More on Canna virus

Canna Trials were held in 2002 at the Royal Horticulture Society. The trials were the first occasion that the prevalence of Canna virus was made known to the general public.

Published in Proceedings of The Royal Horticultural Society for that year, is an interesting Canna reference. It states that at a committee meeting held on the 19th November 2002, a committee member stated that the canna virus was less apparent during September and it seemed to be more prevalent where the soil was poor.

This confirms our own experiences at Claines Canna, and it provides us with several possibilities.

The first possibility is that many Canna cultivars suffer stress in northern latitudes, and this results in foliage markings that are the same visually as the effects of various viruses. We saw evidence of this during this last summer, when we had record rain and flooding, and also saw very little direct sun-light. Cultivars that I am convinced are virus-free produced foliage that could easily be confused with virus contaminated foliage. The vocabulary of Canna is very limited, and this is not surprising.

Secondly, there is a viewpoint advocated that much of the worlds Canna is contaminated, but good growing conditions can conceal its presence. That theory could also be confirmed by our own summer experiences if we accepted that hypothesis.

It seemed at one time this year that horticultural authorities were prepared to spend money on research at the UK Science Laboratory, but news from that quarter has become scarce. Therefore, it looks like we will face 2008 in the same sorry state of ignorance, with each of us just doing the best we can.

References:
2002 Proceedings of The Royal Horticultural Society

England can only watch on

Garden and forest. / Volume 7, Issue 323. [May 2, 1894, 171-180]

CANNAS.-Mr. George Paul, the Chestnut nurseryman who has paid special attention to the improved race of garden Cannas, read a paper upon them before a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society. He dealt chiefly with their cultural requirements and points connected with their improvement; the paper is, therefore, a useful supplement to that read before the same society in the summer by Mr. Baker, of Kew, which treated upon the botany of Cannas.

The principal breeder of these plants in recent years, Monsieur Crozy, of Lyons, informed Mr. Paul that he began to breed them about twenty years ago with C. 'Warscewiczii' and C. 'Nepalense grandiflora', and raised from them C. 'Bonnetti', a variety much appreciated at that time. Since then he has gradually improved the Canna in habit and size of flower, and by the time he raised and distributed the variety called C. 'Madame Crozy', one of the best ever raised, he had 1,500 seedlings from which he obtained many good varieties in nearly all shades of color.

Recently he has paid special attention to the seedlings with shades of rose and carmine in the flowers, as well as white. Monsieur Vilmorin, Herr Pfitzer and Mr. Paul himself have raised seedling Cannas, but he modestly disclaims having produced anything to rival Monsieur Crozy's seedlings. The value of Cannas for summer gardening is certainly very great. In England they have become a prominent feature in most good gardens, the London parks and Kew growing them largely. They are most effective when grown in large beds on lawns, and I think they look best when only one sort fills each bed. In greenhouses they are equally useful, and they grow and flower perfectly in a tropical house. The most effective plants I have seen were growing in the Victoria tank at Glasnevin last June, the perfect foliage and large richly colored flowers being charming over the water.

Cannas are emphatically everybody's plants. Mr. Paul gives the following list of the best varieties hitherto raised.

Crimson-purple: Sophie Buchner, L. H. Bailey, Alphonse Bouvier, Miss Sarah Hill, C. A. de Choiseuil, Victor Hugo.

Salmon-red: President Hardy, Professor David, Cronstadt, Souvenir d'Asa Gray, Thomas S. Ware, The Garden.

Crimson-yellow: Henri L. deVilmorin, Count de Ganay.

Yellow-edged: Paul Sigrist, Marquise d'Aigle, Admiral Gervais and Madame Crozy.

But the greatest advance, in Mr. Paul's opinion, is in the gains of the last two years in the new yellow-spotted varieties. The best of these are Comtesse d'Estoile, Progression, Antoine Barton and L. H.
Bailey.

London. W. Watson.