Canna Talisman - Indian shot

Canna 'Talisman' is a highly developed hybrid variety with a very long and remarkably vibrant summer flowering. Its long spikes adorned with large golden yellow flowers with small red-orange throats are stunning under the July sun, and continue to shine late into the season, dazzling among the autumn colours. Its large glaucous leaves, with a pruinose green-blue hue, are reminiscent of the luxuriance of banana leaves. This large rhizomatous perennial is an architecturally striking plant that can be grown like a dahlia. It deserves to be planted on its own in a lawn or in a large pot on a patio. This canna also makes a beautiful backdrop for an exotic-inspired flower bed.

Canna 'Talisman' is a rare horticultural creation, derived, among others, from C. edulis or C. indica, a large perennial native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, and C. flaccida, with broader flowers and spectacular variegation, native to wetlands in the southeastern United States, from Texas to South Carolina. This plant belongs to the Cannaceae family, in the same group as gingers and bananas. In spring, its thick and knotted rhizome develops a dense clump measuring at least 1m (3ft), composed of numerous large entire leaves with sheathing bases that form false stems. The colour of the laminae is a green-blue-grey shade, which enhances the bi-coloured flowering. From July to the first frosts, thin floral stems reaching a height of 1.5m (5ft) appear in the centre. The asymmetrical flowers are grouped in dense spikes, displaying shiny golden yellow petals with a red base.

Hybrid cannas are majestic and colourful plants, ideal for adding spice to the back of flower beds or planted in large groups on a lawn. Their cultivation is accessible to all. Consider planting them in dense flower beds of about ten bulbs of the same variety, or by mixing green and purple foliage. Canna 'Talisman' can be used to create stunning exotic-looking container displays, but its size will require a particularly large pot. It forms a beautiful combination with a banana plant or bamboo. Grow this plant like a dahlia. Dig up the rhizomes before the frost arrives and replant them in spring.