Thor Dalebø.

Cherry Red

Canna ‘Cherry Red’
syns. Pfitzer’s Cherry Red
(Crozy Group)

ORIGIN PFITZER Wilhelm
HEIGHT Medium, 1-2 metres
FOLIAGE Green
FORM Branching
FLOWER Red
FLOWERING Good bloomer

Canna ‘Cherry Red’is a medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured cherry-red, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, labellum is cherry-red, petals red with farina, fully self-cleaning, good 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 average.

The old family nursery of Wilhelm Pfitzer, established in the 1840s, did not use its name as a prefix when naming its cultivars. According to the Canna guru Johnny K. Johnson this was a marketing ploy by some nurseries in the USA, where the respected name of Pfitzer added prestige to the humble given name, and so the synonym ‘Pfitzer’s Cherry Red’.

References
Henry Field's Catalogue, 1969
CHERRY RED. Long clusters of soft, pleasing cherry-red flowers.
Kelly's Plant World, California, USA. 1989
Flowers cherry-red. Foliage green. Height 3 ft.