Getting ready for the spring

At Claines Canna we are getting ready for the great moment when we can start planting out the Canna collection and the hundreds of seedlings we normally grow. This year is different, as we will be planting out several hundred one year old plants. They are last years seedlings, which, because of the bad weather last year, we never had flowers from them. So, this has put us a year behind in our breeding programme, but it can't be helped. We are anticipating some fine new specimens from them. They are the 6th year of a carefully planned, line-bred, program and we cannot let them go to waste. We plan to grow some new seedlings this year, but probably less than 100, space permitting.

On the main collection beds we have turned over the soil, and covered them with the compost we create each year.

Following several recent revelations, we are going to give the soil a trace element top-up. We are planning to use Chempak T.E. which contains iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron and molybdenum in a slow acting product.

This works best on acid or neutral soils. After a lot of work over the years, our soil is now about 6.0pH, so falls into the category of being slightly acid. The acidity is important, because that dictates how much of all minerals the soil can retain. This chart illustrates the effect that acidity has on this most important feature for gardeners.

A lack of minerals affects plants just as much as we humans, and plants reflect their poor health through their foliage and flowers. This can often be mistaken for a sign of virus.

Introducing Canna 'Elaroo'

Another one of Bernard Yorke's indigenous named varieties, Canna 'Elaroo' has behind it all of the vigor of the old Foliage Group, along with the flower size and refinement of the Italian Group.

A tall specimen, over 2 metres (6'6"). The large foliage is plain green. The flower is ivory, with cerise in the throat bleeding into the rest of the large staminodes. The rhizomes are large, and vigorous. The breeding is C. 'Red Stripe' x C. 'Bengal Tiger', aka 'Pretoria'. The latter is a mutation and was thought to be pollen sterile until Mr Yorke succeeded with this cross.

Mr Yorke states,"I think that ‘dipping’ back into a species-type from time to time can bring some rewards in both vigor and resistance to some of our problems. "

In fact, it adds to our problems as we do not have a cultivar group to describe this cultivar! The flower is too large to make it a Foliage Group member, and its flower does not have the flaccid appearance of the pollen parents Italian Group membership.

An all-round exciting addition to the Canna genus. It is not an entrant in this years International Canna Trials, but I hope that we in Europe will have a chance to see it in the flesh in the next few years.

Cannas by Bernard Yorke

Canna Trials entries closing

With only two days to go before the entries close for the 2008 International Canna Trials, we would urge anyone interested in entering new varieties to speak to the organizers quickly. We had set a target of 50 new varieties for the Trials, and it looks as though that has been achieved, but more are always welcome.

Well done to all entrants, we hope to see you all at the trials this year,

The next significant date is 1st June, when the growing plants will be planted out into carefully cultivated beds, starting the grand spectacle that only Cannas can produce. In the meantime, photographs will be posted showing the progress of the trial entries.

http://www.canna-trial-international.com

Introducing Canna 'Tiger Paws'

The 2003 introductions from Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA were waited for with interest, and, as usual were sold out very quickly. Amongst the new introductions was Canna 'Tiger Paws'.

Mr Hallman stated that "The flowers are frosty orange, the foliage is dark. It has a big, round flower, sometimes have a problem opening, but what a nice plant. Very pretty. Sterile".

Sea sunshine loved by Cannas

The photograph above shows foliage from a single Canna plant. The story behind it was revealed in a recent posting on the International Canna Club on Yahoo, when Bernard Yorke from Australia wrote in to explain that he wanted to pass on details of his results with Seasol on a sick looking plant. He had a batch of Cannas in an old dried out part of the garden, these were the ones that he had been meaning to dig out and destroy on account of virus like symptoms.

Mr Yorke stated that, "I had been having some aphids under the surface in a few spots, particularly where the soil was more open, so it was recommended I spray with Rogor 100 (not rogor 40, this systemic one is stronger) and at the last minute I laced the mixture with some Seasol. In 3 weeks I had noticed a considerable difference, in fact old plants had enormous growth from the base, they had whole batches of new shoots and leaves. Needless to say, I did the same spray 3 weeks later".

The attached shows the result, obviously the leaf on the left is one of the old leaves, the two on the right are much stronger.

On reading the label on Seasol, I see that it promotes good growth and helps the plant fight against viruses. Note it doesn't 'cure'. Anyway, I have old plants with a whole new lease on life and I am watching them most closely in future. The Curator of our gardens here tells me that Seasol is a wonder fertilizer, good to get rid of caterpillars and the like as well.

Just thought this may be of interest. I find Seasol also beneficial in soaking bulbs before planting out."

My own take on this is very simple, possibly pseudo-science.

This is a sea-weed based, organic fertilizer. (The name is a conjuncture of "Sea" and "Sol", the French word for sun). There are, I hope that I remember my biology right, 72 bio-minerals, i.e. plant nutrients. Most have been leeched out of the soil over the millions of years that the earth has been exposed. However, they are still in suspension in the sea, and sea weed contains traces of all of these nutrients. The application of a seaweed based fertilizer is one way to ensure that our Cannas get everything that they would otherwise lack.

Fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions, the three major plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), the secondary plant nutrients (calcium, sulfur, magnesium), and sometimes trace elements (or micro nutrients) with a role in plant nutrition: boron, chlorine, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. It is those last seven micro nutrients that are present in sea-weed, but not in most cheaper commercial fertilizers.

Now, if virus is still present can only be determined in a laboratory, but if all my foliage looked like the ones on the right of Bernard's photograph, then I would never complain.

I have identified that "Mr Fothergill" is the UK representative for "Seasol", and I have already identified my local UK supplier. Now we have to try it out and see what happens.

Seasol web site
Cannas by Bernard Yorke

Introducing Canna 'Lau'

Released in 2005 by Mr Brian Williams, the well known Canna hybridiser from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, was Canna 'Lau'.

Brian described it as being, "A tall narrow grower with multicolored leaves growing to 6ft or more with orangish pink flowers. Grown mainly for foliage the leaves have a purple to bright pink variegated coloration. It reminds me a lot of a Hawaiian Ti plant "

Global warming or freezing?

As the world warms and ice-sheets and glaciers begin to melt, most of us worry about how the earth will respond and what kind of impact climate change will have. Will flooding become a regular feature, or is the land going to become parched? Are hurricanes and typhoons going to spring up in places they have never visited before? Is the rising sea level going to swallow some of the world's most fertile farmland, along with millions of homes?

All of these are valid concerns, but now it turns out that the impact of global warming could be worse than we first imagined. Ice sheets are mostly frozen water, but during the freezing process they can also incorporate organisms such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. Some scientists believe that climate change could unleash ancient illnesses as ice sheets drip away and bacteria and viruses defrost. Illnesses we thought we had eradicated, like polio, could reappear, while common viruses like human influenza could have a devastating effect if melting glaciers release a bygone strain to which we have no resistance. What is more, new species unknown to science may re-emerge. And it is not just humans who are at risk: animals, plants and marine creatures could also suffer as ancient microbes thaw out.

Canna 'Uncle Sam', photo by Malcolm McFarland

And what is so frustrating is that none of us can do anything about it. The whole thing is too big for us. I sometimes wonder if enjoying and growing plants and vegetables every year is just a way of turning a blind eye to the problem, and should I not be thinking about it every waking minute. But that is the road to madness. What else, as individuals, can we do? And then I see something like this brilliant photograph above, and it lifts my spirits. I know that it is right to continue doing what we are doing, until we can't do it any more.

In the meantime, here in Worcester, England, we just finished a freezing period, with temperatures dropping to -10 degrees Centigrade (14 degrees Fahrenheit). However, we normally expect that late December and January will be our coldest periods, and they were relatively mild. The lack of a pattern is the most disconcerting part of what is going on.

Canna 'Kentucky Copperhead'

When discussing his architectural specimens, the American Canna hybridist Brian Williams confided that "These are not the regular cannas most people look for but I find them useful and thought I would offer them in the spring. I use these varieties as a back drop for my other cannas. Tall growing with flowers held high above the foliage, they all of these are 7ft tall and up." Amongst these cultivars he includes Canna 'Kentucky Copperhead'.

Mr Williams described it as being "A tall grower to about 8 ft with very large dark maroon leaves. The flowers are small but flowers in clusters. The flowers range from pink to peach and orange."

Canna Rises Again

THE PRACTICAL GARDENER; THE CANNA, OLD FAVORITE, RISES AGAIN

By ALLEN LACY

Published: April 23, 1987

AMERICA'S long, if now somewhat cooled, love affair with cannas seems to have begun in 1777 in southern Louisiana, when William Bartram, the noted botanist and plant explorer from Philadelphia, first spotted the native species he called Canna indica (actually Canna flacida). In his ''Travels,'' published in London in 1792 and reprinted in a handsome facsimile edition in 1980 by the University of Virginia Press, Bartram described his hardships - the clouds of biting mosquitoes, the alligators - but then he writes glowingly about the cannas he found ''in surprising luxuriance, presenting a glorious show; the stem rises six, seven and nine feet tall, terminating upwards with spikes of scarlet flowers.''

Although I'm personally fond of cannas, not everyone shares my affection. It has been many years since they have been much in vogue. They are old-fashioned plants, more likely to be found in dooryard gardens in the South than in suburban gardens in the North. I suspect that cannas fell out of favor because of guilt by association, since they were much used in the symmetrical carpet-bedding of the 19th century, a style that was eventually rejected both here and in Great Britain in favor of a more natural style relying on hardy shrubs and perennials. The leading opponent of carpet-bedding, William Robinson, did not even mention cannas in his extremely influential book ''The English Flower Garden,'' published in 1883.

But in its heyday there was no plant more fancied by our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors than the canna. In both Europe and Great Britain, it was feverishly hybridized to bring new cultivars into being from species found in tropical islands of the Pacific and in Central and South America. Like elephant ears, fancy-leafed caladiums, castor beans, certain bamboos and potted banana plants that had to be moved to cool basements during the winter, the canna lent to gardens in the north temperate zone a touch of the exotic.

