Canna 'Passionata'

A medium sized Foliage Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, lanceolate shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; oval stems, coloured purple; spikes of flowers are open, apricot and salmon, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, petals purple, partial self-cleaning, good bloomer, blooms open in the evening; 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 Ian Cooke, UK

Canna 'Argentina'

A tall Foliage Group cultivar; light green foliage, large, oblong shaped, white margin, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are erect, apricot and orange, staminodes are long and narrow, edges regular, fully self-cleaning, low bloomer; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink; tillering is prolific. 

Introduced by Ian K. Cooke, Nottingham, England, EU. Grown mainly for its architectural significance and its magnificent foliage. Synonym: C. 'Argentia'

Canna 'Passionata'

A medium sized Foliage Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, lanceolate shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; oval stems, coloured purple; spikes of flowers are open, apricot and salmon, staminodes are narrow, edges irregular, petals purple, partial self-cleaning, good bloomer, blooms open in the evening; 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 Ian Cooke, UK

Canna 'Madeira'

Photoghraph courtesy of Malcolm McFarland

A medium sized cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, white margin, branching habit; spikes of flowers are open, red with a narrow gold margin, staminodes are medium size, 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 white and purple; tillering is prolific.

One of the Island Series, in total there are: C. 'Corsica', C. 'Gran Canaria', C. 'Kreta', and C. 'Madeira'. It is said that they were originally propagated as meristem cultures and distributed as small plugs, but apparently Canna does not lend itself easily to that form of culture and they have been removed from widespread commercial production.

What confuses me is that in his Canna book Ian Cooke refers to this specimen as being deep pinkish red, but the ones being sold nowadays are a bold red. I have heard it mooted that the Island series was a marketing exercise and consists of many of the older varieties from years gone by. Certainly, C. 'Maderia' bears a strong resemblance to C. 'Madame Crozy', which we were fortunate enough to acquire some years ago.

Canna 'Intrigue'

A tall Foliage Group cultivar; purple foliage, large, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; round stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are long and narrow, edges regular, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not known if true to type, self-pollinating, capsules round; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and pink; tillering is prolific.



Apparently one of the most outstanding new introductions of the late century, its tall distinctive upright habit make a strong architectural statement. The earliest reference is Kelly's Plant World, California, USA. catalogue of 1989. However, it transpires that this cultivar was acquired by the UK National Collections who were unable to trace its origins and so gave it a new name. The real name is still out there, and we will probably be able to realign it with its real name as more of the Eastern European Botanical gardens become online. There is a strong Canna tradition in Eastern Europe, and we have acquired some of our heritage specimens from those sources.

In addition to C. 'Intrique, new names were also given at that time to other old cultivars as C. 'Mystique' and C. 'Passionata'. So, there are three old foliage group members waiting to acquire their real names.

Revisiting Canna 'Argentina'

A tall Foliage Group cultivar; light green foliage, large, oblong shaped, white margin, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are erect, apricot and orange, staminodes are long and narrow, edges regular, fully self-cleaning, low bloomer; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Ian K. Cooke, Nottingham, England, EU. Grown mainly for its architectural significance and its magnificent foliage.

Synonym: C. 'Argentia'

Ian Cooke recognised

Earlier this month at the Hampton Court RHS Show, Ian Cooke was presented with an award to honour his lifetimes work in horticulture, the Royal Horticultural Societies Associateship of Honour.

The Associateship of Honour is given to persons of British nationality who have rendered distinguished service to horticulture in the course of their working life. The number of Associates of Honour may not exceed 100 at any one time.

Ian Cooke's award was granted for his continuous committment to ornamental horticulture, landscape design and grounds management. A former holder of a National Plant Collection of Canna , Ian worked at the University of Nottingham until his recent retirement.

Our congratulations go to Ian, who is also judging the 2008 International Canna Trial, and we hope that he will retain his long-term interest in Canna.

Cannas not politically correct

Yew must be joking! Grower's fury at Monty Don's call to use only British plants

Extracted from an article by REBECCA CAMBER in the Daily Mail, 25 April 2008.

