular with many bees. So for spring we will have bluebell, daffodil, flowering cherry, forget-me-not, lavender, lily-of-the-valley, rhododendron, rosemary, viburnum, and thrift. For the early summer we have the early Cannas, fennel, lavender, passion flowers, thyme and vines, and then onwards there are always several hundred canna flowers open at once, so that should do the trick.

Let you know how we get on next year...

Hanging in there

It is October 24th, 2007. The weather forecasts have told us that frosts will have hit us already. Speaking on the telephone to Keith Hayward at Hart Canna (the National Canna Collection) we learn that they have already been hit by frost and have moved the collection indoors, and they are 150 miles south of us!


Here, in Worcester, we are hanging on. The tender species get zapped at 3-4 degrees centigrade and they are now safely in the poly tunnel in the background, safely ensconced for the winter. The photograph above was taken today at noon. It shows that we are still hanging in there, trying to get as much mature seed as we can. We have over a hundred cultivars that have fruit that it is not yet ripe seed. So, we are hoping for more of the final ripening of seed.


The lack of flowers over the summer, due to 2 months of continuous rain and little direct light, meant that we had few flowers, and therefore little seed. This year has been our worst year ever for seed. We may be begging seed shortly from our Canna friends around the world! In the meantime we are waiting expectantly, as long as the overnight temperatures allow.

Durability of texture, 1897

Garden and forest. / Volume 10, Issue 501. [September 29, 1897, 379-388]

The Cultivation of Cannas.

It is interesting to look back a decade and note the progress made in the cultivation of Cannas. The development of the Crozy type, from which almost every high-class variety has come, is most interesting. In no class of plants can less credit be claimed by the hybridist, for the best Cannas have resulted from careful selection. The arrangements for close fertilization are so complete that it is almost impossible, if fecundation is secured, to thwart Nature. It was predicted when the large-flowered giants of the Flaccida type, Italia and Austria, were introduced that they would supersede the Crozy type. Both these types are continuous bloomers, but what is lacking in the blooms of all Cannas, durability of texture, is still more lacking in the Italian varieties. The flowers are extremely fugacious, and what I have seen of the half a dozen or more new colors in this section they all have the same defect. The American variety of this type, the Burbank, is no better in this respect; in appearance it resembles the variety named Austria.

As pot-plants for foliage effects Cannas are highly effective, and under glass, with shade, the flowers are more durable. This is true of all Cannas; under glass the flowers have better individual development and last long enough to fill out a good round truss. Canna specialists hesitate to judge a variety by its behavior under glass; the supreme test is out in the open air. Paul Briant is superb under glass, but of little use under direct sunlight. For a bedding Canna a compact truss is a strong recommendation. Among medium growers, Queen Charlotte and its " improved " variety are the finest. The flowers are widely banded with yellow and durable. An effective combination in a circular bed may be made with plants of Queen Charlotte in the middle and Mrs. Fairman Rogers, a fine form of the Crozy type, as an edging.

Mr. Denys Zirngiebel, of Needham, Massachusetts, who makes a specialty of Cannas, considers President Cleveland, a salmon-scarlet, the finest bedding Canna of its color yet introduced. It is very compact, and in vividness of coloring it outshone all others in a large patch containing sixty varieties. It was raised by Mr. Pfister, gardener at the White House. This list comprises scarcely half a dozen first-class varieties, if the dark-leaved sorts are excluded. Bismarck, a recent variety, showed up well; it has a dwarf habit and compact and full-flowered truss of crimson flowers. Robert Christie is a beautiful salmon-red and a splendid pot-plant; Ami Pichon is a good maroon with deeper spots; Leonard Vaughan is a fine dark-leaved kind with scarlet flowers; J. D. Cabos has orange-scarlet blooms; President Carnot has luxuriant foliage.

Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield.

Now the end is near!

Well, we are now facing the final curtain, for 2007 at least!

Last night the temperatures dropped to 1 degree Centigrade, about 34 degrees Farenheit. All of the tender species succumbed, and they are just a mass of black, destroyed foliage. So, tomorrows job is to dig them up now and move them into the polytunnel, next to the central path so that they have the warmest places in the polytunnel.

We have no way of heating the main polytunnel, except for our own green approach, and we don't know if this will work. We plan to site 6 black dustbins in the polytunnel, filled with water + a little bleach to stop contamination, seal the lids on and then let them heat up during the day, and give out their heat during the night. We are not scientists, and we have no way of knowing how effective this approach will be. If anyone else has such experience or knowledge, then please give us your comments.