It is easy to understand the admiration for cannas. Their large leaves, which range from deep green to a brownish maroon, depending on the kind, unfurl with dramatic boldness. Their large flower trusses, in shades of pink and orange and yellow and red, are long-lasting in the garden. Each stalk, if cut back after the last pointed bud opens, will soon be replaced by a successor. Left to themselves, the flowers will be followed by bold and bristly seed pods, which are attractive, even if they do look a bit like medieval instruments of torture.

Cannas are easy to grow and remarkably immune to disease, although snails and slugs can riddle their foliage if not checked by poison bait. In the Deep South, they go dormant in late autumn, but during the winter may be successfully kept in the earth. In the Northeast, they should be kept well watered just before the first hard freeze, cut back immediately thereafter, and allowed to ripen in the ground a week or so. Then they should be dug up and dried in a sunny location before being stored for the winter in dry sand in a basement or cool closet. They may be planted outdoors in early May, about four inches deep, but fertilizer should be withheld until the plants are about six inches high. They may also be planted in wooden tubs to adorn a deck or patio.

I believe cannas are about to have their day once again. Older cultivars like Red King Humbert, President and City of Portland, raised in large quantities in Oklahoma, are easily available at garden centers, but hybridizers like Patrick Malcolm of Ty Ty, Ga., have been busy, raising thousands of seedlings and selecting the best for introduction. Among the newest cannas are White Queen, Maudie Malcolm and TyTy Red. All have been bred for a long season of bloom extending from 60 days after planting until frost, for immense flower trusses, and for hardiness: they withstand temperatures down to zero Fahrenheit. These novelty cannas are still in such short supply that they cost $39 a rhizome. Others are considerably less expensive, $3 to $5 each, which is a reasonable price, since they increase rapidly: one root produces in a growing season anywhere from 25 to 100 new ones, depending on the kind.

NOTE: Inaccuracies in this report:

1. Canna flaccida has yellow, not scarlet flowers.
   

2. William Robinson, ''The English Flower Garden,'' published in 1883 has almost a whole page devoted to the Canna. He and his close friend Gertrude Jekyll used Cannas extensively in their garden designs.

3. C. 'Ty Ty Red' is a mutation, not a seedling.
   

Introducing Canna 'Shaka Zulu''

When Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA announced his new introductions for 2002, it aroused a large amount of interest. There were four new cultivars, amongst which was Canna 'Shaka Zulu''.

"Flowers are bright orange/red. Foliage is very dark. Sunglasses are not provided with this plant, so don't stare directly at it.", stated Mr Hallman. " Well... maybe not that bright, but still very pretty. 5 ft. Tall.", he concluded. The breeding is C. 'Pacific Beauty' x C. 'Kenya'.

The Turc Canna Dynasty

An interesting exchange of mails on the International Canna Club revealed details of the French Canna growing industry, that I was not familiar with, so I repeat them here.

The founder of the Turc dynasty was the canna breeder Adolphe Turc. He had 2 sons, Ernest Turc and Adolphe Turc. They each created their own establishments in the early 1960's. The two houses were called Ernest Turc and J.P. Turc et Fils (& sons).

Ernest Turc had 2 sons, Jean Turc and Robert Turc. Robert Turc was the head of the horticultural company Ernest Turc, of Brain sur l'Authion, Angers, France.

Some years ago Robert passed control of this company to the next generation of Turc, of whom there are several in the company, the organisation now being led by his son-in-law M. Velé. However, Robert continued to be active in the company.

Adolph, the 2nd of the originating brothers, had a son Pierre Turc (now dead), who had 2 sons Jean Pierre and Louis Marie, who jointly run the other Turc enterprise, Messrs J. P. Turc et Fils, located at Maze, Angers, France, a much smaller organisation, which also grows cannas.

Introducing Canna 'Dorothy Taylor'

Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA introduced three exceptional new cultivars for 2005, amongst which was Canna 'Dorothy Taylor'. Mr Hallman described the cultivar as, "Flowers are huge and a rich pink. Foliage is rich green. This plant is named after a family member who loves plants as much as me", said Mr Hallman.

"This is one of the most stunning pink cannas I have ever seen! In the fall, the huge, well formed flowers turn almost Rose in color. A beautiful plant in every way. Fertile both ways. Grows 4' Tall".

International Canna Trials 2008

Canna 'Leopardeau'

Just a quick reminder to those wanting to get involved in this new, fun event. There are only twelve days left to go, so let the organizers know what it is you are entering and think about getting the rhizomes to them before the end of the month.

Canna 'Mazurka'

The whole trial looks like being a fun-experience, with people from all continents threatening to visit! For those living in Europe, a visit in late August or early September will be a great experience.

The trial cultivars are being displayed alongside the UK National Collection, so you can see 200+ original Cannas in full-flight alongside each other. See you at the trials this summer?

The images above are just a few of the excellent entries to the trial. Visit the web site and see for yourself the high-class entries attracted to the trial.

Visit the Trial Web Site

Introducing Canna 'Bois de Villée'

In January 2006, Monsieur Raphaël ROGER of Belgium, EU announced his new cultivars for that year. The cultivars are registered with the KAVB. Amongst the new introductions was Canna 'Bois de Villée'® .

Canna 'Bois de Villée'®

Flower: Pink streaked with white.

