Canna 'Party Piece'

Canna 'Party Piece' is a small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, ovoid shaped, spreading habit; spikes of flowers are open, yellow-orange with a narrow gold margin, staminodes are large, fully self-cleaning, outstanding 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 pink; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2008. The breeding is Canna 'Louis Cottin' x open. Once again, Louis Cottin has proved to be a great seed parent.

Canna 'Louis Cottin'

A small Premier Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; triangular stems, coloured green + purple; panicles of flowers are open, yellow-orange and apricot, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, petals purple with farina, 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 pink; tillering is prolific.

Synonym: C. 'Louise Cotton'. It is not known who introduced this cultivar.

Named for Louis Emile Cottin, who attempted to assassinate the French president and fought in the Durruti Column in the Spanish Civil War. Nicknamed Milou, born 14 March 1896 - Creil, France, died 8 September 1937 - Farlete, Spain.

Emile Cottin was raised at Compiegne in a working class family, becoming a carpenter-cabinet maker. He starting reading Zola and became interested in libertarian ideas.

From a breeding perspective, this is one of the best seed parents around, producing full, round Premier Group flowers, and the colour combinations it can produce are not yet exhausted. Anyone wanting to begin experimenting with new Canna varieties could not do better than to start using this one as a seed parent.

Canna 'Carolina Gold'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured purple with white farina; flowers are open, self-coloured gold, staminodes are large, edges ruffled, labellum is gold, stamen is gold, style is gold, petals purple with farina, 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 purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Donnie Hallman, Deerspring Nursery, South Carolina, USA. The breeding is Canna 'Rosy Lear' x Canna 'Louis Cottin'.

Canna 'Party Piece'

One of the collections stock plants that has prospered this year is Canna 'Party Piece'. In spite of the foul weather it has already grown three stems and its spikes of flowers have been truly eye-catching.

It is a small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, ovoid shaped, spreading habit; spikes of flowers are open, yellow-orange with a narrow gold margin, staminodes are large, fully self-cleaning, outstanding 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 pink; tillering is prolific. 

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2008. The breeding is Canna 'Louis Cottin' x open. Once again, Louis Cottin has proved to be a great seed parent.

Canna 'Party Piece'

A small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, ovoid shaped, spreading habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured yellow-orange with a thin yellow border, staminodes are large, fully self-cleaning, outstanding 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 pink; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2008. The breeding is Canna 'Louis Cottin' x open.

Revisiting Canna 'Louis Cottin'

A small Premier Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; triangular stems, coloured green + purple; panicles of flowers are open, yellow-orange and apricot, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, petals purple with farina, 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 pink; tillering is prolific.

Synonym: C. 'Louise Cotton'. It is not known who introduced this cultivar.

Named for Louis Emile Cottin, who attempted to assassinate the French president and fought in the Durruti Column in the Spanish Civil War. Nicknamed Milou, born 14 March 1896 - Creil, France, died 8 September 1937 - Farlete, Spain.

Born 14th March 1896 at Creil, Emile Cottin was raised at Compiegne in a working class family, becoming a carpenter-cabinet maker. He starting reading Zola and became interested in libertarian ideas.

From a breeding perspective, this is one of the best seed parents around, producing full, round Premier Group flowers, and the colour combinations it can produce are not yet exhausted. Anyone wanting to begin experimenting with new Canna varieties could not do better than to start using this one as a seed parent.

Introducing Canna 'Theresa Blakey'

A small Crozy Group cultivar; bronze foliage, ovoid shaped, spreading habit; flowers are open, apricot (RHS 33B) with a salmon (RHS 29A) blush, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, stamen is marked with gold; fertile both ways, not known if true to type, not self-pollinating, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2005.

Nothing can replace the real Theresa Blakey, but this is a fitting tribute to a special person.

The breeding is C. 'Louis Cottin' x C. 'Jessie Dalebö

Introducing Canna 'Carolina Gold'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured purple with white farina; flowers are open, self-coloured gold, staminodes are large, edges ruffled, labellum is gold, stamen is gold, style is gold, petals purple with farina, 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 purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Donnie Hallman, Deerspring Nursery, South Carolina, USA. The breeding is Canna 'Rosy Lear' x Canna 'Louis Cottin'.

Introducing Canna 'Autumn Dragon'

In 2002, Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA introduced his new cultivars for the year, which caused a stir at that time. One of the introductions was Canna 'Autumn Dragon'.

Mr Hallman was quoted as saying, "The flowers are light sherbet to peach and the foliage is dark. This is one of the lightest colored flowers on a dark leaf on the market. Great contrast between the foliage and the flower. Excellent! 3 ft. Tall. The breeding is C. 'Louis Cottin' x C. 'Rosy Leaf'".

Thanks to Sylvia Thomas, Texas, USA, for allowing us to use her copyrighted photograph.