Pretoria Canna Lily has Beautiful Variegated Leaves

My Pretoria Canna Lily has the most beautiful foliage of all the canna lilies in my California tropical garden zone 9b. The variegated green and white striped leaves make it one the most unique looking canna lilies. I grew my Pretoria Canna Lily from a rhizome. I found the Pretoria Canna Lily for sale as a bulb on the Eden Brothers site. I paid $14.99 plus shipping for two bulbs. Canna Lilies are not bulbs, but are rhizomes. Many websites sell and call them bulbs, but they are rhizomes. I planted the rhizome in early spring in a felt pot and waited a few weeks for them to sprout. I watered them twice a week and fertilized them twice a month. The Pretoria Canna Lily grows beautiful orange flowers, but mine did not bloom this year. There are two other canna lily plants that look alike - Tropicanna Gold and Bengal Tiger. All three have the same variegation with green and white striped leaves and orange flowers. I am not sure if they are the same plant or different hybrids. I deadhead the flowers on my canna lilies by cutting the flowers off at the stalks as the flowers begin to fade. This allows new flowers to grow from the same stalk. Mine did not flower, but I don't believe it grows seeds for propagation because the plant is a hybrid. When winter came, I left the plant outdoors to overwinter. Many of the leaves turned brown and died. I pruned back the dead parts of the plant and new offshoots started growing from the rhizome as spring neared. Grow the Pretoria Canna Lily in your garden and it will add a strikingly unique focal point in a tropical garden.

How to Grow and Scarify Seeds to Grow Canna Lily Plants

Canna Lilies have astounding growth rates, they can grow from a seed to six feet tall in one growing season. Canna Lilies add beautiful flowers and foliage to a tropical garden.

I found the Canna Indica seeds for sale on eBay. They may be listed as Indian Shot seeds. They are cheap at about 20 for $5. I only buy seeds from US sellers, as I have received fake canna seeds from overseas sellers. 

These seeds will usually have green foliage and red or yellow flowers. For other Canna Lilies with the beautiful variegated foliage, you will have to buy them as bulbs or rhizomes because they are hybrids. Usually when the hybrid Canna Lily plants grow seeds they are infertile and won’t grow

First, the canna seed needs to be scarified or nicked to let the water into the seed. I use a rotary tool like a Dremel to scarify the seed. Then I soak the seed in hot water for one week until a root emerges from the seed.

Then the seeds are planted on top of potting soil in a container with a lid kept under a grow light. After a few days a plant will emerge and when the plant gets too tall for the container, I transfer the plants to cups to grow.

When the weather warms up to the 60's, I plant them in my tropical garden and the Canna Lily grows astoundingly fast, and flowers in 4 months. Grow Canna Lilies in your garden to give it that tropical look.

New Purchase - Alocasia Regal Shield

I saw the Alocasia Regal Shield in my local plant shop for $75. It was less than 3 feet tall, so when I saw the Regal Shield for sale on Brian's Botanicals for $14.99 plus $5.50 for shipping, I had to buy it. I know these elephant ears grow fast, so it should only be a matter of months before it is the size of the one for $75.

The Regal Shield was also in fantastic shape for being in the mail for a whole week. Still I soaked the roots for six hours along with the rest of the plants in a vase, just to get them hydrated. The longest stem on this plant was 10 inches long, with four leaves in fantastic shape. All in all, I'm satisfied with the plants from Brian's Botanicals, because the roots are always looking strong. I still have one more order from them that I'm looking forward to.

 

New Purchase - Alocasia Yucatan Princess

The Alocasia Yucatan Princess arrived in excellent shape. This elephant ear was $14.99 plus $5.50 for shipping. The longest stem on this plant was 10 inches long and none of the leaves were dying. The roots were just like the other plants, in excellent shape. I was drawn to this plant because of its glossy leaves and deep veining that pops out from the underside of the leaf. This plant will be one of the highlights in my tropical garden.

New Purchase - Colocasia Red Eyed Gecko

 

The next plant is the Colocasia Red Eyed Gecko. This elephant ear didn't fare as well as the Alocasias in my order. The roots were in excellent shape, but the plant was wilting with one leaf already dead and one leaf that might survive. 

I purchased this elephant ear for $12.99 plus $5.50 for shipping. It was the smallest by far of the plants at only 5 inches tall, and it was in the worst shape.

I'm not worried about the plant dying, because I've had other plants from Brian's Botanicals that lost all their leaves, but because the roots were strong the plants survived. I expect the Red Eyed Gecko to survive too.

New Purchase - Alocasia Kuching Mask

 

I purchased four elephant ear plants from Brian's Botanicals. First up is the Kuching Mask that I bought for $15.99 and about $5.50 for shipping. The plants took a weed to be delivered by USPS and this Alocasia was in decent shape. Five leaves, one unfurling and two that will be cut off as they are dying. This plant stands 22 inches tall.

Brian's Botanicals ships their elephant ears to California bare rooted. Since the plants were in the mail for a week, I put them in a vase to soak the roots for six hours before potting them up. The roots were in excellent shape and I planted these elephant ears in potting soil in felt pots.

