A month ago I blogged about ordering bulbs for next year. I noted that I had ordered Canna "Cleopatra" from Select Seeds this Spring, but I doubted whether that was what I had received. The leaves are supposed to be variegated green and bronze, but the leaves at that writing still showed only green.
July 16, 2006
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Thinking I didn't get what I wanted, I ordered replacement bulbs from Old House Gardens for next Spring. I just needed to be more patient. The sequence of photographs shows how quickly it transformed. I think the heat wave we had really got it going. I planted three bulbs in a large pot in the front yard. I've now got three flowering stalks. It's attracting comments from all the neighbors.
August 4, 2006
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August 6, 2006
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August 10, 2006
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August 11, 2006
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August 12, 2006
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"Cleopatra" was introduced in 1895. It's also known as the "Harlequin Canna" for its variegated leaves and flowers. The variegation is unstable and unpredictable; you can see from the photos of my plant that the flowers appear different even on the same stalk of blooms. It seems to me it might be a chimera of two different varieties fused together. In other words, it's a freak, and a Victorian freak at that. That's why it will always have a place of honor in the heirloom garden at the front of our 105-year old Victorian house.
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2 comments:
Very cool--love the progression photography on this! I've been looking for a type of canna to include in my backyard garden... now that I know this is an heirloom variety, it just may be "the one." Having an old house, too, I like to use natives and old-fashioned cultivars whenever possible.
Very nice! I just attempted cannas for the first time this year.
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