O I cant believe it but I know this one.. That is a firecracker canna. They are beautiful I just got a few of them myself from a local nursery.. Watch those seed pods iyou dont wantthem to spread.I havested mne and one pod had 23 seeds in it..

Thanks, ladybarber.

no problem good luck with your cannas

Andym, I have a couple of questions regardling your pictured canna.

Are the flowers a really dark orange? And are the stems a maroon color? Are the green leaves edged with red or maroon?

We moved to this home about 4 1/2 years ago and the only flowering plant here, other than the bazillion weeds, was a canna that I've never been able to identify. The previous owner only lived here for nine months and all he did was mow it down and had no idea what it was, much less a canna. He thought it was a weed.

I've never tried growing these from saved seed myself but someone who traded with me said that they came out exactly as I had described them. These cannas evidently have been here a very long time and something makes me think that they might be an heirloom.

Thanx for your help.

Jenna

Jenna,

Sorry for the late response. Is there a way to be notified of replies to your threads?

Anyway, the Canna pictured isn't mine, I just collected some seeds from it (which seem to be germinating just fine, btw), but as I recall the flowers are more of a slightly-orangey red, the upper stem is maroonish, and the leaves are green all the way across.

Anyway, I can't help you identify your plant, but if you're interested in trying to grow from seed, I can offer some advice. It's not very tricky if you put a little effort into it. To germinate Cannna seeds, you first need to scarify the seed coat. This means somehow nicking off a bit of the brown shell to expose the white endosperm. I did by chipping away at it with a razor blade, but I hear it can be done with sandpaper as well. Be forewarned, Canna seed coats are very, very hard. Once scarified, soak your seeds for a couple days and you'll see them swell a little and a root tip start to push its way out. At this point you can plant them. One of my seedlings is pushing its head above the soil just now.
Good luck.

Andy