That was the year that was - Malcolm

At least with Christmas day out of the way, no one at work or in the supermarket can now ask you if you are ‘ready’ or are ‘all set.’

All set for what? One day of eating and drinking our own body weight in eggnog and Brazil nuts? It will take weeks to remove the extra pounds I've put on!

Being my last blog of the year, I thought I would reflect on the year gone by and have a little look forward at what’s to come in 2009.

Once again we have managed to collect new varieties for the collection, and as we travel abroad we are amazed at how easy it is. We just keep our eyes open and gardeners in all countries are more than willing to share their plants with fellow gardeners. We find that a bottle of wine in return creates lasting friendships. Then those new friends become long-term friendships, and exchanges continue over the years.

New cultivars to the collection include Canna 'Alba Rosea Grandiflora', C. 'Breuil', C. 'Commandant Rivière', C. 'Guayaquilla', C. 'François Crozy', C. 'Cannes' and C. 'Capricieux'. There are others, but my memory is not as good as it was and I don't have our records near me while I write this. As usual, we are delighted by the new finds and we look forward to sharing these treasures next year.

Unfortunately, we again seem to have had too much weather, not only here in England but Canna enthusiasts around the world have reported that they were suffering changes in their normal weather patterns.

Growing tropical plants in the UK requires a tremendous amount of hard physical work, and when we have summers such as the last two years, then we do not get much enjoyment for all that work. If this weather pattern continues, so we will scale down our collection accordingly, so that we can see some return for our hard work, after all, it is only a hobby!

However, the weather has wider implications. A third miserable summer in parts of the UK could spell disaster for many species of insects, bird life and mammals, the National Trust warned recently. The charity says three wet summers in a row in many regions could mean that creatures - ranging from crane flies (often called daddy-long-legs) to species of butterflies, members of the tit family, puffins and bats - may struggle to survive in some places.

During 2008 we experimented with some Canna beds being fertilized with horse manure and others using various types of packaged fertilizer. We found that the beds fertilized by horse manure provided the best results, closely followed by those that had been fed with chicken manure pellets. We have decided to only use these two next year, using the chicken pellets when horse manure is not available.

This summer we also followed Bernard Yorkes advice and experimented with seaweed fertilizer as a supplementary feed for the Cannas. We are now totally converted and will continue using a liquid feed at weekly intervals during the main growing periods, and after long periods of poor light, as it actually improves the quality of existing foliage as well as stimulating excellent new leaves.

Nowhere have we seen listed the "perfect" mineral combinations for Cannas. We intend to experiment with that this year and see if we can formulate the perfect Canna feed. It may take several years before we can be sure that we have it right, as weather also has a high effect on Canna growth.

More and more historical information became available in 2008, as the web tries to satisfy an insatiable quest for more knowledge. I suspect 2009 will make even more knowledge accessible to us enthusiasts, and I look forward to the Canna community resolving more of the many Canna riddles still not solved.

In 2009, we have decided that we will be trying to garden in an almost 100% organic manner, but if we need a chemical to save a Canna disaster then we will use it.

Finally, Margaret and I would like to wish all of our Canna friends a Happy New Year in 2009.

Revisiting Canna 'Lucifer'

A miniature Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, ovoid shaped, spreading habit; flowers are scarlet with a wide yellow margin, partial self-cleaning, low bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is slow.

At Claines Canna, every accession has been contaminated badly with virus. We have given up trying to obtain a virus-free example.

The history of this cultivar is also very suspect. I cannot trace the name appearing in any gardening catalogues until the 1980's. Is this just a synonym for another specimen. such as Canna 'Fairy Queen', which dates back to the 1890's?

Revisiting Canna 'Madame Crozy'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, large, ovoid shaped, white margin, branching habit; oval stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are open, scarlet with a narrow gold margin, throat gold with vermilion spots, staminodes are medium size, edges regular, petals red, fully self-cleaning, outstanding bloomer; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France in 1889. Synonyms: C. 'Mrs Cozy', C. 'Mrs Croky'

This is the cultivar used as the seed parent of the Italian Group, and its historic influence in the Canna world is probably greater than any other.

Introducing Canna 'Uvurderlig'

A medium sized Foliage Group cultivar; green foliage, oval-acuminate shaped, transparent margin, upright habit; half-round stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are erect, burnt-red streaked with red, staminodes are long and narrow, edges irregular, labellum is saffron-yellow with a narrow carmine margin, style is saffron-yellow, petals purple, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, self-pollinating but not true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2006.

