Why more aquatic cultivars?

About seven years ago I built a small pond in the garden, its dimensions are about 2 metres by 1 metre. Not very large, but in keeping with the size of the garden. This is typical of garden ponds in the UK, somewhere for a couple of fish, a small fountain, a few aquatic plants, especially a water lily, and the inevitable frogs.
Naturally, I immediately planted the Longwood series of aquatic Canna in the special aquatic pots and settled back to enjoy them. True to their reputation they did not fail me as they are true aquatics, flourishing under 15-20cm (approx 6 inches) of water and they grew and they grew. This was their failing for me, they are far too large for a small garden pond. Their height made the pool, which was my pride and joy, look like a small puddle.
The Longwood aquatic cultivars were bred for the large ornamental ponds and lakes of Longwood garden, not for the typical suburban garden puddle. The series consists of Cannas 'Endeavor', 'Ra', 'Erebus' and 'Taney'. My favourite is probably C. 'Erebus', a fine pink specimen, but the intense yellow of C. 'Ra' (below right) is always eye-catching, and the unusual apricot/salmon orange colour of C. 'Taney' is always interesting and last, but not least, we have C. 'Endeavor' (above right), with its attractive bright red flowers.


However, I digress. We had already recreated the earliest Canna species cross, having crossed C. glauca with C. indica. However, instead of obtaining the 2 metre (6'6") tall C. 'Annei', we had obtained seedlings that grew to under 1 metre (3'3"), but with the same glaucous blue, lance shaped foliage. So we decided to see if we could create a series of aquatic cultivars based on these seedlings which all took after the aquatic C, glauca, and more suitable for the small garden pond than the expansive ponds and lakes of Longwood Gardens.

Eventually we ended up with Canna 'Avon', a pale yellow speckled with cerise, Canna 'Severn', which is a golden yellow with some small red spotting, C. 'Usk', that is a distinctive self-coloured burnt-red, C. 'Wye', which is pink tinged with canary-yellow, and C. 'Teme', the 'white' of the series, but really a pleasant self-coloured ivory. Others are still undergoing evaluation, and we are still trying to create the difficult orange one.

Was it worth while? I think so, they look just right and in balance in our small pool, and we find that the gaucous blue, lance shaped foliage that they all share adds the final touch of elegance.
Over the next weeks we will try and post articles on some of these new cultivars.

Canna 'Taney'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured orange, staminodes are narrow, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is slow.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA. Supposedly named after a ship. However, infamously in 1857 and just two days after the inauguration of US President James Buchanan, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote "Negroes had no rights which any white man was bound to respect.”

Synonym: C. 'Tangy'

Canna 'Ra'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured yellow, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not true to type or self-pollinating, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white; tillering is slow.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA.

Canna 'Erebus'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured salmon, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is slow.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA in 1977. Earned 'Award of Garden Merit' (AGM) in the outdoor trials held at RHS Wisley, England in 2002.

Canna 'Endeavour'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; oval stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured red (RHS 45B), staminodes are narrow, edges regular, fully self-cleaning, blooms open in the early morning; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is average. 

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA.

This was from a cross with a red-flowered unnamed terrestial canna, the pollen was from C. glauca from Brazil. It honours the British explorer Captain Cook's ship "Endeavour". 

Canna 'Constitution'

A medium sized Conservatory Group cultivar; bronze foliage, oval-acuminate shaped, branching habit; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured pink (RHS 54C), throat cream, staminodes are large, edges irregular, stamen is yellow with pink markings; fertility unknown; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink; tillering is average.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA.

Canna 'Chesapeake'

A medium sized Conservatory Group Cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; oval stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured cream, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals yellow, 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 R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA.

Canna 'Taney'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured orange, staminodes are narrow, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is slow.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA. Supposedly named after a ship. However, infamously in 1857 and just two days after the inauguration of US President James Buchanan, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote "Negroes had no rights which any white man was bound to respect.”

Synonym: C. 'Tangy'

Canna 'Lenape'

A medium sized Conservatory Group Cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, transparent margin, branching habit; round stems, coloured green; flowers are cupped, yellow (RHS 12A-C) heavily spotted with red (RHS 33A), staminodes are large, edges regular, 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 average.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA. Canna 'Lenape' cannot receive the AGM recommended to it in the 2002 RHS Canna Trials until it is readily available for purchase in the UK.