Alocasia Macrorrhiza Giant Taro

Another first leaf of the spring, this one is from my Alocasia Macrorrhiza known as the Giant Taro. I bought this elephant ear plant as a bulb, and it was one of the slowest growing of all the elephant ear plants in my tropical garden. It only reached two feet high during the growing season. But I have high hopes for this plant this year. The first leaf is amazing with a glossy chartreuse color, it really shines in the sunlight. I'm hoping it lives up to its Giant Taro name this year. ~tropifornia

Red Abyssinian Banana plant

The Ensete Ventricosum Maurelii Red Abyssinian banana plant is the most beautiful of all the banana plants. As an ornamental plant it doesn't produce edible bananas, but that's okay with me because it is absolutely one of the most beautiful tropical plants in my garden. This is a look down one of its unfurling leaves. I love the sunlight shining through these colorful leaves. ~tropifornia

 

Colocasia Jack's Giant Elephant Ear plant

A look inside an unfurling leaf of my Jack's Giant elephant ear. These are the first new leaves of this spring. This plant is like a regular taro plant, but on steroids. It looks just like a taro plant, but it grows much larger leaves and is taller. Mine was 5 feet tall in just one season of growth. ~tropifornia

Tropicanna Canna Lily & Colocasia Esculenta

This is a short video clip of the wonderful colors of the Tropicanna Canna Lily that is planted next to a Colocasia Esculenta elephant ear plant. I grew the canna lily from a rhizome and the elephant ear from bulbs that I purchased from a grocery store for only a few dollars.

I took this video early in the morning just when the sun was rising to capture the golden colors on the leaves. ~tropifornia

Cleopatra Canna Lily

When I look at the Cleopatra Canna Lily, I see two plants put together in one. This canna lily has variegation in its foliage and its flowers. It is simply stunning. 

I purchased these Cleopatra Canna Lily bulbs from Eden Brothers. They call them bulbs, but the correct term for canna lilies is rhizomes. I paid $14.95 for two rhizomes plus shipping. Each rhizome had two to three eyes and I started them in potting soil in a felt pot at the same time as my Pretoria Canna Lilies.

Only one rhizome grew sprouts and became a plant. The other rhizome was too shriveled up to grow. I was fine with that, as I knew I could eventually propagate the one canna lily by dividing the rhizome. This canna lily grew broad green leaves with a swirling stripe of dark purple. The foliage is stunning, but not as stunning as the flowers the Cleopatra can grow. The flowers are usually a mix of red and gold. but mine grew one completely red flower alongside one completely yellow flower.

I watered the Cleopatra twice a week and fertilized them twice a month. I don’t know if I really need to fertilize the Cleopatra because I never fertilize my green leaf cannas, and they grow vigorously. I fertilize it becau“highlight” plants in the front row, so they stand out in a backdrop of musa basjoo and green leaf canna plants. Since it is in the front row, its easy to fertilize.

During winter, the leaves died off, but the plant did not completely die to the ground. There were some stalks with lower leaves hanging on with some green.

Just before spring, new shoots were growing from the rhizome. I was able to propagate these shoots by taking my root cutting shovel and dividing the rhizome with a heavy step on the shovel. I have five Cleopatra Canna Lily plants growing in my tropical garden. Not bad for $14.95. ~tropifornia

Diamond Head Elephant Ear

This was the first elephant ear plant that I’ve purchased, and it was a bargain! I found the Diamond Head elephant ear for sale at my Costco. The bulbs were from Longfield Gardens and were only $13.99 for two bulbs, much cheaper than the ones sold on the Longfield Gardens website.

One already had three sprouts growing from the bulb, because of its head start, it grew much bigger and faster than the other bulb and I potted the bulbs in soil right away. After a few weeks in the pots, I planted them in my tropical garden. They provide a stark and beautiful contrast to the backdrop of green leaves from my Musa Basjoo banana plants and Canna Lilies.

These elephant ears grow fast! Watch the video. The one with the sprouts grew 5 feet tall with big bold dark leaves in a matter of months. The leaves start out being dark green and as they grow they turn black. The stems are really beautiful as they are a stunning red color like the Colocasia Sangria. But they are hard to see as this elephant ear plant has a clumping style of growth in its leaves. Near the end of the video there is a great shot of the beautiful red elephant ear stems. People walking past my house ask me about this elephant ear plant all the time, when I’m out gardening.

I water the plant three to four times a week. They can’t get enough water! Like other Colocasia Esculenta taro plants can grow in water. As winter came, the plant slowly died back to the ground. I dug up the bulbs and found about ten bulbs of varying sizes. I brought a few indoors to grow in pots under a grow light, I kept some stored in a paper bag, and I left a few in the ground to overwinter to see if they would come back in the summer.

I am glad I bought these elephant ear bulbs as they have started my hobby of growing elephant ears in my garden. By the end of the summer, I hope to have over 25 different varieties of elephant ears in my tropical garden. ~tropifonia