Foliage: Green

Height: 1m20

Email Mr. R. Roger

Dr Triloki Nath Khoshoo

Born on 27th April 1927, the world of Cannaceae lost Dr Triloki Nath Khoshoo on the 10th June 2002. We have to thank Dr Khoshoo, one of the greatest botanists of the last century, for most of our current knowledge of the Canna genus, and have to be grateful for his interest in Cannas.
In all, Dr Khoshoo authored and co-authored over 10 separate papers on the subject of canna, many which were bought together in a single paper called ‘Origin and Evolution of Cultivated Cannas’.
A world-renowned botanist and environment scientist and an able administrator, Dr. T. N. Khoshoo started his professional career as the co-founder of the Department of Botany that moved to Khalsa College, Amritsar, soon after the partition of India.
After a brief stint as Chairman of the Botany Department at Jammu and Kashmir University, he joined the National Botanical Gardens, Lucknow in 1964 as the Assistant Director.
He soon became the Director, and due to his untiring efforts, the institution rose to the stature of being the National Botanical Research Institute in 1978.
In 1982, he became the Secretary of the newly created Department of Environment in Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's cabinet with the responsibility of developing an Environment policy for the country. In 1985, he joined The Energy Research Institute as a Distinguished Fellow and contributed to public policy discussions at national as well as international forums.
Dr. T. N. Khoshoo was a prolific writer. Over the course of five decades, he authored more than 250 research papers on plant genetics and evolution, biomass, energy, forestry, conservation and the utilization and management of natural resources.
He has written and edited seven and eleven books respectively on a wide range of subjects. His book on 'Mahatma Gandhi: An Apostle of Applied Human Ecology' published in 1996 was widely applauded for the practical relevance of the Gandhian views in today's world. In 1992, he was decorated with one of India's highest civilian awards, the 'Padma Bhushan'. He was honoured by the United Nations in 1996, when he was awarded the Sasakawa Environmental Prize by the United Nation's Environmental Program.

Introducing Canna 'Snow Dragon'

When Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA announced his new introductions for 2002, it aroused a large amount of interest. There were four new cultivars, amongst which was Canna 'Snow Dragon'.

Mr Hallman stated that "The flowers are cream and the foliage is green.This is one of the healthiest near whites that I have ever seen! Wonderful in every way. Fast to increase. Visitors love this plant. 3 ft. Tall.The breeding is C. 'Carolina Moonglow' x C. 'Ambassadour'."

Award of Garden Merit

Non-English visitors to the various English Canna sites, must have seen the letters AGM after the name of a cultivar, and wondered what it meant.

The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is an award made to garden plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society after a period of assessment by the appropriate committees of the Society. Awards are made annually after plant trials (which may last for one or more years, depending on the type of plant being trialled) at RHS Garden Wisley and other RHS gardens, or after observation of plants in specialist collections, and are intended to judge the plants' performance for conditions in the UK. Trial reports are made available as booklets and on the RHS website. The awards are reviewed periodically in case plants have become unavailable or have been superseded by more recent, superior cultivars.

To qualify for an AGM, a plant

• must be available
• must be of outstanding excellence for garden decoration or use
• must be of good constitution
• must not require highly specialist growing conditions or care
• must not be particularly susceptible to any pest or disease
• must not be subject to an unreasonable degree of reversion.

The AGM symbol represents a cup-shaped trophy with handles. It should be cited together with a hardiness rating as follows:

• H1 Requires heated glass
• H2 Requires unheated glass
• H3 Hardy outside in some regions or particular situations or which, while usually grown outside in summer, needs frost-free protection in winter (e.g. dahlias)
• H4 Hardy throughout the British Isles
• H1-2 Intermediate between H1 and H2
• H2-3 Intermediate between H2 and H3
• H3-4 Intermediate between H3 and H4
• H1+3 Requiring heated glass; may be grown outside in summer

For plants requiring heated glass, further guidance is given as follows:

Minimum temperature

• 15°C Hot glasshouse
• 10°C Warm glasshouse
• 2°C Cool glasshouse

Since 1989, France has had similar awards called the Mérites de Courson, but these are drawn from a limited number of plants submitted by nurserymen to juries at the twice-yearly Journées des Plantes de Courson and the prizes are based solely on the opinions of the jury members as to the plants' likely performance in French gardens, not on extensive trials.

22 Canna were selected for the Award of Garden Merit [AGM] H3

• C. 'Alaska'
• C. 'Amundsen'
• C. 'Annei'
• C. 'Aphrodite'
• C. 'Bengal Tiger', under the synonym C. 'Striata'
• C. 'Ehemanii'
• C. 'Erebus'
• C. 'General Eisenhower'
• C. 'Ingeborg'
• C. 'Louis Cayeux'
• C. 'Musaefolia'
• C. 'Mystique'
• C. 'Phasion'
• C. 'Picasso'
• C. 'Ra'
• C. 'Roi Soleil'
• C. 'Russian Red'
• C. 'Schwäbische Heimat'
• C. 'Shenandoah'
• C. 'Verdi'
• C. 'Whithelm Pride'
• C. 'Wyoming'

A further 6 cultivars were recommended for the AGM, subject to their being made available to the UK public:

• C. 'Delaware', 'Independence', 'Lenape', 'Penn' raised and sent by Longwood Gardens USA
• C. 'Bethany' raised and sent by Mr B West
• A C. indica cultivar discovered and entered by RHS Garden Wisley

H3 = plants hardy outside in some regions

Links: Domaine de courson

Introducing Canna 'Flamingo Flight'

When discussing his architectural specimens, the American Canna hybridist Brian Williams confided that "These are not the regular cannas most people look for but I find them useful and thought I would offer them in the spring. I use these varieties as a back drop for my other cannas. Tall growing with flowers held high above the foliage, they all of these are 7ft tall and up." Amongst these cultivars he includes Canna 'Flamingo Flight'.

