Canna 'Tropical White'
9th September 2012
An assortment of virus diseases have afflicted Canna in the last ten or fifteen years and made the genus almost
impossible to grow satisfactorily. At present the majority of the large scale producers have responded by burying their heads in the sand
and pretending it isn't happening. To be fair to them, in the warmer summer climates of southern Europe and the USA
the symptoms of virus infection are far less extreme and the RHS' advice, to ignore it and hope for the best, is
probably effective.
In the cooler summers of the UK plants are seriously debilitated by the disease, riddled with ugly yellow streaks
and distortions.
A few breeders have risen to the challenge and produced seed strains that come true to colour from seed, and 'Tropical White'
is one. It isn't as flamboyant as the selected cultivars, but it is virus freee and vigorous. Unfortunately, it isn't yet winter hardy.
After struggling through the first months of 2013 it finally gave up the fight for survival in March.