Thor Dalebö.
Canna ‘Wintzer’s Colossal’
(Italian Group)
Origin WINTZER Antoine
Height Tall
Foliage Green
Form Branching
Flower Red
Blooming Average bloomer
Flowering August/September/October/Until frosts
Tillering Average
Canna ‘Wintzer’s Colossal’ is a tall Italian Group cultivar; green foliage, oblong shaped, obtuse apex, branching habit; round main stems, coloured green; oval flower stalks, coloured green; clusters of flowers are open, self-coloured scarlet, staminodes are large, edges irregular, petals green, fully self-cleaning, average bloomer, flowers in August until frosts in northern temperate zone, blooms open in the early morning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.
Images courtesy of
Alice Harris
Conard & Jones Catalogue, 1915
6 ft. Without doubt the largest flowered
Canna to date, as the average flowers more than cover a man’s hat. With its superior substance it seems to revel in the hot sunshine with impunity. The color is a strikingly vivid scarlet that retains its brilliancy. Generous green foliage. For size, color and endurance, Wintzer’s Colossal is not only a veritable prize-winner, but far ahead of its nearest rival.
Inter-State Nurseries, Hamburg, Iowa, USA. Catalogue 1939
Wintzer’s Colossal – Vivid scarlet, green foliage. 5 feet.
The I.W. Scott Co., Pittsburgh. PA, USA, Catalogue 1939
Remarkable for its exceptionally large, broad petalled flowers, often measuring 8 inches across. Deep scarlet with light green foliage. Height 5 feet.
Breck's Catalogue, 1945
Wintzer’s Colossal. Vivid scarlet, green foliage. 5 feet.
Garden Flowers in Color by Daniel J. Foley
6 feet. Bright scarlet.
Dr. Khoshoo & Dr. I. Guha: Evolution of Cultivated
Canna 1966
x orchiodes, tall (80-160cm), foliage green, broad staminodia (5-7 cm) self coloured. In the collection of the Royal Agri-Horticultural Society , Alipore, Calcutta, India.
Canna Handbook, Keith Hayward. Edition 1.06. © September 2000
A Wintzer. A giant plant (over 2m). Large leathery green leaves with red stem nodes. Large semi-closed (tulip shaped) orange/red flowers.
Ian Cooke, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas
(T) A classic cultivar, not surprisingly raised by Wintzer. It makes an enormous plant with gigantic, deep crimson flowers and massive paddle-like green leaves. Well worth growing to make a strong statement! Available from specialist nurseries.
Podgora Gardens, Sonja Mrsich, North Island, New Zealand. Catalogue
Deep crimson. 100cm.
KAVB International
Canna Checklist, September 2004
A. Wintzer; flowers tomato-red (RHS 45B), leaves green, height over 80 cm.
Karchesky and Harris 2006
Gorgeous large structured canna. Enormous velvety rich red blooms and dark budstems. Largest flower head of all cannas. Large green leaves with a dark red edge. Tall height. Origin:
Pennsylvania’s
Canna Master, Leon Wintzer.
Mr. Wintzer is the originator, and the Conard & Jones Company the introducer of such varieties as ‘
The President’, Mrs. Alfred F. Conard’, ‘
City of Portland’, ‘American Beauty’, ‘
Statue of Liberty’, Wintzer’s Colossal and of ‘Sears (?) Queen’, ‘Flag of Truce’ and a host of others