Mr Williams went on to describe this cultivar as, "A taller growing canna, up to about 8 feet tall. Great for in the background, this canna produces tons of bright pink, with white streaks, flowers above its bright green foliage."

Growing Cannas from Seed

A posting by Keith Hayward on the International Canna Group

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, now is the time to sow seeds for flowers this year. Here are a few pointers for those who've never done it before.

Canna seeds have a very hard and impermeable coat, and you can't just bury them in compost and expect them to grow. The chances are that nothing would happen.

You have to scarify them. But this is not as easy as it sounds. It truly is an engineering job, requiring engineering equipment if you are to make any impression on the hard seed surface.

I use an engineers file and a pair of engineers pliers. I grip the seed in the pliers, and wipe it several times across the file until the white interior of the seed just shows through at one place.

Then I bury the seed to a depth of about 1 cm in peat-based seed compost. I soak the compost in water, and enclose the whole seed tray in a polythene bag, and then place the whole thing in a propagator at 80F (30C).

Done this way, germination is very quick. The first shoot usually comes through in about 7 days, and most are up after about 10 days. Germination rate is very good, 70% to 100%.

I find that pre-soaking the seed makes no difference to the speed of germination. What is important is the humidity and the germination temperature. The great danger to seedlings is damping-off, which happens more at lower temperatures. Also, canna seedlings will not tolerate being dried out.

Other people may have other techniques - let's hear them.


The photo shows C. tuerckheimi sown on 22 January 08. Tuerck is a particularly fast mover and the first shoot came through in 4 days! The photos were taken 31st January. Germination was very good, and they are growing well.

Also shown are seedlings of Tropical Rose about 2 weeks from sowing the seed. Seeds of the Tropical Series will flower in 100 days from sowing the seeds, so you can sow them in March and still have them in flower in summer. They come in 5 colours: Rose, Yellow, Red, White, Salmon. The Tropical series are pre-scarified, and germinate in 7 to 10 days. If anyone would like to try them but can't find the seed, then we will post it anywhere worldwide.

See website www.hartcanna.com/seeds.htm

Keith Hayward

Farnborough, England

Introducing Canna 'Espresso Festival'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green and purple variegated foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured purple; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured pink, staminodes are medium size, edges regular, petals red with farina, fully self-cleaning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules round; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by Far East Plants, Philippines. 

Far East Plants

Silence Of The Bees

The summer sound of buzzing bees is set to become rarer due to mystery plagues hitting hives around the world. The crisis threatens a disaster worse than global warming because bees are so vital to the food chain, experts warned yesterday.

Environment Minister Lord Rooker has already warned that, at present rates, honeybees could be extinct in Britain within a decade. Yet ministers are refusing to pump more money into research to find cures.

The looming disaster is detailed in Silence Of The Bees, a documentary due to be aired on the National Geographic TV channel next Tuesday. John Chapple, chairman of the London Beekeepers Association, believes the potential consequences could not be worse. He said: “Without bees, life as we know it will not exist.”

Scientists warned that the bees’ disappearance will hit a third of the world’s food crops, especially fruit and vegetables. Apples, soybeans, onions, cabbage and most berries and nuts are among 90 crops at risk if there are no honeybees to help pollinate them. Also threatened are plants used for cloth, such as cotton and flax, and those for animal feed, including oilseed rape and field beans.

Less feed for animals would affect meat and dairy products, pushing up prices and lowering availability. The impact would be felt up the food chain by birds which feed on fruit and by the predators which eat the birds.

Hives are being wiped out in America by Colony Collapse Disorder – and no one really knows what causes it. Tim Lovett, chairman of the British Beekeepers Association, said: “I hope we don’t have CCD here but, just like rock ’n’ roll and hamburgers, whatever affects America usually comes here. “In a month or two we will carry out a survey of our members to assess winter losses.”

Last winter a small number of beekeepers lost all their colonies, but losses overall were just above the norm. Mr Lovett said bees are under pressure from several sources – most notably the varroa mite, which is suspected of carrying a range of different viruses. These include the Aids-like Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, believed to have wiped out huge numbers of bees.

In America up to 90 per cent of commercial bee colonies have been struck by CCD, or Mary Celeste Syndrome, over the past three years. Hundreds of colonies, up to 30,000 strong, began to die out with no explanation in 2005. One honey producer in Pennsylvania went from 1,000 colonies to fewer than eight in a matter of months.

CCD is so devastating that it has been compared with foot and mouth disease. It has spread in Europe to Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Greece, Germany and Poland, and also into South America. IAPV attacks the bees’ immune system and there is no cure, raising fears that it is only a matter of time before global crops are decimated, the scientists warned.