This is another member of our "back to basics" experiment, where we replicated the species crosses made in the 1840's and onwards to see what we could produce. The achievement with this second generation cross was producing flowers with petals (staminodes) much larger than the species. This cultivar remains part of our breeding programme and will be crossed with more species to capture more of the basics, but also will be crossed with modern Premier Group cultivars to understand what such a cross will produce.

Canna 'Arthur William Paul'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; round stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, orange and orange-red, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, petals red with farina, 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 and purple.

Named for a member of the Paul family, part of the nobility of Victorian nurserymen in the UK.

Revisiting Canna 'Assaut'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; bronze foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; round stems, coloured purple; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured scarlet, staminodes are large, fully self-cleaning, average bloomer; seed is fertile, pollen is low fertile, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose.

Introduced by Vilmorin-Andrieux in 1921.

Grown especially for its distinctive bronze foliage at Kew Gardens, where it is usually placed by the doors of the glass houses.

Synonyms: C. 'Assault', C. 'Black Night', C. 'Hercule', C. 'La Fayette', C. 'Lafayette', C. 'Vainquer', C. 'Vainqueur', C. 'Vorwärts', C. 'Vorwörts'

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Looking suitably festive, Canna 'Fabricant Berg' puts on his best foot forward this Christmas in Australia.

A very tall Italian-type Canna with green foliage. It was released in Australia in 1915 along with a flurry of other Italian-type cannas which appear to have been imported from the USA as the list includes Wintzer's medium height 'Pennsylvania' and 'Mrs. Kate Grey'. Both of these are also still in cultivation here.

By 1926, 'Fabricant Berg' was being described in these old catalogues as having dark foliage. It was not unusual to find differing descriptions as time went by from the initial release period. Staff changed, labels disappeared.

Identical in habit, foliage and height is another Italian-type which appears to be a seed sibling to 'Fabricant Berg', differing in the flower by a lack of gold fringing around the staminodes, but being the same shades of scarlet red flecked with crimson and having similar gold flecking in the centre.


This is believed to be Canna 'Ivor Evans' but the identity has not yet been confirmed by descriptions from sources other than Australian Nursery catalogues from 1910-1918.

We have here in Australia what appears to be yet another sibling of the above two cannas. All three are exceptionally tall in their flowering spike and withstand trying weather conditions better than most of the other Italians. All have very broad, large, spoon shaped green leaves that are most distinctive.

This third giant was released here in 1915 and sold for decades under the name 'Frederick Benary'. Its flowers are very large, dark orange with a distinctive gold border and gold flecking in the centre extending into a yellow throat. The flowers last and last and fade to pink tones as they age. By mid season one needs a stepladder to get up close and personal with Fred's flowers as he flowers at a height even taller than the preceeding two cultivars.

Descriptions in some overseas catalogues of the period differ. Some have Fred as a red Canna with dark foliage and I have found one instance of it matching the Australian description of green foliaged, with an orange flower with gold border and gold in the centre.

Eventually we will track down the positive identity of this giant amongst cannas. Meanwhile it must carry the name it has born in Australia since 1915 of 'Frederick Benary'. Australian nurseries described it as "The tallest Canna grown", and they were not far off the mark. I would say that Fred is the equal tallest Italian-type Canna grown. The other beanpole is another of my mysterious foundlings that await identification.

My plant of so-called 'Frederick Benary' came to me from the old Bendigo collection which is now largely defunct although efforts are being made by the Friends of the Gardens in Bendigo to re-establish a Canna collection at gardens at White Hills, Bendigo.

Hide that junk.

Just like to share this solution for hiding a pile of junk stashed in a rellies backyard corner. Spotted yesterday whilst imbibing some Christmas cheer in northern Victoria, Australia.

Canna 'Wyoming', one of the Italian-type cannas raised in the USA by Luther Burbank, and released in Australia in 1911, is truly magnificent when well grown. Pictured here, it provides an effective screen for an old car awaiting restoration for the past five years. Who knows, it could even save a marriage! The rest of the yard was immaculate and groomed to within an inch of its life.

These flowers gave me a crick in my neck trying to photograph them up close. They were at least 3 metres (10 feet) tall and we are only in the early part of our Canna season.