Canna 'Erebus'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured salmon, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is slow.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA in 1977. Earned 'Award of Garden Merit' (AGM) in the outdoor trials held at RHS Wisley, England in 2002.

Revisiting Canna 'Constitution'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; bronze foliage, oval-acuminate shaped, branching habit; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured pink (RHS 54C), throat cream, staminodes are large, edges irregular, stamen is yellow with pink markings; fertility unknown; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink; tillering is average.

Introduced by R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA.

Introducing Canna 'Trent'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; flowers are open, self-coloured sulphur-yellow, staminodes are long and narrow, edges irregular, labellum is burnt-red with a wide sulphur-yellow margin, stamen is burnt-red, style is sulphur-yellow, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; fertile both ways, self-pollinating but not true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white; tillering is average.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2007. The breeding is Canna 'Endeavor' x C. 'Thames'.

The Claines Canna Aquatics have been bred to populate garden ponds that are just a few metres square, compared with the much larger Longwood Aquatics destined for huge ponds and lakes.

Introducing Canna 'Mersey'

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; light green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured cerise-pink, staminodes are long and narrow, edges irregular, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; fertile both ways, self-pollinating but not true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is average.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2007. The breeding is Canna 'Avon' x C. 'Wye'.

The Claines Canna Aquatics have been bred to populate garden ponds that are just a few metres square, compared with the much larger Longwood Aquatics destined for huge ponds and lakes.

Why more aquatic cultivars?

About seven years ago I built a small pond in the garden, its dimensions are about 2 metres by 1 metre. Not very large, but in keeping with the size of the garden. This is typical of garden ponds in the UK, somewhere for a couple of fish, a small fountain, a few aquatic plants, especially a water lily, and the inevitable frogs.

Naturally, I immediately planted the Longwood series of aquatic Canna in the special aquatic pots and settled back to enjoy them. True to their reputation they did not fail me as they are true aquatics, flourishing under 15-20cm (approx 6 inches) of water and they grew and they grew. This was their failing for me, they are far too large for a small garden pond. Their height made the pool, which was my pride and joy, look like a small puddle.

The Longwood aquatic cultivars were bred for the large ornamental ponds and lakes of Longwood garden, not for the typical suburban garden puddle. The series consists of Cannas 'Endeavor', 'Ra', 'Erebus' and 'Taney'. My favourite is probably C. 'Erebus', a fine pink specimen, but the intense yellow of C. 'Ra' (below right) is always eye-catching, and the unusual apricot/salmon orange colour of C. 'Taney' is always interesting and last, but not least, we have C. 'Endeavor' (above right), with its attractive bright red flowers.

However, I digress. We had already recreated the earliest Canna species cross, having crossed C. glauca with C. indica. However, instead of obtaining the 2 metre (6'6") tall C. 'Annei', we had obtained seedlings that grew to under 1 metre (3'3"), but with the same glaucous blue, lance shaped foliage. So we decided to see if we could create a series of aquatic cultivars based on these seedlings which all took after the aquatic C, glauca, and more suitable for the small garden pond than the expansive ponds and lakes of Longwood Gardens.

Eventually we ended up with Canna 'Avon', a pale yellow speckled with cerise, Canna 'Severn', which is a golden yellow with some small red spotting, C. 'Usk', that is a distinctive self-coloured burnt-red, C. 'Wye', which is pink tinged with canary-yellow, and C. 'Teme', the 'white' of the series, but really a pleasant self-coloured ivory. Others are still undergoing evaluation, and we are still trying to create the difficult orange one.

Was it worth while? I think so, they look just right and in balance in our small pool, and we find that the gaucous blue, lance shaped foliage that they all share adds the final touch of elegance.

Over the next weeks we will try and post articles on some of these new cultivars.

Revisiting Canna 'Chesapeake'

A medium sized Conservatory Group Cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; oval stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured cream, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals yellow, 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 R.J. Armstrong, of Longwood Gardens, USA.