Canna Tropicana - an exotic beauty with variegated foliage
dragonfly_wings
14 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (35)
tropicalzone7
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agoRelated Discussions
HAVE: omega, orange beauty, red dazzler, musifolia cannas
Comments (7)Barb, I am interested in your musifolia cannas,omega, orange beauty, and red dazzler. Check my page. I have cannas, Red Russian, and Stuggart. Also, arisaema tortuosum whip cord cobra lily, konjac voodoo lily, and sparkling burgungdy pineapple lily. Please let me know....See Morefoliage plant for garden..trying to learn to add foliage
Comments (8)Get thee hence to amazon.com and buy some Sunset gardening books! They have excellent advice for the Western gardener, none better. Also, many of their smaller specialty paperbacks show up on the 'sale' shelves at drugstores, Wal-Mart, Costco, etc., which are great buys. I picked up their latest 'Trellises & Arbors' book for $4.95 at Long's, a few feet away they were still selling their remaining copies at $12.95! It is hot and dry where you are, but can get nippy at night in winter although frost is very rare. You're in Sunset zone 21 so there are wonderful tropicals available to you. The biggest thing for you to be aware of is that your soil heats up fast and stays warm throughout most of the year. Stay away from cool-soil plants (or keep them in the shade) and you'll be fine. Many of the nurseries are carrying Australian and South African plants now as their climate is similar to ours. You are right to get into foliage, you can have a beautiful garden year-round in CA if you use the right plants. I'm 400 miles north of you so some of what I grow won't work for you, but some will: Clumping evergreen daylilies Lantana of any kind, trailing or shrub Agapanthus, and there are beautiful variegated ones now Abutilons (partial shade where you are) Pelargoniums, the fancy leaf hybrids Osteopermums will flower year-round for you, in fact they will flower themselves to death! Coleonema Bearded iris stay evergreen and many flower twice a year in partial shade Lavendars, rosemaries, euryops, argyranthemums all have lovely foliage Tibouchinas, melianthus, grevilleas will all love your weather. At their feet: gazanias, helianthemum, asteriscus maritimus ('Gold Coin'), lambs ear, alyssum. And I won't even get started on vines--oh, do you have great choices open to you.......See MoreShould I be Worried?
Comments (14)You very accurately describe the shortcomings of the true C. Durban. Congratulations on having this rare cultivar. May I ask when and where did you get this plant? My good friend Herb Kelly (Kelly Plant World-Sanger, Ca.) received this unnamed cultivar from a contact who found it growing near Pretoria, South Africa. This was of course several years past. He was kind enough to send me a plant that I evaluated for commercial production and as you suggested; its reproduction rate was severely limited. I never offered it for sale. I believe Tony Avent (Plant Delight Nursery) and San Marcos Growers (California) offered it for sale for a short period of time years back. Unfortunately the name Durban is often listed and sold (primarily in Europe) but is simply a synonym for the canna Tropicanna (orange bloom). Hopefully your cannas are and will remain virus free and you can post photos when available. I will try to attach old scanned photos of C. Durban. Kent...See MoreDoes this canna Tropicana have the virus?