This stand receives no manuring and only occasional watering in our long hot summers. The rhizomes have never been lifted or divided but remain in situ year in, year out, as is the custom in our equable climate.

Tax on horse manure

A leading UK business pressure group, FPB, says it is appalled that the horse industry is to be hit with a new stealth tax - on horse muck.

Under legislation to be enforced this July by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, equestrian businesses - from livery yards to studs and riding schools - which compost muck to use as fertiliser will have to obtain a permit costing up to £500.

The FPB's Head of Research Andrew Mowlah said the legislation would hit smaller businesses hardest.

"Yet again it appears the Government has failed to conduct a proper regulatory impact assessment and therefore small firms are going to be clobbered by this legislation,' he said. "For small yards composting is a viable and much-used alternative. Our members are telling us that this new tax is absurd and has come completely out of the blue. Manure has been spread for as long as land has been farmed, it is ludicrous now to suddenly slap a stealth tax on the industry."

Mr Mowlah said the legislation came as a double whammy, as from July 1, to compost the waste businesses will need to have installed leak-proof concrete flooring beneath the muck heaps with a sealed holding tank for the liquid which runs off - all at a cost which could run into the hundreds of pounds.

Comment from FPB member:

Keith Sanders, Manager, Northcote Heavy Horse centre, Lincolnshire " Who on earth thinks of taxing horse muck? It's an absolute farce. I'll be the first to take a lorry load of dung to Downing Street to make my point. This could cost me thousands, and yet I have no visit from a Government inspector asking how it will affect me. But no doubt the legislation will create more bureaucracy and bureaucrats. But whoever thought of this legislation does not know their dung. Horse muck is not as wet as pig or cow because it is about 60 per cent straw, so there is no need to go to the hugely expensive lengths of building new concrete floors. This will cripple many horse businesses who are already struggling with the taxation burden."

Note Manure from privately kept horses is classed as household waste and will be exempt. But manure from businesses is classified as industrial waste, so the way it is kept, treated and disposed of is currently subject to the Waste Management and Licensing Regulations (1994).One of the stipulations of these regulations is that muck must be taken away by a licensed remover, unless it is composted on site for use as a fertiliser.

A muck heap of less than five tonnes will not incur a charge, but one of between five and 50 tonnes will cost £252 for the first year and £174 thereafter, while 50-400 tonnes will cost £482 for the first year and £402 each year after that. The average horse produces nine tonnes of manure a year.

My own take

Does this mean that we will find it ever harder to obtain supplies of good manure? Just as we had decided to switch over totally to horse manure after a successful experiment this last summer. We have a planet being destroyed by global warming, whilst the Government is taxing green measures that can save a terrific amount from the carbon footprint incurred by producing chemical fertilizers. It beggars belief!

Revisiting Canna 'Lippo'

A medium sized Italian Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green + purple; panicles of flowers are open, orange-red with a gold margin, staminodes are large, edges irregular, labellum is orange-red marked with gold, stamen is orange-red with gold marks, style is red, petals red with farina, partial self-cleaning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is average.

Synonym: C. 'Lippo's Kiwi'

Danger in manures

Recently, we have heard from gardeners and allotment holders in the UK who have been concerned about possible herbicide residues in the manure and composts they apply to their soil. The affected gardens and allotments have been contaminated by manure originating from farms where the hormone-based herbicide aminopyralid has been sprayed on fields.

There have been some reported incidences involving possible damage to sensitive crops such as potatoes and beans. The manure possibly came from farm animals or horses fed on pasture or conserved forage from grassland previously treated with aminopyralid - an active ingredient found in the products Forefront*, Pharaoh* or Banish*. This manure has unfortunately been supplied to a small number of gardeners and allotment holders and appears to have resulted in damage to some sensitive crops.

Manure, from horses or farm livestock, is a wonderful soil conditioner and natural fertiliser, and gardeners and allotment holders should not be afraid of using it. Just be careful and enquire if any of those chemicals has been used on the grassland or feed, if so it is best avoided.

Revisiting Canna 'Black Knight'

A small Italian Group cultivar; purple foliage, oval shaped, arching habit; round stems, coloured purple; flowers are reflexed, self-coloured crimson-maroon, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, low bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile.

