Colourful cannas ideal for a tropical garden design
ON my recent trip abroad, I did wish for a touch of the tropics. It is not easy to find substitutes for the warm flowering plants we are so familiar with here. As such it was nice to spot the colourful canna family. It is a good example of a lovely tropical plant. Background Canna lily comes from the family Cannaceae and is its only genus. As a member of the order called Zingiberales, it is a close relative of Zingiberaceae, Musaceae, Heliconiaceae, and Marantaceae. Although called Canna lily, it is not a true lily.
Canna can trace its origins to Latin America where, as one the earliest domesticated plants, it has been grown for thousands of years. It was the Canna indica that was exported to Europe. The species that were brought to Asia and Africa were Canna indica and Canna glauca cultivars, which were imported from Central and South America.
Only in recent years have taxonomists regrouped the different cultivars under the some 20 known species of the wild form and reduced the number to less than half. Today most of the names are synonyms. Varieties The various varieties grown in temperate regions include the Tropicanna, which is grown mainly for its deep copper reed striped foliage rather than the actual orange flowers. Planting these and a few other canna varieties with plain foliage and bold flowers would definitely be a stunning feature in the garden.
The common varieties include Canna Oberon, Canna Yellow King Humbert, and Canna Golden Gate. There are also agricultural varieties grown for starch extraction or as animal feed such as Canna edulis dark. Growing tips
Cannas are tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with a rhizomatous rootstock. The leaves are broad and flat, growing directly from a stem in a long roll, which then unfurls in the sun. Cannas will require six to eight hours of full sun for best results.
Water moderately and ensure that the planting medium is welldrained. Using sandy soil is also acceptable.
You can choose to grow cannas in the ground, as borders, or in containers. Cannas can actually be grown in water gardens as well. Place just the lower half of the pot in the water.
When choosing fertiliser, you can use both inorganic fertiliser or manure for growing cannas. As long as the soil is fertile, the plants should continuously produce flowers.
Deadheading will encourage more flowering. If you find that a flower spike does not have any more buds, try to prune it down to the next side shoot. This should actually encourage a secondary flower spike to develop.
The practice is also to cut away any brown foliage to the base, allowing the corm underground to survive. The roots are perennial rhizomes that can be used for continued growing or they can be dug up and kept for other planting needs.
Remember that the materials you have trimmed off are very good for compost. Therefore, do not throw them out. We should always try to practise conservation of garden materials because as the saying slogan goes — what belongs to the garden, should go back to the garden. Different uses As mentioned, there are some cannas overseas that are also grown for human and animal consumption. This is indeed something we have never explored in Malaysia. We have only used these magnificent flowering plants for landscaping.
For animal consumption, the leaves and rhizomes are fed to cattle and pigs after around four months or more of planting.
The rhizomes are apparently edible and said to be sweet but fibrous. Apparently, the young shoots can also be cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
When I visited southern China recently, the varieties grown there actually have underground stems that are used to produce a good starch, which is used to make a special type of glass noodle.
How about growing some cannas in your garden? Do send me an email if you have questions, comments, or suggestions. Happy gardening.