Here's my attempt at Tropicalismo in the Midwest, although it's hardly a new attempt around here. My friend Sally shared rhizomes of her cannas with me last year, and I saved them over the winter in vermiculite (in the basement window well). I thought I'd separated the red-leaved ones from the green, but when it came time to pot them up in spring I couldn't tell one from the other. Luckily, even though I shared most of the rhizomes, I managed to save two for myself, one of each color.
So why the rattiness?
Our icky invader, the Japanese Beetle, has been busy, although I didn't see any today, so I think they've done most of their damage this season. By the way, although I know all the organic remedies for them, I just didn't feel like doing battle, so I left them to their own and Nature's devices. Really, the damage in my yard was minimal - a few rose flowers and leaves chewed up, but they are re-blooming.
The beetles were all over the green-leaved canna.
But check out the red-leaved one right next to it: NO DAMAGE! I can't tell why this happened, but since I like the red leaves better (they both get red flowers), guess which one I'm keeping for next year!
These rhizomes multiply heartily, so of course I'll have some to share - if you're local and would like some, let me know. I mailed some to my Mom in Tucson and, let's just say, hers have the real Tropicalismo look. Hmph.
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