Introduced by S. Percy-Lancaster, Alipore Cannas, Calcutta, India. The earliest reference is in "An Indian Garden" by S. Percy-Lancaster published 1928. In the collection of the Royal Agri-Horticultural Society , Alipore, Calcutta, India. Dr. Khoshoo & Dr. I. Guha: Evolution of Cultivated Canna 1966. Synonym: C. 'Black Velvet'

Brian Williams excellent year

Mr Brian Williams reports that he has had an excellent year in creating new seed crosses, and has spent more time breeding Cannas in 2008 than all previous years combined!

Brian also attempted some far fetched hybrid crosses and was fortunate enough to get a small number of seeds from some unlikely, but very interesting parents.

Canna 'Wyoming' is an Italian group cultivar and is considered to be seed sterile, yet Brian produced 4 seeds from it and all of them were solid and had a good weight to them. In previous years Brian has produced seeds, but they had no embryos.

The four seeds were despatched to a friend who is germinating them in a TC laboratory, but, as yet, there is no word on how they are progressing.

Canna 'Bengal Tiger' is another Italian Group cultivar that is considered to be seed sterile, yet Brian was also able to produce 4 seeds. One seed did not fully mature due to the cold snap at the end of the season. The other 3 seeds looked very healthy and last week Brian scarified the surface of the seeds and planted them in trays. One has already germinated, but has not yet produced a full leaf. It will be interesting to see how that progresses, and the first question is whether the seedlings will inherit the variegated foliage of the seed parent.

Canna 'Pink Sunburst', aka 'Pringle Bay' has also produced around 15 seeds, which have all been planted. We have ourselves grown seedlings in the past from this cultivar, but they have all had a poor pink flower and mundane green foliage; however Brian has a habit of producing surprises so we will watch with great interest.

Brian has promised to publish some photographs as these seedlings grow-on, and we will watch out for them with interest.

Brian's Botanicals

Natural fertilizers

In recent correspondence Mr Bernard Yorke, aka the Canna Wizard of Oz, commented that "This year I have been introduced again to the wonders of horse manure in and around canna plants."

"The results have been somewhat outstanding, but then again, we are in the middle of a very hot summer with several storms each week. Last night the skies looked like something from a science fiction movie, but we survived with no damage, but again lots of rain."

Bernard have been using horse manure all this summer, particularly as mulch on the light sandy beds where in the middle of summer, the hot sandy soil actually cooks the rhizomes. As Bernard states, "The present results appear to be most satisfactory." In subsequent mail Bernard reports how he has stopped using any other fertilizers this year as the plants are excelling themselves with the combination of an abundance of nutrients and as much water as they can handle!

Those who have followed my previous blogs on fertilizers, the dangers of mono-culture and the desirability of crop rotation will not be surprised that I have also decided to go down that route. Canna features heavily as one of the most successful plants at treating wetlands and waste-water, and basically cannot be overfed! The use of artificial fertilizers does not seem to be the best way forward for us with many hundreds of stock plants to grow each year, as well as our new seedlings in our breeding programme.

Bernard Yorke - Canna Biz

Revisiting Canna 'Puppet'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; panicles of flowers are open, orange rayed with red, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, stamen is orange with red stripes, petals purple, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is average.

Looking at this cultivar, it is hard to believe that it is a recent introduction, and I believe that it is a heritage cultivar from the 1890's when this size flower was considered to be large (which it was when compared with the small species size flowers). Does anybody have any information or ideas?

Earliest winter in 30 years

Britain is shivering through the coldest start to winter for more than 30 years, the Met Office has revealed. The average temperature for the first third of December was a chilly 1.7C (35.1F)- compared to the long term average of 5.2C (41.4F), according to official figures.

One of the polytunnels in which the stock plants of the Claines Canna Collection are over-wintering, with horticultural fleece providing an extra protection from a hard winter.

The frosts and wintery showers of the last few weeks - which saw night-time temperatures plunge to minus 12.7C (9.1F) - are in stark contrast to the recent run of mild winters which have seen lawnmowers in action in December, and roses blooming in January.

The last time Britain had such as cold start to December was in 1976 - only a few months after the scorching drought summer. Then the average temperature was a chilly 0.8C (33.4F).

Climate scientists say 2008 will be the coldest year globally this decade. However, they also point out that it remains the 10th warmest year on record in the UK and that the long term trend remains rising world temperatures. We live in hope that next summer might be more typical of global warming, and not global wetting!