But Richard Ball, the Governent’s national bee inspector, denied the problems are as bad as claimed. He said: ”We do not think CCD is an issue in the UK yet.”

“Without bees, life as we know it will not exist.” Even if it is not as catastrophic as that quote implies, for those of us who rely on pollinators to produce next years new seedlings, this looks like it can have a bad effect. Maybe, we could all ensure with our general garden planting that there is a good supply of food available to the bee, through from early spring to late Autumn. This will improve the chances of survival for the unaffected hives.

In the meantime, the theories around what is the cause abound. Many people are putting it down to genetically modified crops, which abound in the USA. Others are attributing the cause to the widespread use of mobile phones.

Canna 'Mystic Rainbow'

Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA introduced three exceptional new cultivars for 2005, amongst which was Canna 'Mystic Rainbow'.

"The flowers are a blend of pink, sherbert, rose and cream. The foliage is a rich green. Wow! what a pretty plant, in the fall the colors get more intense", recounted Mr Hallman.

"On cool nights in the fall, I have seen the big flowers turn to an almost white with red swirls. A very pretty plant for the garden. Fertile both ways. Grows to 4' Tall."

EU alters rules on plant rights

The rules concerning plant variety rights across Europe will soon be changed, with the aim of making the process identical for all breeders worldwide.

The European Community plant protection rights system has been amended, via article 12 of Regulation 2100/94, and took effect from 31st Januray 2008.

Breeders from the 27 EU member states looking to protect exclusive property rights for new varieties of plants will now all use the same application process.

Those from countries outside the EU, which are not members of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, will also be able to apply for a Community Plant Variety right on the same terms.

Previously, these non-EU applicants could only be granted a title if the European Commision gave a favourable opinion. Such applicants still need to have a procedural representative in the EU.

Applications to the France-based Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) in 2007 were 3,000, an increase of nine percent on 2006 and of 97.8% on 1996, the first complete year of activity after the establishment of the CPVO.

The reference to the amendment is Council regulation (EC) No 15/2008 of 20 december 2008, OJ No L8, 11.1.2008, p2

Canna 'Autumn Dragon'

When Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA announced his new introductions for 2002, it aroused a large amount of interest. There were four new cultivars, amongst which was Canna 'Autumn Dragon'.

Mr Hallman commented that "The flowers are light sherbet to peach. Foliage is dark. This is one of the lightest colored flowers on a dark leaf on the market. Great contrast between the foliage and the flower. Excellent! 3 ft. Tall." The breeding is C. 'Louis Cottin' x C. 'Rosy Leaf'

Claines Canna Sales

At Claines Canna (Margaret and Malcolm Dalebö, relatives and friends) we have been forced to come to the conclusion that this year we are going to have to take a sabbatical from rhizome sales. The weather last summer was so bad that we are no longer certain of the the state of health of our Canna collection. So many plants produced bad foliage, much of which could be virus, but we hope it was just weather stress, and we believe we have to grow them all again this season before we can be confident of what we have.

We will never knowingly sell Canna rhizomes with virus. We cannot be sure of the health of more than a handful of plants, after last years flooding and desperate lack of sunlight. We are one of the most northerly of Canna growers and we believe that we suffered more than most.

So, we have to say sorry to everybody who has approached us about Canna sales this year. We hope that you understand that we are doing this for the right reasons, and hope to be able to present everyone with a virus-free catalogue next year.

We have published a catalogue on the Claines Canna web site, but it is for academic reasons rather than sales. It records our new cultivars for this year and the new accessions to our collection made or confirmed last year. We hope that it is of interest.

We are determined to achieve our goal of offering a virus-free catalogue next year, and this is the only way that we can achieve that goal.

Introducing Canna 'Ruby Crout''

The 2003 introductions from Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA were waited for with interest, and, as usual were sold out very quickly. Amongst the new introductions was Canna 'Ruby Crout'.

"The flowers are rose to red, spotted, and carry a cream edge. Foliage is very dark. This plant is named after another family member. This is a tall, bold, show stopping plant. When fall comes, the cream edge turns to gold only to make the leaves appear darker. Very nice!", described Mr Hallman.

Botanic terminology

I have been asked by someone, who is an experienced gardener, to explain the various terms used when discussing species and cultivars. As she says, "I never needed to know about them when I was digging! Now I'm more interested in the theory, but it's confusing, and, why are some of the terms interchangeable?"

The basic terms are not interchangeable, each is clearly defined, and when people refer to varieties in one breath and hybrids in another, then it is obvious that the speaker is either confused, or is using non-botanical meanings. There are long, internationally defined rules for the naming of species and garden cultivars.

Species

The Canna family is sub-divided into approximately 20 separate species. They are all distinctly different, but theoretically they share a common ancestor in the dim and distant past. Species names are always written in italics, to differentiate them from garden cultivars, e.g. Canna indica.

In the wild, species (shorthand sp.) are more or less uniform in habit, foliage, flowers and fruit. Any variation is part of an evolutionary process, and botanists apply subdivisions within a species (sub-species, varietas, and forma) to recognise such differences. All remain more or less stable in the wild, but when grown together in cultivation they may hybridise and the distinctions become blurred. This variation is exploited by gardeners who select (recognise and name) an individual plant, and propagate to maintain it.

