The first hummer in my yard this year was a couple of weeks ago on my red Robert Kemp Canna, it then moved on to my Turk's Cap ignoring the four feeders I have out.

Mine visit yellows (Lenape, Richard Wallace and Striped Beauty), oranges (Rosemond Cole, Wyoming, and Pretoria), and reds (Red King Humbert, President, and Black Knight), but are completely disinterested in salmon pink (name unknown). I don't know how much nectar they get out of them, but they spend more time at Lenape than any other; it seems to have more buds open at the same time than the others.

Hi Maureen,
with Cannas you really want to stick to the species-type cultivars.If it has spikey blooms it will hold more nectar than the showy 'Dahlia' type blooms and the hummer will soon learn which is which by trial and error.
I have had great sucess with Robert Kemp (Canna indica), Skyhawk,India Prince and any of the Indian-shot types. In general if they form viable seeds they will also hold nectar.I have heard others like Omega,Coccinea and 'Tikki-Torch'.
If you really wnt to get the low-down on Cannas for hummers , go to the Karchensky Canna online cataloge.They have a complete breakdown of what Cannas are good for hummers and the owner Alice Harris will be more than happy to help you find what you need.They are located somewhere in PA and I would someday love to visit theuir nursery just to see all the hummers!
-stephen
Canna "India Prince"
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Canna "Skyhawk" has beautiful bronze/purple leaves:
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Canna "Robert Kemp" aka indica , this is one of the best for hummers
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-hope this helps , stephen

Hi, Maureen. There are a couple of canna fans on this forum, so I'm sure you'll get some more specific ideas, but if you're planting mainly for the birds, try cannas with simple, species-type flowers. A wild-type red-flowered canna that came with our 53-year-old house gets lots of hummingbird activity, even with a whole garden of nectar plants to choose from. The flowers aren't as big and gaudy as most of the commercial varieties, but they must produce some good nectar. The descriptions on the Karchesky Canna site often mention hummingbird attractiveness.

Disclaimer: I do not agree with nor endorse the use of "Sponsored Links" possibly embedded in my posts by the owner of this or any other website, and I choose not to patronize businesses whose ads are linked to my posts without my knowledge or consent.

I needn't have worried - Stephen not only provided an authoritative answer, but his beat mine onto the forum by 9 minutes!

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Oh my goodness, you guys are great. I really appreciate your info here. I have a bunch of research to do. I'm trying to figure out the best place to buy these cannas from. I saw on another thread that Horn is much cheaper than Karchesky. Why is this, anyone know? Like 1.50 ea vs. 15.00 ??

awesome pics, stephen.
good question for a thread, maureen. hummers like the robert kemp cannas here.

Ooops Sherry it looks like we had the same idea !
Thanks for the link and kind words which are quite a compliment coming from a Hummingbird expert like yourself.
Now I'm going to have to figure out how to make that disclaimer sigature you guys all have.

Irish Rose I'm not sure why Horn is cheaper but I have dealt with Karchesky and would also like to let you know that they sell Canna seeds which are very cheap and easy to start with a little work.In your zone you can get seedlings to bloom in the first year if grown in pots!
-stephen

I bought some Robert Kemp seeds from Karchesky last fall. The company is very generous. The price for 6 seeds is $3.00, but I actually got 10 or 12 seeds. Don't know if it was a mistake or what, but I appreciated the gesture.

Karchesky's has a huge selection and the ones that are attractive to HBs are indicated in the descriptions. This year, I want to try c. coccinea, a pink one.

Some companies deserve free advertising, don't you think?

Disclaimer: I do not agree with nor endorse the use of "Sponsored Links" possibly embedded in my posts by the owner of this or any other website.

Linda

Stephen, you're the head canna cahuna here! I really admire those gorgeous varieties you're growing, and I'm tempted to devote a section of the flower beds now under renovation to a small canna collection. All three in your photos look like real winners, but having browsed the Karchesky site and a few others I'm thinking of trying 'Mystique,' 'Intrigue,' and/or 'Gravitas' for a little variety. It's too bad that Karchesky doesn't offer a "Hummingbird Gardener's Special" of three or four of their best hummingbird cannas. Now, if only 'Tropicanna' had the right kind of flowers....

Tzunun

I grow all three of those that you mentioned. I think that you will like them, or maybe I should say that the hummingbirds will enjoy them.

jp

What a great thread Maureen! Thanks for posting because I didn't realize that cannas attracted hummingbirds, nevermind that there was a species canna. Thank you for providing the resources Tzunun and Stephen.

Stephen, your pictures are outstanding! What a perfect advertisement for the cannas.

Ruth

Many varieties to name, but they always go after Canna musifolia. The bright red orchid-like flowers are candy to my minions

Maureen,
I also got Robert Kemp seeds from Karchesky and more than I ordered. I planted them inside in small pots on April 5 (after soaking and nicking them), planted them in the back of the vegetable garden about the middle of May and they were about 5 feet tall and began blooming the second week of July. Best of all my hummingbirds had been looking on the hummingbird forum too and went to them as soon as they bloomed!

Oooooh, that 'India Prince' is a pretty thing! I have 'Robert Kemp', 'Intrigue', 'Peach Gigantum' & 'Red Rib' this year...I'm going to have to give serious consideration to 'India Prince' for next year!

Patrick

If you like tall ones, try 'Omega' or 'Stuttgart'. The latter likes a little shade, as it's variegated leaves are subject to being burned. Another to try is 'Tiki Torch'. Having mentioned those, I also cast a vote for starting with 'Robert Kemp'; it's easy and very effective!

Are there any short ones that can be grown in a pot?

Ellery

Ellery, they can all be grown in pots if the pots are big enough. All of mine are in 24 inch pots because I think they are just too invasive grown in the ground.

JoAnn

Here is a link that might be useful: yellow canna