Friday, July 22, 2011

Canna Lily


Canna Lily
Canna x generalis
(KAN-uh) (jen-er-RAY-liss)

This flower has been greeting me as I walk out the front door each day. My wife, who is also a professional horticulturist, planted a pot with this Canna, some Heliotrope, Gaura, and Verbena and it really looks nice. The idea was to attract some butterflies. We are currently raising some caterpillars in a jar to soon set them free as butterflies. My how things change here I am being friendly to some caterpillars! Watching the different stages of development has been interesting.

This Canna is a dwarf and sorry I don’t have the name. It has green foliage and has been steadily blooming for what seems to be weeks. At first I wasn’t totally taken by the color scheme or random pattern on these flowers but they have grown on me. Cannas work well in containers but the tall types can overgrow and flop the whole pot over. So much breeding has been done to these plants that there are now 100’s of different cultivars available. If you want some of the specialty types order early! They are quick to sell out and many types seem to have tight availability. In this climate Cannas must be lifted and stored for the winter, which is something I have never really gotten the hang of and generally treat them as annuals. Of the nearly 30 years I have been gardening the Cannas only lived in the ground once during the winter.

2 comments:

Karin M. said...

...wunderschön....
LG: Karin

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

We have some of the dark leafed cannas with a salmon/peachy color bloom. Here in the south they can winter over in the ground if it is not wet. We tried in Virginia to winter some in containers (outside) but that didn't work.
Saw the most remarkable stand of 'Pretoria' along the lake....mass plantings with that striped foliage is really beautiful.