Sub-species

A sub-species (shorthand ssp.) is a “mini-species” with distinct morphological or genetic variation, and a sometime distinct geographical distribution. I don't believe that Canna have any defined sub-species, certainly not in Dr Tanaka's revision of the Canna species.

Variety
A variety (or varietas, shorthand var.) is a wild variety, and its differences from the species are less clear-cut than a sub-species, e.g. Canna indica var. maculata.

Form
The form (or forma, shorthand f.) is used for colour variations or similar minor differences.

Hybrid

If several species of one genus are cultivated together, they may hybridise (shorthand x), giving rise to offspring sharing characters of both parents, for example Canna x ehemanni (C. iridiflora x C. indica var. warsczewiczii). Seedlings from these crosses may vary, and may be selected and given cultivar names. If the resulting hybrids are fertile, several generations of plants may be produced. In time, the parentage of the offspring becomes obscured, reflected in the style of names chosen, for example Canna ‘Ehemanni’.

There are also variations, when we refer to F1 and F2 hybrids, but those require a separate explanation as we are then categorising genetic variation.

Cultivar

A cultivar is an artificially raised or selected plant (the name being a contraction of cultivated variety) that is clearly distinct, uniform, and stable in its characteristics, and able to be maintained by propagation. Some cultivars are increased vegetatively (asexually, also referred to as cloning) from an individual plant, and are maintained by this method. Other cultivars are raised from seed (i.e. sexually) and their characteristics can only be maintained by removing all plants not true to type (removing rogues). If rigorous selection is not carried out, plants sold under those cultivar names may not have the expected characteristics. In the main, Cannas carry the DNA of such a mixture of colours, shapes and other characteristics that roguing is impractical, and the advice given by all authorities is to treat each seedling as a separate and distinct cultivar.

Sports

Sports are mutations resulting from genetic change, which produce shoots or flowers differing from those of the parent plant. If a mutation is propagated vegetatively it may be named as a cultivar and maintained – many variegated plants occur this way. Not all sports are stable; some often resort to the parent’s characteristics, e.g. C. ‘Stuttgart’, top picture, is said to revert to C. ‘Omega’, right picture.

Conclusions
There is no rocket science about this terminology, it is just a simple and straightforward way of classifying our wild and garden raised plants.

Introducing Canna 'Barbara Hallman

The 2003 introductions from Mr Donnie Hallman of Deersprings Nursery, South Carolina, USA were waited for with interest, and, as usual were sold out very quickly. Amongst the new introductions was Canna 'Barbara Hallman. I think that this is the best of Mr Hallman's introductions so far.

Mr Hallman declared, "The flowers are cream with a strawberry Picotee. The foliage is medium dark, and is exceptional! This cultivar is named after my own mother. In the fall the flowers will get an overlay of strawberry streaks, giving it a peppermint candy appearance. The big flowers sometimes have trouble opening, but it is still an excellent plant. I love it! It's fertile both ways. 4' (130cm) tall "

Elegant new life for gaudy Canna

New York Times

Elegant New Life For Gaudy Canna
By LINDA YANG
Published: August 22, 1991

THE stately canna -- pride of gas stations, municipal buildings and (horror of horrors) Victorian planting beds -- has long languished under its stereotyped image. For half a century, and then some, these towering tropical plants, with their bold, paddle-shaped leaves, have been disdained by the taste makers of the garden world.

But suddenly -- or so it seems -- the vulgar duckling is now an elegant swan. Extensive hybridizing has yielded plants with heights from one and a half to over seven feet, flowers in every conceivable color (with freckles and splotches too) and foliage streaked with yellow, silver-blue or maroon. To these developments must be added a long period of bloom that starts in the heat of midsummer, when other flowers falter, and often lasts to frost.

Gardeners are taking note. "Sales are now more than double that of just a few years ago," said Debbie Van Bourgondien, whose family owns a mail-order business in Babylon, L.I. "We shipped well over several hundred thousand cannas this year."

Among her best sellers are the group called dwarfs, "although dwarfs aren't quite as tiny as some people expect," she said. "They really are between two and three feet tall, which is not exactly window box size," she said. Popular dwarfs include Lucifer, a red flower with a yellow splotch; Ambrosia, an orange pink, and Pfitzer primrose yellow.

Canna (actually Kanna), is Greek for reed, an apt description of the plant's tall, unbranched stem. Canna is the only genus in the family, which includes nearly 60 species, all natives of tropical and subtropical regions. Although several species are sold commercially, the countless progeny, or hybrids, have the greatest appeal.

Given a minimum of six hours of sun daily, the slender stalks produce clusters of grand, showy flowers, which vaguely resemble orchids. To keep the plants in bloom, the spent flowers must be snipped away. Herbert Kelly Jr. has been a canna enthusiast since he was a child, so he is gratified that the public has finally seen the light. A mail-order nurseryman in Sanger, Calif., he has been breeding and collecting cannas professionally for more than a decade. "Five years ago I sold maybe 100 in a season," he said. "This year it was more like a thousand." He plans to expand his one-acre growing field to five acres.

