are these canna seed pods and when can I harvest them?

[sanatic1234]

I would like to add something also, is there any canna seeds out there that produce purple leaved foliage, I have a lot of green foliage canna's but i would like to add more purple foilaged ones to the canna's as well after seeing how well my Cleopatra's looked this year. I know of black knight but these don't produce seeds do they? i always seem to find rhizomes and at a nice price tag as well.

[Ian Cooke]

In a garden situation where pollen could come from other cannas, they do not breed true so you cannot be sure what the offspring are likely to be. In particular cultivars including those with dark leaves will not breed true so you may take seed from a dark leaved one and the offspring could be green or purple leaved.

One USA canna breeder worked purely using the 'numbers game' - he took seed from all the cannas growing in his nursery and then grew all the seedlings. From maybe 3000 seedlings he would select 30 to grow on the next year and from that maybe three worth bulking up for sale. Its a huge gamble!

For purple foliage, you need to buy named cultivars and buy plants not dried rhizomes to avoid the virus.

[sanatic1234]

Thank you Ian very useful information that. Plant buying for this type it is then. I will never buy a canna rhizome i just don't trust them.

[simon]

Indica 'purpurea' is the best bet for purple foliage from seed. What Ian says makes perfect sense but that doesn't mean you have to stop trying them. I germinated indica 'Purpurea' seeds that fell into my pocket at whisley last autumn. The seedlings where all purple but to varying degrees. Just select the purplest ones to grow on and save the rhizomes.

Another one I tried from seed this year was C. speciosa. Green leaves but deep red stems, very nice plants.

[sanatic1234]

That sounds good, simon i will try that. Thanks

[Dave Brown]

This is a ripe Canna indica seed pod from back in 2006

And these are the seed I collected. A lot of them went to Lucien, so if any of you have seed from Lucien, they may be decended from mine -

These were the plants they were from

[cordyman]

they remind me of large leaved salvias!

[The Codfather]

wow............I like them what a display.