from the greek 'kanna' meaning reed-like plant
I always liked cannas, didn't like the damage from bugs that attacked them, but liked the plant none the less.
I remember a stand of cannas in a park in Dallas; it came back every year bigger and better than ever, but it was just a passing thought, didn't intend to plant any of them.
Then, I moved to Houston a few years ago and everything changed.
They are everywhere here! Gorgeous! Luscious! Extravagant!
I was hooked! So, this is the summer of the canna for me. I am currently growing several varities, four of which I have for sale in my little stores.
What I have learned so far:
*Cannas have a long and varied history-others have been obsessed long before I came along
*People swap the names around pretty freely, cannas will have different names in different countries, states or regions...one persons 'Pretoria' is another persons 'Bengal Tiger'...use whatever suits you!
*Cannas are not a lily even though people call them "Canna Lily"
*Cannas love water and sunshine-lots of it
*Some cannas are more susceptible to leaf rollers than others
*I love them even with chewed-up leaves (I found out that leaf rollers are the caterpillars of skippers, the little orange butterflies of my childhood, so I share the leaves with them)
*I love variegated leaf cannas (essentially all thing variegated), BUT
*the solid leafed 'Australia' and 'Orange Punch' are my favorites this year!
cannas I currently grow: 'Australia', 'Pretoria' (aka Bengal Tiger), 'Durban' (aka Tropicanna), 'Pink Sunburst', 'Orange Punch', 'Stuttgart', 'patens' (aka Paton)
cannas I currently sell: 'Australia', 'Pretoria', 'Orange Punch', 'Pink Sunburst'
above are pics of recent blooms in my garden: 'Australia', 'Orange Punch', 'Pretoria', 'patens', 'Pink Sunburst'
If you have any questions about canna, canna pests, etc. please let me know! If I don't know the answer, I will know where you can find it.
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