jAXt'ARy 25. 1917. 



The Florists' Rcvkw 



19 



TESTING OANNAS IN TENNESSEE. 



[This is tlie last of four articles pertaining to 

 canna tests conducted near Nasliville, Tenn. 

 The preceding three articles were published in 

 The Review of November 9, December 7 and 

 28.] 



The former articles in this series con- 

 tained reports of the tests of white, 

 variegated, pink and red cannas, with 

 a few words of recommendation for one 

 foliage canna, named Greenback. This 

 article has reference chiefly to the yel- 

 low varieties, but closes with some 

 remarks about the qualities that may 

 be, or should be, expected in "the canna 

 of the future. ' ' 



We are a little nearer a good yellow 

 canna than we were a few years ago. 

 We have several good ones in the spot- 

 ted kinds, so that we need not depend 

 longer on the old standby, Florence 

 Vaughan. We also have several good 

 solid-colored yellows that do not fade 

 so badly as the older varieties. 



The Spotted Yellows. 



Queen Helen, at its best, is a wonder- 

 fully good canna, as large as Italia, 

 and does not fade badly. It would be a 

 fine variety if it were only fixed in 

 type, but it is not. Some of the foliage 

 is bronze with green stripes. Some shoots 

 arc almost entirely bronze, but most 

 of them are entirely green. Some of 

 the blooms are scarlet and some are 

 striped, but the majority are yellow, 

 spotted red. The flowers do not stand 

 the wind much better than Italia, but 

 the color is a deeper yellow. 



Elizabeth Hoss, in our opinion, is the 

 best of the spotted yellow cannas yet 

 produced. It is about as large as any 

 canna except the best orchid-flowering 

 sorts. In fact, growing only two rods 

 from Queen Helen, the flowers were 

 nearly as large and of much better sub- 

 stance, so that they lasted much longer. 



Koenigin der Gelben, though a high- 

 priced canna, was a decided disappoint- 

 ment to us. The flowers are no better 

 in color than Richard Wallace, are not 

 nearly so good in quality and fade 

 badly, and the plants are not such good 

 growers. 



A Real Yellow. 



Another season with Princeton has 

 convinced us that it is the best yellow 

 in sight. It is yellow — not sulphur, nor 

 canary, nor even chrome, but yellow. 

 Tf l^ ^ ^"^^^ bloomer and a good grower. 

 Jt does not fade lighter, but in the cooler 

 part of the season fades reddish in the 

 center. Its price is all that will keep 

 It trom becoming popular at once. 



Golden Gate is good; almost equal to 

 ' rinceton, which it much resembles. 



Brilliant is better than Yellow Bird, 

 and possibly better than Richard Wal- 

 lace or Gustav Gumpper. It is good, 

 but not the best. 



Richard Wallace and Gustav Gump- 

 per are doubtless the best two yellow 

 cannas today for the general planter 

 who will not pay the price of the better 

 varieties, and still desires a good yel- 

 low bedder. 



We agree with the introducer that 

 Favorite is much superior to the older 

 varieties of the Florence Vaughan type. 

 We have not decided which we prefer 

 — this or Elizabeth IIoss. In a large 



Tbe Editor is plersed 

 'v^ben a Reader 

 presents his Ideas 

 on any subject treated In 



tVWS: 



As experience Is tbe best 

 teacber, so do "wb 

 learn fastest by an 

 ezcbanee of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 are broueht out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 trrammar. though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WK SHALX. BK GLAD 

 TO HKAR FROM TOU 



bed this canna did marvelously well 

 this season. 



Cream and Orange Shades. 



The Gem is certainly a good cream- 

 colored canna, with light carmine spots. 

 It is about the color of Flag of Truce at 

 its yellowest. It does well where a 

 canna of its color is needed. 



Goethe is a dandy orange yellow, not 

 too orange. A bed of this has the ap- 

 pearance of deep pumpkin yellow. It 

 is a good one in every respect — some- 

 thing we cannot say of most of the re- 

 cent foreign introductions. 



Orange Bedder is the- best orange 



canna to date, from every point of view» 

 at least in our climate. It should be- 

 come popular and be widely used. 



Yellow Bird was to be as superior 

 among the yellows as Firebird was sup- 

 posed to be among the reds. It is just 

 as decidedly a disappointment as Fire- 

 bird, but in a different way. Its foliage 

 is healthy enough, but the flower i» 

 little more than a sulphur. Even the 

 size is nothing to speak of. 



The Colors of Dawn. 



Aurora is a new variety from L. H. 

 Read, of Alabama, and is likely to be 

 the best he has produced. It is one of 

 the prettiest cannas we have ever seen. 

 Its color is best described by its name; 

 it is a play of bronze, pink, red and 

 orange on a creamy yellow ground, the 

 colors being in the throat and middle 

 of the flower. 



Jane Addams is one of the three or 

 four best yellow cannas. It is really 

 yellow, and is good in every way. It 

 will be cheaper this coming season and 

 should be widely planted. It is much i 

 better than the older yellows. 



Juanita is one of the most beautiful 

 cannas. The foliage is a golden bronze, 

 while the freely produced flowers are 

 a deep yellow with an orange tinge. It 

 fades rather too reddish in the throat, 

 but this does not spoil its beauty. We 

 have a seedling from it that is identical 

 except that it does not have this fault. 



The Canna of the Future. 



Breeders are working for cannas that 

 will produce flowers with wider petals 

 and at the same time strong enough not 

 to break with the wind or fade with 

 the sun. They will be self -cleaning; 

 that is, the flower will break off and 

 fall when it begins to fade. The best 

 variety in this regard that we know of 

 at present is Lafayette. 



The bloom shoot will break into more 

 than three trusses and this will pro- 

 long the blooming period of each shoot, 

 adding much to the value of the plant 

 for bedding. Flag of Truce always 

 throws four good heads, and one or two 

 of the other Wintzer varieties do the 

 same. We have a seedling of Olympic 

 that uniformly breaks into six heads, 

 and a seedling of Flag of Truce that 

 breaks into eight, one coming after an- 

 other. 



The flowers will have more than four 

 petals if it is desired. Mr. Wintzer has 

 had seedlings that were double, as 

 shown in a photograph reproduced in 

 The Review some time ago. This year 

 we have a pure j-ellow seedling that 



