Marcelle Sheppard

BORN: February 01, 1929
PLACE: Friendship Community near Roganville, Texas, USA
DECEASED: September 23, 2019
OCCUPATION Owner of Marcelles Crinums Nursery at Vidor, Texas, USA.

Although primarily a Crinum grower Mrs Sheppard had a soft spot for Cannas as well, and raised many new cultivars which were introduced to the market by her long-time agent, the nurseryman Herb Kelly.

Over the years Marcelle Sheppard has hybridized a 

number of winning Cannas.  Probably the most well-known and popular is Canna ‘Zulu Rouge’ with its dark (almost brown-black) foliage and bright red flowers.

In correspondence Mrs Sheppard supplied the editor with a list of the canna cultivars she has introduced, along with their genetic provenance.

1. C. ‘Blushing Beauty’ – Confetti x Chinese Coral
2. C. ‘Brocade’ – Parks Grande Opera seeds. Parks is a US garden mail order retailer.
3. C. ‘Chinese Lantern’ – Color Clown seedling.
4. C. ‘Colortime’ – Color Clown seedling.
5. C. ‘Cremora’ – Eureka x Confetti
6. C. ‘Fantastic Red’ – Parks Grande Opera seeds
7. C. ‘Gold Mine’ – a rogue that just appeared in a Canna bed
8. C. ‘Heart Throb’ – Parks Seven Dwarf seeds
9. C. ‘Honeycomb’ – Unknown
10. C. ‘Lemonade’ – Confetti seedling.
11. C. ‘Lunar Light’ – Color Clown seedling.
12. C. ‘New Dawn’ – Parks Grande Opera seeds
13. C. ‘New Day’ – Parks Grande Opera seeds
14. C. ‘New Era’ – Parks Grande Opera seeds
15. C. ‘New Horizon’ – Unknown
16. C. ‘New Sensation’ – Unknown
17. C. ‘Orange Chiffon’ – Unknown
18. C. ‘Orange County Texas’ – Clown Color seedling.
19. C. ‘Orange Delight’ – Unknown
20. C,. ‘Pale Beauty’ – Unknown
21. C. ‘Peaches’n Cream’ – Parks Seven Dwarf seeds
22. C. ‘Pink Lace’ – Unknown
23. C. ‘Phalia’ – Eureka x Confetti
24. C. ‘Porcelana’ – Chinese Coral seedling.
25. C. ‘Pretty Butterfly’ – Green-leafed from my Red Leafed seedlings
26. C. ‘Pygmy Flame’ – Unknown landscape small flowered red.
27. C. ‘Red Ribbons’ – Unknown
28. C. ‘Rose Beauty’ – Green leafed Rosever seedling.
29. C. ‘Rose Ribbons’ – Seedling from one of the Grande Opera cannas.
30. C. ‘Scarlet Fever’ – Confetti seedling.
31. C. ‘Spotted Fever’ – Only seedling from the other C. Confetti which was so pretty.
32. C. ‘Tangerine’ – Parks Seven Dwarf Seeds
33. C. ‘Topaz’ – Unknown.
34. C. ‘Tropical Sunrise’ – Unknown.
35. C. ‘Weinsap Red’ – Parks Seven Dwarf seeds.
36. C. ‘Zulu Apricot Nector’ – Rosever seedling.
37. C. ‘Zulu Best Friends’ – Unknown
38. C. ‘Zulu Maiden’ – Unknown.
39. C. ‘Zulu Masquerade’ – Sport from Cleopatra.
40. C. ‘Zulu King’ – Unknown.
41. C. ‘Zulu Princess’ – Rosever seedling.
42. C. ‘Zulu Queen’ – Confetti seedling.
43. C. ‘Zulu Rouge’ – Rosever seedling.
44. C. ‘Zulu Warrior’ – Color Clown seedling.

It is immediately obvious how many fine cultivars have been obtained from the now neglected Grande Opera Series. Thankfully, they are all still available for anybody who troubles to collect them, however, the same cannot be said for the Severn Dwarf Series, which seems to have become extinct.

All of Mrs Sheppard’s cultivars are in the Crozy Group, except for C. ‘Zulu Masquerade’, which is an Italian Group sport from C. ‘Yellow King Humbert’ (syn. Cleopatra).

Finally, C. ‘Color Clown’ (syn. C. ‘Percy Lancaster’) has proven to be an outstanding seed parent for Mrs Sheppard, and those contemplating hand propagation should consider this as an outstanding seed and pollen parent.