Category Archives: Bavaria
Canna ‘Bavaria’
Revisiting Canna ‘Bavaria’
Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1897.
In “Notes on the Orchid-flowering Cannas”. Garden & Forest of 29th September 1897, Prof. F. A. Waugh declared that “Italia is a beautiful Canna, to be sure, perhaps the best one of this class yet introduced, but Burgundia and Bavaria are so much like it that a careless observer would pass them by as all of the same kind. Both new varieties are, however, of smaller stature than Italia and have smaller foliage. The flowers in all three are of a brilliant canary-yellow upon which two shades of rich apricot red are successively overlaid. In Italia the red colors are run together in the throat to make somewhat regular solid blotches bordered with very deep bands of the clear yellow, like an exaggerated Queen Charlotte. In Bavaria there is very little of the darker red shade, while the lighter red is scattered in small dots well out upon the petal-like staminodia.”
Synonym: C. ‘Sunburst’
Pandora’s box of tricks, 1897
The varieties Bavaria and Burgundia (Dammann) have also been in blossom with us since September 13th. These are both of comparatively dwarf habit, the foliage being smaller and narrower than in the better-known Italia, Austria and Burbank. They both give blossoms of the Italia type, it being frequently difficult or entirely impossible to separate the three, Bavaria, Burgundia and Italia, by the blossoms alone. Bavaria tends to have more solid red at the centre, so that it becomes rather a yellow-bordered flower, of somewhat the same marking as Queen Charlotte; Burgundia is more spotted and looks a trifle more like Florence Vaughan; Bavaria usually has upright petals, while Burgundia commonly shows its Canna flaccida parentage in reflexed petals. We had Italia and Austria in large beds on the open lawn throughout the summer, where they gave moderate satisfaction. Their large growth and heavy luxuriant leaves give a fresh, semitropical foliage effect worth consideration; but the blossoms are not, upon outdoor plants, an item of much importance.
University of Vermont. Professor F. A. Waugh.
New Italian cultivars
Both varieties are, however, of smaller stature than Italia and have smaller foliage. The flowers in all three are of a brilliant canary-yellow upon which two shades of rich apricot-red are successively overlaid. In Italia the red colors are run together in the throat to make somewhat regular solid blotches bordered with very deep bands of the clear yellow, like an exaggerated Queen Charlotte. In Bavaria there is very little of the darker red shade, while the lighter red is scattered in small dots well out upon the petal-like staminodia, giving an effect more like that of Florence Vaughan. Burgundia is almost a medium between Bavaria and Italia, with more of the dark overlying red than the former, and more of the leopard spottings than in the latter. Burbank, the only variety of American origin yet advertised, does not seem to have been noted so much in the horticultural press as its good qualities deserve. It is the equal of the Italian varieties. The flowers have the form of Italia and nearly the coloring of Austria. That is to say their form is the best, and their coloring pure canary yellow with a few faint reddish spots in the throat.
University of Vermont. F. A. Waugh.
Canna ahead of its time.
The cup shaped flower is a delicate pastel yellow with rays of light orange emulating from the throat. The first spike contains about 20 buds, so it looks like it will be a strong bloomer. The green foliage is ovoid and thick; one for lasting through droughts and hail-storms, like we had only 9 days ago.
We have several hundred other numbered seedlings to trial this year, and because of the risk of virus, we are now growing the collection elsewhere, and using the house garden as the nursery for new seedlings and those that make it through to being numbered.
Normally, only a handful of new seedlings will make it through to being named and registered, but they all need to be carefully monitored, and regularly checked, so that nothing is missed. CC192 looks like a winner, but we have to watch out for things like self-cleaning, good leaf unfurling, and how many spikes each stem produces… then how many stems it produces.
Meanwhile, the collection is growing in size again, after the virus culling of the last two years. Already, Canna ‘Viva’ is in full flower, and in the next few days we will see flowers from C. ‘Orange Punch’ and C. ‘Bavaria’. This early flowering is lifting our spirits after the poor start to the year. I am starting to look forward to going outside at 6am with a cup of coffee and cotton buds, ready to start pollinating again. So, the annual cycle continues…
Posted in Bavaria, Canna, Orange Punch, virus, Viva