One of the most interesting and valuable results of recent French horticultural effort is found in the new race of dwarf Cannas, with large and brilliantly colored flowers, produced by M. Crozy, of Lyons. A large bed of these plants in the the Trocadero, in Paris, was surrounded all summer by crowds of people. Too much has not been said of the beauty of these plants and of their value for decorative purposes, whether planted in the open ground or grown in pots or tubs. The colors of the flowers of some of the varieties are surprisingly brilliant.
There seems no good reason, however, calling the plants "dwarf," except that they begin to flower when they are not more than twenty inches high, for they grow, especially in this country, when generously treated, to a height of six or eight feet. Seventeen of the new varieties exhibited at Paris for the first time, which, on the whole, are no better than those sent out by M. Crozy during the past two years, are described in a recent issue of the Revue Horticole. No one who has not seen a collection of M. Crozy's Cannas in good condition, can form the faintest idea even of the beauty and the brilliancy of the flowers of the plants. 
Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France in 1902. Synonym: C. 'Madame Paul Caseneuve'. It was named for the glamorous wife of French-born actor Paul Cazeneuve (born May 11, 1871 in Paris, France) who spent 30 years on French and American stages supporting famous stars while starring in his own productions. Cazeneuve was made a director with the Fox company in 1920, when he took over direction on Buck Jones' first Western for the company, Square Shooter (1920). The original director, Charles Swickard, had found himself out of a job when William Fox termed the daily rushes "miserable, terrible, and rotten," but Cazeneueve's rescue did not further his fortunes with the company and he spent the remainder of his career playing supporting roles.
Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France in 1891. Distributed in the USA by the Vaughan Seed Company.
In the 1990's there was confusion over this heritage cultivar and an Italian Group cultivar with pale yellow background and orange blobs was given this name by over-enthusiastic horticulturalists. The correct name for that particular cultivar was C. 'Roma', see below.
Canna 'Roma'
Synonyms: C. 'Antoine Barton', C. 'Zebra Cole'
The earliest reference is Subtropical Gardening by Robinson 1868. He describes it as "Rhizomes large. Stalks strong, green. Leaves large, glaucous-green, and acuminate. Flowers large, bright orange. Free flowering; fine habit. Height over 6 ft."
Awards: 1897, Award of Merit, Royal Horticultural Society.
Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France. Very similar to C. 'Strasbourg', emminently suitable for pots and tubs. It is a very poor specimen, which makes us wonder if this is the original raised by the breeder, or yet another poor substitution by the horticultural industry. I would not care to put my name to this below average specimen, and it is not recommended.
Synonym: C. 'Brilliant'
