Cultivars and seed – DRAFT

Some interesting reading of late. It appears that a cultivar may be propagated sexually or asexually.

Cultivars may be produced from seed and therefore may exhibit some variation in traits other than that for which the selection was made. For example, Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead Dwarf’ is a lavender selected for its dwarf habit. Even if seed grown, all plants so named should not exceed 18 inches in height, but may show slight variation in flower or foliage colour, habit, etc.

In order for all Munstead cultivars to be identical, or clones, they would have to be propagated asexually from cuttings. Many people do not realize that ‘cultivar‘ is not synonymous with ‘clone.’

 

Canna ‘Tropical Rose’, it’s main attribute is its size. 

Canna ‘Tropical Fantasy’

A medium Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage; flowers are open, red, self-cleaning, good bloomer. Introduced by Brian Williams of Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

The craze of 1889

Garden and forest. / Volume 2, Issue 93. [December 4, 1889, 577-588]

Notes
One of the most interesting and valuable results of recent French horticultural effort is found in the new race of dwarf Cannas, with large and brilliantly colored flowers, produced by M. Crozy, of Lyons. A large bed of these plants in the the Trocadero, in Paris, was surrounded all summer by crowds of people. Too much has not been said of the beauty of these plants and of their value for decorative purposes, whether planted in the open ground or grown in pots or tubs. The colors of the flowers of some of the varieties are surprisingly brilliant.


There seems no good reason, however, calling the plants “dwarf,” except that they begin to flower when they are not more than twenty inches high, for they grow, especially in this country, when generously treated, to a height of six or eight feet. Seventeen of the new varieties exhibited at Paris for the first time, which, on the whole, are no better than those sent out by M. Crozy during the past two years, are described in a recent issue of the Revue Horticole. No one who has not seen a collection of M. Crozy’s Cannas in good condition, can form the faintest idea even of the beauty and the brilliancy of the flowers of the plants.

Canna ‘Triumph’

A small Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oblong shaped, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured scarlet, staminodes are medium size, edges regular; fertile both ways, not true to type or self-pollinating, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and pink; tillering is average.

Introduced by Antoine Wintzer of The Conard & Jones Co., West Grove, PA, USA. Not to be confused with C. ‘Triomphe’, which was a later introduction. This fine cultivar featured in the 1907 and 1908 RHS Canna Trials, but without award.

Worcester weather forecast – Met Office

Worcester weather forecast – Met Office

Canna ‘Triomphe’

A medium sized Premier Group cultivar; bronze foliage, spreading habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured carmine, staminodes are large, fully self-cleaning; seed is low fertile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is slow.

Introduced by Vilmorin-Andrieux, France, EU in 1920.

Canna ‘Trinacria Variegata’

A small Italian Group cultivar; variegated foliage, oval shaped, white margin, spreading habit; round stems, coloured green + purple; spikes of flowers are reflexed, yellow and white, staminodes are large, petals red; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white; tillering is average.

Eye-catching variegated leaves, with large butter-yellow blooms, marked by this plants signature – a white stripe down the centre of each petal forming a white cross. Variegated leaves of green with pale yellow variegation parallel to the veins. There are several different strains with varying degree of variegation distinction, but the flower type and its size seems uniform between them all.

Nurserymen folk legend has it that in 1923 a consignement of Canna ‘Trinacria’ rhizomes was despatched to Siam, now Thailand, from a nursery in California. When it arrived at its destination and was grown out it was found to have variegated foliage. A sample was returned to the nursery with a demand for a refund or replacement as it was not what had been ordered.

This mutation was probably caused by the extreme conditions endured in transport from California to Thailand in the days before air travel. The cultivar was examined in the 1960’s by Dr. Khoshoo, who stated that this was not a chimeral mutation. The earliest reference is C. ‘Trinacria Variegata’ in Sydney Percy-Lancaster’s book, “In an Indian Garden”, 1927.

Synonyms: C. ‘Bangkok’, C. ‘Bangkok Yellow’, C. ‘Bankocki’, C. ‘Bankok’, C. ‘Christ’s Light’, C. ‘King of Siam’, C. ‘Minerva’, C. ‘Nirvana’, C. ‘Striped Beauty (2)’, C. ‘Striped Beauty of Bangkok’, C. ‘Stripped Beauty’, C. ‘Variegated’, C. ‘Zebra Stripe’

Canna ‘Trinacria’

A very tall Italian Group cultivar; light green foliage, large, oval shaped, branching habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured sulphur-yellow, throat pearl, staminodes are large, labellum is sulphur-yellow, stamen is sulphur-yellow, style is sulphur-yellow, petals green, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU. Flowers show their C. flaccida heritage, they are very thin and fade very quickly, but while they are young they are an absolute delight. There is a faint lighter marking running from the throat up to the middle of some petals.

Canna ‘Tivoli’

A tall Australian Group cultivar; green foliage, large, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; spikes of flowers are pendulous, deep-pink with a wide ivory margin, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer, blooms open in the evening; 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 Bernard Yorke, Queensland, Australia in 2008.
When writing, Bernard explained that plants of Tivoli are quite tall, (nearly 6ft) and leaves are obviously related to the pollen parent in that they are long green and quite pointed. However, the plants make a good sized clump quite quickly with foliage all pointing upwards. The rhizomes are not creeping like the pollen parent. Flowers are somewhat pendulous but nicely variegated. C. heliconifolia(Omega) is the pollen parent, “I have had some successes with using a species type as one of the parent plants, but a lot of ‘trashy’ ones can result before getting the special ones I am after.”
“We are now approaching winter in Queensland, and with a lot of recent heavy rain, rhizomes are already showing new growth from the base, and I haven’t yet cut them back to give the plants a rest for our short winter. I still have a moderate show of flowers in the garden, but as I said earlier, our winters are usually short lived, but with climate change, nothing is the norm any more.”


Cannas by Bernard Yorke

Canna ‘Trent’

A medium sized aquatic cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; glaucous green foliage, lanceolate shaped, upright habit; flowers are open, self-coloured sulphur-yellow, staminodes are long and narrow, edges irregular, labellum is burnt-red with a wide sulphur-yellow margin, stamen is burnt-red, style is sulphur-yellow, petals yellow, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; fertile both ways, self-pollinating but not true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white; tillering is average.

Introduced by Malcolm Dalebö, Claines Canna Collection, Worcester, England, EU in 2007. The breeding is Canna ‘Endeavor’ x C. ‘Thames’.

The Claines Canna Aquatics have been bred to populate garden ponds that are just a few metres square, compared with the much larger Longwood Aquatics destined for huge ponds and lakes.