Comments (11)IF my 1 gallon Tropicanna was infected, it is not showing any signs of it. It grew like crazy, putting on 7-10 new growths, foliage shows no odd markings, and it flowered great on that first lead. The plant as purchased had one lead under 2' tall and one 4" start. Next year will tell more. It was potted in an official gold and black Tropicanna plastic pot with wide show label on stake. Other local home improvement sources only had the more expensive 2 gal size. I waited until late June? to get it when most were gone and got 25% off. I was really waiting to take off. I was generous with a slow release pellet 10-10-10 fertilzer and was rewarded. I'm going to risk adding a 'Tropicanna Black' = 'General Eisenhower' this year. I'll wait until they are in the sun a month or so, to see if pot/water stress helps indicate any sign of virus. I ordered 6 other canna from good sources and will keep them isolated until I can study them a little. These include some large forms such as 'Russian Red', C. musifolia (green form and a red ribbed) to add foliage drama and 'Intrigue' for accent. Canna are related to Banana's. And I'm not sure whether or not they can share viruses. My hardy Musa basjoo looks very healthy. I've ordered hardy Chinese Golden Lotus (Musella lasiocarpa) seed. And I've ordered Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' from a virus free claimed tissue culture source. The latter of these and Brugmansia will be among the plants I'll overwinter inside. A Canna 'Australia' was next to my 'Tropicanna' and did great also. That's a 8-9' tall Joe Pye 'Gateway' behind in a tub sitting in 4" of water in the bog section of the pond. It didn't fill out as much as usual and looks potbound, so will bump it up this year. My Basjoo was from Hirt's as a ~6" start in a 4" pot. The crown hit over 4' in one summer and it has a few starts too, many larger than my original purchase. The photo below shows a stressed plant, due to late season weather with temps under 40 F. It is still in ground, now trimmed and tent tarped for winter, for a fast 2017 start. Should have a nice little grove there (and bigger cane Golden Vivax Bamboo behind) by this fall! (click photo to view) Near the Cannas, I'm testing two hardy Ginger Hedychium varieties (mulched and in ground too) to see if I can get decent flowering. Many grow well here but H. 'Tara' is supposed to be obe if the few that flower well here. However, just to hard headed, I'm testing 'Dr Moy' and 'Elizabeth'. I found them locally, the leaves looked healthy even in late fall, when I found them on close out ... you guessed it ... on sale. Hey anyone have a 'Tara' to trade? As the beds fill in, I'll thin out what doesn't perform well. I we so look forward to warming weather, with subtropicals adding interest to our northern garden, and Brugmansia fragrance wafting by ... and over the cedar fence ... confusing our neighbors. Did I mention there's 150 crocus, 50 Hyacinth, and 30 Poet's Narcissis now hiding in the ground already? And the Sarcococca humilis ground cover and Daphne by the front entrance are showing buds? And firely orange Witch Hazel 'Jelina' buds started unfurling a couple days ago? The fun just started ......See Moregreen_thumb_guy
14 years agodragonfly_wings
14 years agodragonfly_wings
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agogreen_thumb_guy
14 years agogreen_thumb_guy
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agostruwwelpeter
14 years agocanna2grow
14 years agogreen_thumb_guy
14 years agosfbg1_sbcglobal_net
12 years agomantis__oh
12 years agoKindness Matters (NE Ohio 6a)
6 years agoAndy Roker
6 years agogreen_thumb_guy
6 years agoKindness Matters (NE Ohio 6a)
6 years agogreen_thumb_guy
6 years agogreen_thumb_guy
6 years agoKindness Matters (NE Ohio 6a)
6 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING GUIDESGreat Design Plant: Canna 'Pretoria'
Plant this showstopping lily in your garden now for the lush feel of a tropical landscape all summer long
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES7 New Plants to Grow for Beautiful Foliage
Add color, structure and interest to your garden with these recently introduced plants that sport exceptional foliage
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGreat Design Plant: Cannas
Easy to grow and maintain, these showy, colorful plants are perfect for beginning gardeners
Full StoryPLANTING IDEASBig Foliage for Small Spaces
Use bold, large-leaved plants to create intriguing contrast in a garden where they’re least expected
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGarden-Friendly Native Alternatives to Overplanted Exotics
There are lots of gorgeous, wildlife-friendly native plants ready to make an appearance in your garden
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNHow to Create a Beautiful Shade Garden
Turn the cool, shady spot in your garden into your own quiet oasis
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGDouble Take: Bizarrely Beautiful Spires Bloom on a Vancouver Roof Deck
Did alien-looking plants in deviant colors land in this Canadian rooftop garden? Come in for a closer look
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESBromeliads: The Ultimate Collector’s Plants
Once you discover bromeliads’ exotic beauty, wide-ranging colors and intriguing patterns, you’ll never go back
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESTop 12 Summer-Blooming Perennials for Deer-Resistant Drama
Can you have garden color, fragrance and exciting foliage with hungry deer afoot? These beauties say yes
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGN7 Evergreen Wonders of the Plant World
Year-round interest, structure and beautiful color? These top-notch evergreens have gardens covered
Full StoryMore Discussions
struwwelpeter