In the early 20th century, the Rozain-Boucharlat establishments were prolific hybidists. Their nursery’s at Cuires-les-Lyon, France was the origin of many canna cultivars. Their catalogue of the year 1910 documented 110 canna varieties, many of them being their own creations.
One of their principal successes was the obtaining of a pure pink colour which didn’t exist at that time (only pale pink and salmon pink existed). The obtaining of these cultivars C. ‘Francis Berthie’ and C. ‘Prince de Galles’ encouraged them to try for a purer colour. In 1922, the cultivar C. ‘Prince Charmant’ with its bright carmine pink colour brought the desired tone to the collection. This is still a popular cultivar, found in many collections.
However, the improvements didn’t stop there and in 1930, the Rozain-Boucharlat’s variety C. 'Centenaire de Rozain-Boucharlat', often shortened to C. 'Centenaire', appeared in their list. This variety which is small, floriferous, with big spikes and carmine, lilac shaded flowers is still found at many horticulturists' and cities’ green spaces. It was released in celebration of the first 100 years of the company.
