Canna 2012

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by HarryS, Jan 29, 2012.

  1. Bilbo675

    Bilbo675 Total Gardener

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    Hi Pete, I've also sown seed for 'speciosa' this year, so far I have 2 out of 6 germinated..

    My others are;

    'paniculata' ~ nothing yet..
    'russian red' ~ 4 out of 6 germinated.
    'glauca' ~ 6 out of 6 germinated.
    'musiflora' (or musifolia can't remember at mo :heehee:) ~ 2 out of 6 so far.
     
  2. Kristen

    Kristen Under gardener

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    I haven't sown mine yet, I'm juggling "enough light once they get under way" with "sow as early as possible", and the date I have set is sow is 15 March ... (no guarantees that it would not benefit from being earlier though ...)

    I would suggest not succession-sowing a-few-a-month. You need a long growing season so that they grow well, and form good tubers to get them through the first Winter. After that they will be robust enough to do well in following seasons.
     
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    • pete

      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      Nice collection Bilbo.:dbgrtmb:

      But I'm still really stuck on the named varieties and the larger flowered types. Hence I'm only growing one species type.
      Size of plant is not important to me when it comes to Cannas, I prefer flowers.:)
       
    • sal73

      sal73 Total Gardener

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      Just as curiosity , das anyone know how to craft or make hybrid out of canna?
      keep looking on internet and some of the hybrid are just amazing .....cleopatra and stuttgart some of my favorite.
       
    • Scrungee

      Scrungee Well known for it

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      Look what I found in and old 'Gardening Which' I had tucked away - a 6 page article on Cannas, because apparently back in 2000 they were undergoing a revival in popularity and were previously "regarded as the fluffy dice of the plant world":

      [​IMG]

      I think I saved that issue because of the reference to Yalding Organic Garden in Kent, which unfortunately closed last autumn and I still hadn't managed to visit.
       
    • pete

      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      Sal, I've not tried it, I leave it to the bees, :loll:

      Seriously, its done in the same way as other plants, transferring pollen from one flower to another.
      You would need to pick which plants you want to cross and then do the buisness with a brush.

      To be done correctly you would need to cut out the male parts of the flowers receiving the pollen, and then keep the plants isolated from insects.:D
       
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        Apparently Cannas were very popular in Victorian times along with other Tropical plantings then went out of fashion until relatively recently.
         
      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        My first cannas were grown from seed in around 1984.

        They were always short plants grown from T&M seed.
        And always came out the same colour.
        Things moved on in the 90s and gardencentres started stocking a few named varieties.
        The became really popular for a few years until the virus struck.

        Just making a comeback I think, lets hope nobody sells anymore virused stock.
         
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        • Kristen

          Kristen Under gardener

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          You got the pigs fed and ready to fly as well Pete? !! Sadly the boil-in-the-bag type Cannas sold in the Sheds are probably mostly virused - bit of a sweeping statement, but probably reasonably true.

          However, having said that, the Seed Boys all seem to have clubbed together to not sell Bizzie Lizzies this year, so maybe if someone kicked off a groundswell it would be possible to achieve similar with Cannas.


          Are they all coming in from abroad? if so what happened to phytosanitary certificates and all that jazz?
           
        • pete

          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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          Not sure where the dried up bag plants come from Kristen.

          But I've seen virused "phasion" on sale as growing plants in GC near me only a couple of years ago.
          The trouble is the virus does not kill the plants, they just look slightly badly grown.
           
        • sal73

          sal73 Total Gardener

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          Pete ,
          if is flower what you are after I`ve still got some Thai yellow canna seeds left , they have slander leaves (green/grey) and a really big flower .
          btw so far I`ve 10 out 10 germination with my thai canna and 3 out of 10 with the canna tuerckheimii .
          [​IMG]
           
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          • Bilbo675

            Bilbo675 Total Gardener

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            My 5th variety; C.paniculata, has finally woke up, noticed 4 shoots this morning :yess:, just 2 to go..

            My other 4 varieties are now all growing...:sunny:

            So I'm nearing 100% germination with 5 varieties.....happy days :D
             
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            • pete

              pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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              Would be nice to try a couple Sal, do you still have my address?:)
               
            • mowgley

              mowgley Total Gardener

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              Hi all
              Where do you get your seeds from?
              Am I to late to start them off?
               
            • sal73

              sal73 Total Gardener

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              Pete , send me the address again please.
              i`m try to find more information about this canna , with no luck , I don`t even know if it will performe in UK , but so far so good.
              Seen them growing even in water , like I mention before I was stunned from the dark red Thai canna , more from the red stem and red vain in the leaves then the flower , but the problem the seeds are only available from Thailand and bit expencive .
               
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