On the positive side, the forecast next week is for night temperature around 5 degrees, so it looks like we may get at least another week of Canna growth, before the Canna reaper arrives!

Cannas for everyone! 1896

Garden and forest. / Volume 9, Issue 426. [April 22, 1896, 161-170]
Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield.

THE freedom with which Cannas can be grown makes them everybody's plants, and it is not uncommon to see them growing thriftily in the backyards of crowded portions of the city. They are effective in every stage of their growth, and a mass of them in bloom is always pleasing.

After a rest of a month our last season's plants were gradually started and kept rather dry until active growth commenced. They began to bloom again in March, and after resting for a couple of weeks during May, which can be brought about partly by withholding water, they will be planted out again and will bloom for the remainder of the season.

Since the production of the Crozy type of Canna this has been the standard by which others have been judged, and nothing better, at least in form, was looked for, although new colors have been expected. These we have had in abundance, but as the type has always been so well defined it has been easy to decide on the merits of a novelty, and no introducer of any standing would risk his reputation by sending out inferior varieties. Now we have a new type, said to be a hybrid between Canna flaccida and the Crozy strain, one of which, Italia, has already been figured and described in GARDEN AND FOREST, and another, Austria, has also been noticed as bearing still larger flowers of similar form, pure yellow, with the exception of scarlet pencilings on the centre petals.

The introductions for the year of the Crozy type show an advance principally in larger flowers of symmetrical contour, full, and turned out on all sides of the stem so as to show a vertical face. Collectively, therefore, when best developed, they form a pyramidal spike. In beauty of outline and in the regular arrangement of its flowers, F. R. Pierson, a magnificent crimson with a golden throat, is the best of its type, and it is not likely soon to be excelled. Flamingo approaches it, although the short side spikes give the whole cluster a slightly more rounded appearance. As an element of beauty a head made up in this way is not so attractive as one bold spike. For bedding purposes it will be superior on account of the long time one flower-stem will remain in good bloom. Trilby claims favor as the Orchid Canna, and under glass it is exceedingly beautiful. It is bright yellow, with clearly cut scarlet markings in the centre, and the large flowers have more substance than many of its color.

Pierson's Black Beauty is a seedling from President Carnot. This old variety is conceded by all who have grown it to be the best of all the bronzy-leaved varieties which have also attractive flowers. No doubt, J. D. Cabos and J. C. Vaughan, bronzy-leaved varieties, with handsome salmon-colored flowers, were both derived from this. Black Beauty eclipses them all in the color of its foliage and is equally effective in bloom.

Among yellow-banded Cannas of the Crozy group, Queen Charlotte, of last year, took a leading position. But the specialist has been at work in the mean time, and will introduce Little Billee as an improved seedling from Queen Charlotte. It is dwarfer and said to be superior for massing. Under glass it certainly is a most attractive variety, and, compared with Queen Charlotte, it is slightly deeper in tone. Madame Alphonse Bouvier is another so-called Orchid Canna of singular beauty. The ground-color is scarlet, with an irregular orange band continued into the throat. Souvenir Antonin Crozy remains the best of all the true Crozy type, and it is doubtful if any of this year's introductions will equal it in beauty. Ami Pezeux competes with F. R. Pierson among maroon shades. All through the flower are scattered dots of a deeper hue in the same way as the so-called yellow Cannas are spreckled with red. Madame Rozain is a deeply toned Madame Crozy, with the addition to the characteristic yellow band of a yellow throat, which rather increases its effectiveness. Côte d'Or is described as strikingly effective for bedding, with saffron-colored flowers. It is compact and dwarf.

Canna 'Florence Vaughan'

Among older varieties, Alphonse Bouvier stands at the head. It is not of the ideal form; the terminal spike perversely droops. While flowers continue to expand on this, others take its place later, also spreading out. They continue to open in large effective clusters for a long time. Its lustrous maroon-colored flowers are unsurpassed by any variety known. Another of exactly the same type is Helen Gould, and this is bright amber. It was one of the most striking varieties in a large group here last summer. Although introduced several years ago, Paul Bruant is as yet little known. It is one of the best of crimson-flowering Cannas for pot-culture. On a plant in a ten-inch pot are three well-developed flower-stems carrying good heads of bloom, which would make this an effective decorative plant in any grouping. Florence Vaughan has been a surprise this season as a pot-plant, being the earliest to bloom and the most floriferous of any of the so-called yellow-flowered varieties.