What makes it feel surreal is that a correspondent from Moscow is complaining that this is the warmest December they can ever remember, and they want some snow, and Bernard Yorke in Australia is complaining of too much rain in Victoria, which has had droughts for years and years. It has all gone topsy-turvy!

In the meantime, we are pleased with our new approach to keep the stock plants growing over the winter in unheated polytunnels, protected by a layer of fleece. The only attention that has been required so far was spraying with a fungicide after wooly mildew appeared in one of the tunnels.

We have not yet put this approach to the ultimate test of a January freeze lasting for weeks, which could see the ground in the polytunnel frozen to a depth where it affects the rhizomes. I hope that we do not have to! However, on reflection, I think that we may have to consider investing in some bottled gas heaters to protect against that extremity.

Revisiting Canna 'Picasso'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, white margin, spreading habit; spikes of flowers are open, yellow heavily spotted with red, staminodes are large, edges lightly frilled, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is average.

Awards: AGM after trial at RHS Wisley 2002 , entered by Hart Cannas. Yellow with red spots, but not what everybody calls ‘Picasso’. In addition, there is no clear history for this cultivar, as we do not know either when it was introduced or who introduced it. Maybe it is just a synonym for the oldie C. 'Gladiator', which vanished out of circulation about the time that C. 'Picasso' began to appear in catalogues. I have no evidence for such an assertion, but it is an interesting theory.

Revisiting Canna 'Gladiator'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; foliage green; spikes of flowers are open, yellow heavily spotted with red, staminodes are medium size; fertility unknown. Introduced by Antoine Wintzer of The Conard & Jones Co., West Grove, PA, USA.

Awards: Awarded the AM at the 1908 RHS Indoor Canna Trials held at Wisley, England. Still in private collections in the USA and EU.

Australian Group marches on

Bernard Yorke writes from Australia, where the Canna season is in full swing, to show us the F2 generation of the Australian Group cultivars he founded when he first crossed Canna 'Red Stripe' with the Italian Group. The new group has vast potential, as anyone can see from this photograph.

Bernard stated that the foliage, as can be seen from the picture above of an, as yet, unnamed cultivar, has an impressive texture and they are quite large, as well as thick in structure.

My own reaction is to say "Look at the size of the staminodes on that flower! That is almost a Premier Group sized flower."

I fully intend to replicate Bernard's crosses this year, as the mixture of Foliage group leaves with large flowers is very impressive.

Bernard Yorke - Canna Biz

Revisiting Canna 'Princess Di'

A small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; round stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are open, cream with a pink blush, throat pale yellow markings, staminodes are long and narrow, edges lightly frilled, stamen is pale yellow marks, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Kent Kelly, Quality Gladiolus, Arkansas, USA.

Revisiting Canna 'Red Futurity'

A small Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured red, staminodes are narrow, edges regular, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by Kent Kelly, Quality Gladiolus, Arkansas, USA.

Revisiting Canna 'Queensland Arrowroot'

A giant Agriculture Group cultivar; green foliage, very large, oblong shaped, spreading habit; spikes of flowers are erect, self-coloured red, staminodes are long and narrow, edges regular, petals red with farina, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 7 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is prolific.

A hybrid, transported to Australia where it has now become an environmental problem in the wild, because it is so prolific. However, the temperate northern climate restrains it, and there it is a remarkable architectural specimen. Has the potential to be grown for conversion to a biofuel, due to its extremely high starch levels, higher than any other plant.

Synonym: C. 'Australian arrow root'

Revisiting Canna 'Puck'

A small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; spikes of flowers are open, pale yellow with pale-purple spots, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; 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 W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1950. Synonym: C. 'Jasmine'

Revisiting Canna 'Safrano'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, branching habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured saffron-yellow, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; 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 prolific.

Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France in 1890.

This plant is so resilient and is tough as old nails. This would always be in my collection, in spite of its age! It's flowering period is impressive, and it just keeps going and going. Just get one is my advice!

Revisiting Canna 'Rosamond Cole'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, spreading habit; panicles of flowers are red with a yellow margin, staminodes are large, edges irregular, not self-cleaning, average bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is average.

