Canna 'Tirol'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, upright habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured salmon, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1930. Synonym: C. 'Tyrol'

Canna 'Tchad'

A medium sized Premier Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured maroon, staminodes are large, 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 purple; tillering is slow.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU.

Canna 'Südfunk'

A small Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; triangular stems, coloured purple; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are medium size, fully self-cleaning, average bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules ellipsoid; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1930.

Canna 'Stadt Fellbach'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, branching habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured apricot, staminodes are large, outstanding bloomer; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type.
Introduced by the venerable old house of W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1934. In 1933, there were about 150 Wilhelm Pfitzer employees worldwide. That same year, in order to celebrate the elevation of Fellbach to the status of a city, the firm named one of its best seedlings that year as Canna ‘Stadt Fellbach’, meaning ‘City of Fellbach’.

Synonym: C. 'Pfitzer’s Stadt Fellbach'

Canna 'Shell Pink'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oblong shaped, branching habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured pale pink, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU. Synonym: C. 'Pfitzers' Shell Pink'.

Canna 'Salmon Pink'

A small cultivar; green foliage, large, oval shaped, branching habit; round stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured salmon, throat yellow, staminodes are medium size, edges ruffled, stamen is yellow with salmon markings, style is yellow, petals red; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU. Synonyms are C. 'Pfitzer’s Salmon Pink', C. 'Pfitzer's Salmon', C. 'Pfitzers Salmon Pink'.

Canna 'Richard Wallace'

A small Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oblong shaped, white margin, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, pale yellow with rose spots, staminodes are large, edges regular, stamen is rose-red with small yellow flecks; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1906. Awarded the RHS Award of Merit 1907 at the indoor trials, held at Wisley Gardens. Synonyms are C. 'R. Wallis', C. 'Richard Wallace'

Canna 'Primrose'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green; flowers are pale yellow speckled with pale pink; 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; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU. The earliest reference is the RHS Journal of 1895.

Synonyms: C. 'Pfitzer’s Primrose Yellow', C. 'Primrose Yellow'

Canna 'Puck'

A small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; spikes of flowers are open, pale yellow with pale-purple spots, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, 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 white; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1950. Synonym: C. 'Jasmine'

Canna 'Perkeo'

A small Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; panicles of flowers are open, cerise-pink with a narrow yellow margin, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, 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 white and pink; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Fellbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1949.

Synonyms: C. 'Evening Star', C. 'Fata Morgana', C. 'Fatamorgana', C. 'Francis Berti'

Canna 'J.B. van der Schoot'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; triangular stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, gold heavily spotted with deep-crimson, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, opening at dawn, petals yellow, 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 average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1902. Awarded RHS Award of Merit in 1907. Synonym: C. 'Dr van der Schoot', possibly others as well.

Canna 'Ingeborg'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; round stems, coloured purple; flowers are self-coloured orange (RHS 28A), edges regular, style is orange-red, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not known if true to type, not self-pollinating, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Wilhelm Pfitzer, Fellbach, Germany, EU in 1916. Awards: 2002 Award of Garden Merit (AGM) at the RHS Outdoor Canna Trials. Synonyms: C. 'Golden Vein', C. 'Golden Vine'

Washout summers of last 3 years

The washout summers of the last three years have brought Britain’s most endangered butterflies to the brink of extinction, a study reveals.

Two of the UK’s rarest species – the Duke of Burgundy and Lulworth skipper – had their worst years on record in 2009, according to the annual survey by Butterfly Conservation.

At Claines Canna we have also come to the conclusion that growing tropical Cannas outdoors in this weather is quite futile, as during last summer we gained little pleasure from watching Cannas grow with badly damaged leaves and very few flowers. However, some still gave us a good display, and they were all specimens that had been raised in Northern Europe and were more tolerant of these weather conditions.

We experimented  last year with growing both Canna species and cultivars in one of our large poly tunnels, and we were pleased to see how they thrived.

This year we have reduced the size of the collection, disposing of the more common varieties grown by commercial breeders, and the more tender will be grown in the controlled conditions provided by the tunnel.

As far as the breeding programme is concerned, that takes place on separate premises, but we have now added as a high priority the need to breed new varieties that can tolerate months of non-stop rainy days, as we experienced last year.

Our starting point is the old German nursery of Wilhelm Pfitzer, who raised hundreds of new varieties in similar weather conditions over the course of a century, and we have added some of their varieties to the breeding plan to establish what difference they can make.

Canna 'Gnom'

A small Premier Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; triangular stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured pale pink, staminodes are large, edges frilled, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white; tillering is average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Felbach, Germany, EU.

Canna 'Feuerzauber'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, stamen is pale yellow with orange-red edge and marks, petals purple, 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 W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1922. Inevitably, the name has been changed according to the country selling it. This is not the easiest name for non-German speakers to live with. So, we have the following synonyms: C. 'Feau Magique', C. 'Feu Magique', C. 'Feur Zauber', C. 'Fire Magic'.
At one this name was also applied to C. 'Australia' but this was mistaken, as C. 'Feuerzauber' is a Crozy Group cultivar and C. 'Australia' is an Italian Group variety.

Canna 'Cherry Red'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured cherry-red, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, labellum is cherry-red, petals red 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 average.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU. The old family nursery of Wilhelm Pfitzer, established in the 1840's, did not use it's name as a prefix when naming it's cultivars, this appears to be a marketing ploy by some nurseries in the USA, where the respected name of Pfitzer added prestige to the humble name given by the originators.

Synonyms: C. 'Pfitzer’s Cherry Red'

Canna 'Alt Württemberg'

A tall Premier Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, arching habit; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals red with farina, fully self-cleaning, exceptional 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 slow. 

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU in 1949. Synonym: C. 'Alt Würtemberg'

Canna 'Alberich'

A small Premier Group cultivar; glaucous green foliage, mucronate shaped, maroon margin, branching habit; round stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, pink (RHS 38A) and salmon, staminodes are large, edges lightly frilled, labellum is streaked with pale yellow, stamen is markeded with pale yellow, 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 white and purple; tillering is slow. 

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Fellbach, Germany, EU in 1949. The leaves are distinctively cupped at the tips. Overall, the plant has a wide combination of colours that make it stand out. Synonyms: C. 'Albéric', C. 'Albèric', C. 'Alberick', C. 'Albricht'

Canna 'Aida'

A medium sized Premier Group cultivar; green foliage; flowers are old-rose tinged with salmon, staminodes are large, edges lightly frilled, stamen is marked with gold, good bloomer; fertile both ways, not known if true to type, not self-pollinating; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white; tillering is average. 

One of the Opera series of Canna bred by Howard and Smith Nursery of Los Angeles, USA in the 1930's. This series were added to by Wayside Gardens Nurseries in the USA by including C. 'Rosenkavalier', bred by Wilhelm Pfitzer.

Canna 'A. Eisenbarth'

A small Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green; flowers are open, self-coloured pink, throat lemon, staminodes are medium size, edges regular, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer, blooms open in the evening; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white; tillering is slow.

Introduced by W. Pfitzer, Stadt Felbach, Stuttgart, Germany, EU. It is a cross of C. 'Madame Crozy' x 'Barrone Renwardy'. Synonym: C. 'A. Gauthier'