Is This a Firebird Canna? (pics)

18 years ago

This canna was sold as a "marginal aquatic" - not even identified as a canna. It's a great plant, with the purest, most beautiful red flowers I ever had on a canna. The flowers are of a relatively stiff or heavy substance. They don't flop over. When they're done, they drop off cleanly. Even the seed pods are pretty, being the same reddish color as the flower stalk, maybe a little darker. The plant is about 3 ft tall. I haven't been able to identify it for sure. I think it might be Firebird, but the leaves look a little different to me than in the pictures I found. These are not as elongated. What do you think?

Comments (2)

canna2grow
18 years ago
Nicolo, you might compare to ÂValentineÂ at Plant Delight Nursery. Identification from a photo is only a guess at best but your seed capsule description and the leaf characteristic is fitting for Valentine. The rhizomes of Valentine are somewhat short and stubby with reddish leaf scale covering. http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/04679.html Regards, Kent
nicolo
Original Author
18 years ago
Kent, I checked out the Plant Delights Page and also did a Yahoo search on Valentine canna. The picture at http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/37609 is a closer match with mine. The description there was the really interesting part:

"A gorgeous canna from Kent Kelly. Blue black buds open to large deep rich red flowers. Deep green leaves. Medium height."

It looks like my canna may be your cultivar! To be more certain, I'll take a closer look at the rhizome the next time I cut off a division.

Meanwhile, thanks for the response and congratulations on your fine work in producing such a strikingly beautiful canna.

Oh, I also found your web site when searching: http://www.qualitycannas.net - Some good info there.
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