Synonyms are legion, amongst them are: C. 'Rosamond Coles', C. 'Rosamund Cole', C. 'Rosamund Coles', C. 'Rose mon cole', C. 'Rosemond Cole', C. 'Rosemond Coles', C. 'Rosemund Cole'

The earliest reference that we can trace is Montgomery Ward, USA, Catalogue 1949. Looking at the image, it is obvious from the size of the lip (labellum) that this is an Italian Group cultivar. So many imposters have been presented to us that are obviously Crozy Group, and it is time that we weeded out these obvious wrong ones.

Revisiting Canna 'Abraham Lincoln'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; dark green and red variegated foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; round stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, red speckled with salmon, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals purple, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is average.


The unique dark striations on the foliage, topped by pink flowers with salmon markings, together create a unique combination.

The earliest reference is 1942 Kelsey and Dayton, "Standardized Plant Names".

Hard to store Cannas

Another vintage catalogue arrives, and Dreer's Catalogue of 1937 has an item that I feel I should share, as it is quite interesting.

The catalogue had a boxed feature called "Two Sensational Cannas". It referred to C. 'Mary Thilow' and C. 'Mrs. Pierre S du Pont'.

The boxed item stated that "These two varieties, owing to the fact that the roots are very difficult to store, will be supplied as growing plants only. These will be ready March 1st."

It has been our experience that the most difficult Cannas to store over the winter are the Aquatic Group. This is worse for the F1 aquatic hybrids like C. 'Ra', and C. 'Wye', but also applies to those F2 hybrids like C. 'Burbank', C. 'Austria', and C. 'Roma'.

I have only read about C. 'Mary Thilow', mentioned above, and it would be interesting to hear from anybody else who has any knowledge of that cultivar in recent times. The description in the Deer's catalogue stated that it has "Bronze foliage and brilliant rosy salmon flowers. 4ft (1.3m)."

"Bendigo Banana" Canna flowers at last.

After waiting five years for my unidentified Canna, nicknamed the "Bendigo Banana" to flower, I almost missed it. We are in the very early part of the Canna bloom season here in Australia.

After a mild winter, some of the cannas just sat still and waited for rain and warmer weather. Some did not die back with the two or three light frosts we experienced. Temperatures did not fall below 2C.

The "Bendigo Banana" was looking rather ratty in early Spring and I did not expect the stems sitting there so miserably would carry on and complete their lifecycle. After waiting five years for this mystery Canna to flower, I had given up.

You might recall that this is the Canna that does not have rhizomes. Instead, it has a swelling at the base of the stem from which new stems sprout.

Wandering the Canna stockbeds bemoaning the prolific growth of weeds, I saw a miserably skinny flower spike waving in the breeze. The blooms were almost finished. I scrambled for my camera and here is the result:

The bloom strongly resembles Canna tuerckheimii, but is scarlet red whereas photos I have of C. tuerckheimii taken in the wild, show a more orange tone to the flowers. Here's a closeup of one flower. My fat thumb will give some idea of scale.

The final pic shows the "Bendigo Banana" in late Autumn, looking tattered and torn and very Musa-like. Hence the nickname.

The question of this canna's identity still remains. There is no mention in any literature about C. tuerckheimii having an absence of rhizomes. Then also, the flower colour is red and not orange. Is this a geographical subspecie of C. tuerckheimii?

Revisiting Canna 'Phœbe'

A tall Italian Group cultivar; dark green foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are large, edges lightly frilled, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, late bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU. Synonym: C. 'Fire Red'

Revisiting Canna 'Feuerzauber'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, stamen is pale yellow with orange-red edge and marks, petals purple, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1922. Inevitably, the name has been changed according to the country selling it. This is not the easiest name for non-German speakers to live with. So, we have the following synonyms: C. 'Feau Magique', C. 'Feu Magique', C. 'Feur Zauber', C. 'Fire Magic'.

At one this name was also applied to C. 'Australia' but this was mistaken, as C. 'Feuerzauber' is a Crozy Group cultivar and C. 'Australia' is an Italian Group variety.

Wot! no rhizomes?

Link to: Wot! no rhizomes?

Revisiting Canna 'Falstaff'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, lanceolate shaped, arching habit; triangular stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are open, salmon rayed with scarlet, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, petals red, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2006. This is an outcome of our project to emulate the original Année crossing, and then the interbreeding that produced larger and larger flowers under the heading of the Crozy Group. This variety has had no exposure to C. iridiflora and has certain advantages to breeders as a result.