They say you reap what you sow. And when Monty Don returned to the United Kingdom from a tour of the world's greatest gardens to extol the virtues of British plants above others, he presumably hoped to inspire.

Instead, the BBC presenter has ignited controversy by telling growers to stick to our native species and turf out foreign ones.

Don - who recently hosted the Around The World In 80 Gardens series - now stands accused of trying to uproot thousands of years of plant-collecting history in the UK.

At the Oxford Literary Festival, he told his audience: "British gardeners must learn to tell you a story through their gardens."

"Gardening with indigenous plants and working with nature by tweaking it is so much more interesting than imposing on to the natural world."

"The interesting gardens are related to geographical/historical/ personal context."

"Growing plants in a garden that would not exist without you is not very interesting."

In a recent interview, the Gardeners' World presenter - who has pledged to plant only native species in his Herefordshire garden - said: "Elsewhere in the world, indigenous plants play a key part in establishing national identity."

"We have an incredibly rich and fascinating plant heritage which we downplay - so I am planting oak, ash, hawthorn, yew, aspen and alder, as well as primroses, violets, roses."

So, should we go native in our gardens? The rundown of British plants and their foreign friends

But his rallying call met with a prickly reception.

Dr Mark Johnstone, a lecturer at Myerscough College, Preston, and an expert on native versus foreign planting, said: "I'm amazed someone as high profile as Monty Don should recommend sticking to native British plants.

"He is confusing biodiversity and native plants. Plants and trees are used for social, economic and environmental reasons."

Luke Harding, manager of Westonbirt-plant centre, said: "Doing away with 'foreign' plants would effectively wipe out several thousand years of plant- collecting history.

"The vast array of non-native plants available in Britain is something that we are recognised for and that has given us our identity."

Nottingham University grounds manager Ian Cooke said: "Has Monty lost the plot? Does he think gardeners will take his suggestions seriously when we have a wonderful palette of exotic plants from around the world that seem to thrive in our unpredictable climate?"

Guy Barter, of the Royal Horticultural Society, said: "The RHS suggests that a range of native and non-indigenous garden plants are good for wildlife. There is no reason to restrict yourself to native plants, of which there are rather few. In fact it's essential for wildlife to have a healthy mix of native and non-native plants."

My personal comment would be that it is good to see Ian Cooke standing up for real gardens, and I believe that not only has Don lost the plot, he's lost the garden as well! How can anybody treat this clown seriously after coming out with such baloney?

And why? It won't save the planet, it would just make our lives so much poorer. Just to satisfy the ego of this over-opinionated TV presenter? Most definitely not a real gardener!

Sorry if I shouted a bit there, but I do feel so passionately about the many styles of gardens we have created over the centuries, and, of course, the role of Cannas, a non-native plant, in those gardens.

About Canna 'Auguste Ferrier'

A giant Foliage Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, large, oval shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; oval stems, coloured green; flowers are erect, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are long and narrow, edges regular, petals red, fully self-cleaning, low bloomer; fertile both ways, not true to type, self-pollinating, capsules round.

The earliest reference we can find to this one is George Nicholson, The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, 1888. We acquired it in 2005, and grew it alongside many of our other Foliage Group cultivars. We quickly moved the pot alongside C. 'Red Stripe' when we realized how alike they were.

Research has shown that there is no satisfactory source of origin for Red Stripe, and in his book The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas Ian Cooke wrote, "Red Stripe’ is very similar to C. indica var. purpurea and as it sets seeds readily, it is quite likely to be a variation on it." That speculative statement now seems to be treated as definitive, and it is now being called C. indica purpurea var. Red Stripe.

However, having grown both varieties alongside each other for two years, we are convinced that they are the self-same plant, and we now treat C. 'Red Stripe' as being just a synonym of the much older C. 'Auguste Ferrier'.

Research has discovered more about Canna indica var. purpurea, and that will be discussed in a future blog.