Dicksonia antarctica

Confirmation from Shaun in Tasmania that our spring container of tree ferns passed inspection and is being loaded. It should be on the water within the next three days.
Haven't had the loading list yet but it will be a mixture of 1,2,3 and 4 footers to compliment the 5 to 9 footers we already have (left over from the autumn 2004 container).

Amorphophallus konjac watch - day1

At last it's broken the surface. I'm sure this is going to be a spathe as it's far too early for it to be a leaf stalk. It's too difficult to tell just by looking, its exactly the same as a leaf. Perhaps if I had photos to compare I could notice a difference.

Cannas

Many years ago, when I was a bit of a ‘cottager’, I was rather sniffy about cannas. My experience of them was limited to lacklustre municipal bedding displays, you’ve seen them: groups of pink petunias and pelargoniums with yellow flowered cannas, placed at monotonously regular intervals like vertical punctuation marks-yuk! Then I was given my first canna, Canna x ehemanii.
Not quite sure what to do with the creature I stuck it in the border then sat back and watched in wonder as it put on its show all summer, through autumn and into early winter. Its huge, banana-like leaves, edged with a maroon margin and pendulous cerise flowers, quite different to other canna flowers, captivated me. It endured a site with pretty impoverished soil, and little irrigation but was the jewel in my garden that summer. Right up until the first frosts in December it looked marvellous. And then I retreated to the warmth of the house and forgot about it. I had read somewhere that cannas were tender, and at the time, it was beyond my horticultural interest or ability to give winter protection, so I presumed all was lost. The following year I was amazed to see strong green shoots pushing through the soil and within no time the Canna was re-established and was full of flower by July. To this I added Canna ‘Wyoming’,
a really tall and robust canna with big burnished bronze leaves and huge, blowsy orange flowers. At the time gardeners were being ‘instructed’ to keep pinks well away from orange and for a while I considered I had made a style boo-boo by growing these plants so close together, then one evening I looked at the cannas through fresh eyes and realised that these plants looked astounding together, regardless of what the good taste brigade would think.
I gave a clump of ‘Wyoming’ to my flower appreciating but non-gardening parents and was annoyed a week later to see them planted against the north wall of their house. But Cannas need warmth and sun and a really rich soil I protested. Many years later, the colossal ‘Wyoming’ patch is doing mighty fine! A good, easy and hardy canna.As lovely and lustrous as the leaves of ‘Wyoming’ are I desired the darkest leaved canna available and so was drawn to Canna Australia,
a deep mahogany/black leaved canna with brilliant red flowers. The colour of both leaf and flower is frighteningly intense. I have found to my cost that it doesn’t survive UK winters and should be brought inside after the first frost has withered its leaves. ‘Australia’ is without doubt the prince of the dark leaved cannas but the king is unquestionably Canna ‘Durban’ aka ‘Tropicanna’.
Its leaves are the most exquisitely variegated in the plant kingdom, in shades of green, maroon, black and red. It can grow to 2m tall in the UK and has big show-off flowers like those of ‘Wyoming’. Every year there are any number of new canna introductions, most of them virtually identical to many of their predecessors. However, there is a new introduction that I definitely will be trying this year - Canna 'Pink Sunburst' with leaves similar to ‘Durban’ but short growing and with pink (yes pink) flowers. Remember – in ‘Canna World’ gaudy is good.
Many cannas are referred to as ’Water Cannas’ though in reality all cannas like a moist soil when in growth, and can be grown as pond marginals. A really good ‘water’ canna is Canna ‘Taney’. Its rate of growth and increase is quite phenomenal and can reach nearly 2.5m in a season. The flowers are a delicate tangerine, very pretty and not nearly as showy as some of the cultivars. These have survived with us for several years in the ground and in an outdoor pond. Canna ‘Endeavour’
is another excellent ‘water canna’ with large, leathery dark green leaves and scarlet flowers. It is very vigorous and makes big clumps of rhizomes very quickly.
Of the variegated cannas three are outstanding. Canna ‘Striata’
has really pronounced yellow and green variegation with big orange flowers and grows to 1.8m. The down side is that it seems more prone to Canna virus than any other canna. Canna ‘Bangkok’ aka 'Striped Beauty'
is smaller in stature and has green and white variegation. Its flowers are yellow and have a white cross at the throat. An outstanding, if rather frustrating canna, is Canna ‘Stuttgart’. It has really stunning green and pure white variegation, however, any sunlight will scorch its leaves. Even a shaft of light through the dappled shade of trees will ruin its good looks. It really is a vampire of a plant and would probably be at its best if grown in a cellar!
For King Kong sized cannas, Canna musafolia
is a must. It has huge, banana like, dark green leaves with a maroon rim, on thick green/maroon stems up to 3m tall - it really does grow to musa (banana)-like proportions! Unfortunately it refuses to flower in the UK – even in the summer of 2003. Another magnificent, giant canna is Canna edulis
It doesn’t grow to quite the monster proportions of Canna musafolia but has huge, pleated, dark green leaves with a maroon blush. The rhizomes can become huge and are ball shaped. These push themselves upwards and can lie dangerously exposed on the surface of the ground. If you are considering leaving edulis in the ground over winter be sure to give the rhizomes a good, thick, protective mulch.

We have over wintered many cannas outside in the ground for years. A word of caution though: we have very well drained soil and the winters for the last decade or so have been reasonably mild. If a dreaded 1963-like freeze was to hit us we would undoubtedly loose the lot – hence we always have backups, which are brought into a frost-free environment. Forget washing and cleaning every last drop of soil from the rhizomes and carefully placing them in trays. We simply dig up clumps of cannas and pot them into the smallest pot that they will fit in, topped up with a free-draining compost mix. This is usually done after the first frosts have blackened the leaves. Cannas left in the ground are treated to a thick blanket of straw around the base. The foliage is left on the plants throughout the winter. This looks ghastly but resist tidying them, as cutting back the stems will leave a wound that is open to water entering and causing rot.

A word on Canna virus. Very little is known about Canna virus. It manifests itself in rust coloured streaks on the leaves. Sometimes these leaves are slightly distorted and puckered. Like many plants under stress, virused cannas will flower very early in the season and before the plant is full height. Over the years the canna will loose vigour and become increasingly unsightly. It is spread by sap sucking insects. I have heard it said that Cannas may have the ability to outgrow the virus but in my experience I haven’t found this to be the case. Some would advise (and this is a very bitter pill to swallow) to burn all your cannas and start again. If the thought of this is beyond the pale, at least destroy any known infected material and keep any new introductions well away from your potentially infected stock. I am staggered by the blatant ignorance and neglect of garden centres who display for sale quite obviously virused plants each year.