Achira Dark

CannaAchira Dark’
(Agriculture Group)

HEIGHT Tall, 2-3 metres
FOLIAGE Bronze
FORM Spreading
FLOWER Red

A tall Agriculture Group cultivar; bronze foliage, large, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; triangular stems, coloured purple; spikes of flowers are erect, self-coloured red-orange, staminodes are long and narrow, edges regular, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, blooms open in the early morning; fertile both ways, self-pollinating and also true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 7 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is prolific.

This variety has bronze leaves with pronounced ribs, which make an elegant champagne flute shape as the leaves unravel and flatten out. All canna do this, but I believe that none do it as elegantly. My young grandchildren used to call them ‘fairy glasses’. It is late flowering, producing orange/crimson blooms in late summer/early autumn.

Impressive in size, stately plants that grow to about 2 metres tall with their leaves evenly spread out on the stem giving it a very neat, orderly appearance. This bronze leaf form of Achira has orange/crimson flowers.

Introduced to England from Peru in 1820. Originally thought to be a species in its own right, this is not accepted by modern botanists who consider it to be a Canna discolor variety or a sub-species of indica, depending upon which taxonomist you talk to. It is found along the coast of South America, the West Indies and in temperate valleys of the Andes, usually at the edges of moist thickets or in ditches.

 

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Achira Green

Canna ‘Achira Green’

syn. Inca Arrowroot
(Agriculture Group)

HEIGHT Tall, 2-3 metres
FOLIAGE Green and purple variegated
FORM Branching
FLOWER Red
FLOWERING Good bloomer

CannaAchira Green’ is a tall Agriculture Group cultivar; green foliage, large, oval shaped, sometimes maroon margin, branching habit; spikes of flowers are erect, self-coloured red, staminodes are long and narrow, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer, blooms open in the early morning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 7 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is prolific.

CannaAchira Green’ Thor Dalebø.

Our earliest reference to this specimen is RHS Journal of 1847.

Alt Württemberg

Canna ‘Alt Württemberg’
(Premier Group)

ORIGIN Pfitzer, 1949
HEIGHT Tall, 2-3 metres
FOLIAGE Dark
FORM Arching
FLOWER Red
FLOWERING Exceptional bloomer

Canna Alt Württemberg is a tall Premier Group cultivar; dark foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, arching habit; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals red with farina, fully self-cleaning, exceptional bloomer, blooms open in the early morning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is slow.

Our earliest reference to this specimen is Hart Canna, 2000, Internet October 2000.

Amundsen

Canna ‘Amundsen’
(Crozy Group)

HEIGHT Tall, 2-3 metres
FOLIAGE Green
FORM Spreading
AWARDS AGM at RHS Canna Trial 2002. 

Canna ‘Amundsen’ is a tall Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, spreading habit; flowers are open, self-coloured scarlet, staminodes are large, edges irregular, petals red, blooms open in the early morning; fertile both ways, not known if true to type, not self-pollinating.

Royal Horticultural Society, England - Canna Trial 2002.
Described as being like C. ‘President’, but bigger.