Complete Cultural Details That Ensure a Magnificent Display of Brilliant Summer Color
offer herbaceous perennial plants , from South America and the West Indies , of the menage Cannaceae . They have unbranched , courtly stems bound from a heavy rhizome ; large , ornamental foliage ; and showy gladiolus - like flowers in dumb concluding clump during summertime . They are primarily used in summer beds and borders . The ancestry of the name is uncertain .
When to Sow Seeds
Cannas can be raised from seminal fluid but this is rarely done except for the yield of newfangled variety . Seeds are inseminate in a nursery with a temperature of 65 - 70 degrees . January is the best month for sowing if it is desired to bring about plants to flower the same season , but seeds may be sown in any month up to June . Before being inseminate , the come , which are very hard , are plume in tepid water for 24 hour to hasten germination , or they are nick with a data file . They are then set 1/2 in . deep in pot filled with light , sandy soil ; the ground must be prevent moist . As sprouting is obtuse , the phone number of seeds sown should be noted , so that it may be eff when all have germinated . As soon as the seedling have formed a pair of leaves , they are pot singly in little pots , filled with acompostof equal part loam and folio molding , a little well - crumble manure and a strewing of sand . They are then placed in a greenhouse with a temperature of 65 - 70 degrees and repotted in 5- or 6-in.pots when the root appear through the soil .
multiplication by dividing the rootstockis effected in February or March . The rootstock is cautiously cut asunder with as much tissue as possible to each growing bud . The shared parts are then planted in moxie or very sandy dirt and are placed in a glasshouse give a temperature of 70 degrees . They are keep middling moist . When the raw shoots are 4 in . long , each division is pot severally in a 4 - in . flowerpot in well - drained , prolific grunge and is returned to a ardent , moistgreenhouse and promote to keep growing .
Planting Out of doors
In May the plants are hardened off by being place in a cold skeletal frame , if they are intended for implant out of doors during the first week in June . They are planted 12 - 15 in . aside , in ground which has been delve profoundly and enriched with decayedmanure or compostand fertiliser . There they will flower freely during the summer and former fall . In warm dominion the roots may be leave in the open ground during the winter with a sufficient app of leaf or similar material to prevent them from freeze . normally , however , they are lift as soon as the leaves have croak down , with as much soil clinging to their roots as potential , and are stored in a frostproofshedor greenhouse covered with hunky-dory dry soil . A storage temperature of 45 - 50 degrees is ideal .
The Chief Kinds
Canna iridiflora is a Peruvian works , 5 - 6 foot . marvellous , which bears rose - colored flowers ; C. Warscewiczii from Costa Rica has reddish - purple leaves and carmine blossom ; C. glauca , a South American plant , 5 - 6 ft . , has pale green farewell and xanthous flowers . C. flaccida from South America , 2 - 4 ft . , with prominent yellow flowers , is a parent of many of the modern hy brids .
There are numerous showy , discover varieties and these are now mainly grown . They are grouped into two sections , the Orchid - flowered and the Gladiolus - flowered ; the latter eccentric is the more popular . The Gladiolus - flowered Cannas are distinguished by their nanus habit of growth and free efflorescence . Some of the best Canna vari eties are King Humbert , scarlet flower and bronze foliation ; King Midas , aureate , green foli age ; Mrs. Alfred Conrad , salmon pink ; The Pres ident , turgid scarlet flower , green leaves ; Yellow King Humbert , green foliation , yellow flowers ; Rosamund , gullible foliage , flower cerise with bor der of yellowish - brown ; Orange Humbert , bronze foliage , flowers orange ; Aida , old rose and salm on ; La Boheme , peach - pinko ; La Traviata , older rose ; Mme . Butterfly , yellowish - pinko ; and Rigo letto , icteric .
Economic Uses
The tubers Gf Canna edulis , aboriginal of the West Indies , are edible , and from them are produced Cannastarch - tous - LE - Mois - which is used in the preparation of infant solid food . The leafage are used in Brazil for wad role . The source is almost round , black , and so surd that it has been used instead of shot by the West Indians ; it is also used for beads .
