Visit Canna 'Orange Julius'

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

At times, looks like a smaller version of C. 'Wyoming', however that one is orange with red markings and variations, whereas this one is orange with golden-yellow tendencies.

Nothing seems to be known about this cultivar, it has not appeared in any research information I have seen, and never featured in any of the garden catalogues from the early 1900's. My guess is that the name has been given to an unnamed specimen in more recent times. Maybe the Mühle book will throw up some clues when we get that translated from early German to English.

Revisiting Canna 'Aphrodite'

A medium sized Premier Group cultivar; dark (137A) foliage, oblong shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; round stems, coloured purple; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured salmon, staminodes are large, labellum is pink (51A), stamen is pink, petals red, good bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by P. Schmid. Awards: Royal Horticultural Society, England – Canna Trial 2002, AGM after trial at Wisley 2002, submitted by Hart Cannas. A.M.-B.C. 1971.

However, Brunning's Catalogue, of 1906 describes an earlier cultivar with this name, it was described as broad green leaves, immense trusses of bloom, golden yellow, with large salmon spots, inner petals salmon. It feautured in the 1908 RHS Outdoor Trials, and was described in Das Geschlecht der Canna, by Árpád Mühle in 1910, with the bredding being attributed to C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU. It was also mentioned in Standardized Plant Names, 1942.

It is rumoured that the original cultivar is still grown in Austral-Asia.