Canna indica Empire - Indian shot

Canna ‘Empire’ is a compact Indian shot plant with large, very bright carmine pink flowers. This plant adds a touch of exoticism to all borders and sunny terraces. Its moderate size makes it perfectly suited for cultivation in pots. Its flowering is almost continuous from summer to autumn if care is taken to remove spent flowers.

Belonging to the Cannaceae family, Canna ‘Empire’ is part of the horticultural hybrids grouped under the name Canna × generalis, resulting from cross-breeding between American species such as Canna indica and C. glauca. These ornamental plants are tender rhizomatous perennials, grown in our climate as summer bulbs and renowned for their spectacular flowering.
The plant forms an upright clump, 60 to 80 cm tall and about 40 cm wide. Its thick, sturdy stems bear large, ovate, medium green, 25 to 40 cm long leaves, with a prominent central vein. The upright inflorescences bear several large flowers, with slightly ruffled, rich carmine pink "petals" with a slightly lighter throat. They repeat from June-July until October in a warm position. The foliage is deciduous: the aerial growth disappears in the cold, while the fleshy rhizomes go dormant. These will regrow the following spring if they have not frozen or after overwintering in a dry state.

In the garden, Canna ‘Empire’ is used in repeated colour accents to add depth to a border. It can be used in front of the soft spikes of a Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Black Beauty’  mixed with the bright pink corollas of Dahlia Happy Single Juliet. Its carmine pink colouring pairs particularly well with dark red daylilies such as 'Pardon Me' or the bluish-purple spikes of meadow sage 'Lyrical Blues'. In large containers, it can be combined with a Colocasia or Alocasia with dark foliage to enhance the tropical effect.