The hundred or so kinds of cannas he now stocks include several he bred himself, like Exotica, a four- to five-foot-tall plant whose golden flowers are a dappled orange that change to scarlet with age, and Tigermoth, which has similar flower color but blue-green foliage. And then there is the one he calls "the dwarfest in history," slipping into the hyperbole he cannot avoid when speaking of his treasures. Only one-and-a-half feet tall, Pygmy Flame is a fiery dark red.

He claims to have the "largest collection of rare and unusual and hard-to-find cannas possibly in the world." A mutation he hopes to patent in a year or two is named Durbin. This four- to five-foot-tall orange-red bloomer has lavender stalks and leaves, which provide a kaleidoscopic display as they develop and change from orange-red to pink and then gold. He describes it as "the most beautiful foliage canna ever in existence."

Like most warm climate gardeners, Mr. Kelly leaves his cannas in the ground all year. But in nippier areas, including New York, cannas can be outdoors only in summer. In late autumn, after the leaves have been touched by frost, they must be cut down, and the large roots -- actually underground stems called rhizomes -- are dug up from the ground. The rhizomes are then covered with leaves or barely moist peat moss, stored in a cool dry place and occasionally sprinkled with water to prevent total dehydration. Mr. Kelly suggests a light sprinkling of a fungicide bulb dust to help prevent disease. In late winter, the rhizomes are then replanted in pots and placed in a sunny window to await warm weather and the move outdoors in spring.

Holly Shimizu is one of the gardeners taking another look at this old-fashioned plant. The head of outdoor gardens for the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, Ms. Shimizu said that as recently as three years ago, she "hated them -- absolutely despised them. I associated them with the worst heat of summer, the worst of Victorian stiffness and certainly the least beautiful aspect of grandmother's garden."

A former curator of the herb garden at the National Arboretum in Washington, Ms. Shimizu began rethinking her approach to design in 1988 when she assumed responsibility for the Botanic Garden. Last year she and her crew of four planted several hundred cannas in a corner of the five-acre site, grouping like hybrids together. "Although the more water and fertilizer they're given, the bigger and lusher they grow," she said, she was impressed at how easily they shrugged off relentless heat and drought.

This year, more than 24 hybrids and at least 1,000 cannas have been added to the Botanic Garden. But this time they have been carefully positioned among the perennials and annuals. And where last year's design resembled a color wheel, this year, she said, there are blocks of color throughout, and "every shade in the rainbow." "I go for cannas that have something special," she said. This includes plants like Ambassador, which has glowing red flowers and purple leaves; Striped Beauty, a yellow bloomer with lemon-yellow striped foliage, and Omega, with orange flowers at a height of some 14 feet. This year, she also experimented with the new Tropical Rose, a pink All-America Selection winner that will be available to the public next year.

Canna 'Tropical Rose'

"My problem is guessing what new plants really look like," she said. "Catalogue color pictures just aren't true -- and that's going to be the hardest part for the future."

A Sampler

· Red or Crimson Flowers Black Knight, 3 feet tall, bronze leaves
· Pfitzer Chinese Coral, 2 feet tall
· Pfitzer Crimson Beauty, 1 1/2 feet
· Rosamunde Cole, 3 1/2 feet
· The President, 3 feet
· Ambassador, 4 feet, purple leaves
· Orange Flowers Wyoming, 4 feet, bronze leaves
· Orange Beauty, 4 feet
· Omega, 14 to 16 feet
· Pink Flowers Pink President, 3 feet
· Tropical Rose, 2 1/2 feet
· Rosever, 4 feet, purplish leaves
· Yellow or Orange Flowers Richard Wallace, 4 feet
· Flamingo, 5 feet, purple leaves
· Striped Beauty, 3 feet
· Pretoria, 6 feet, gold striations on leaves
· Mixed Color Flowers Lucifer, 2 feet, red and yellow flowers
· Garbo, 6 feet, yellow flowers changing to salmon pink, purple leaves
· Freckles, 5 feet, yellow with red pink dots

The Sources

If your favorite nursery no longer has cannas, look ahead to next year. A good selection of rhizomes (root-like underground stems) will be available, and now is the time to get on the spring lists of mail-order suppliers. Prices begin at around $3 for three rhizomes but may go as high as $100. Shipping is in early spring. Rhizomes are started in pots indoors and planted outdoors in warm weather.

KELLY'S PLANT WORLD 10266 East Princeton, Sanger, Calif. 93657; (209) 292-3505. Send $1 for list (refundable on first order).

VAN BOURGONDIEN BROTHERS P.O. Box A, Babylon, N.Y. 11702; (800) 622-9997. Free catalogue.

DUTCH GARDENS INC. P.O. Box 200, Adelphia, N.J. 07710; (908) 780-2713. Free catalogue.

MARY WALKER BULB FARM P.O. Box 256, Omega, Ga. 31775. Free flier.

Blog comments:

We can see from this article both the enthusiasm that started the rehabilitation of Canna as a popular garden plant, but sadly we can also see origins of the misnaming of plants, and some of the ill-informed myths that have built up around Canna in recent years.