La France

Canna 'La France'

Canna 'La France'

syns Black Tropicanna, General Eisenhower, President Roosevelt, Red

(Italian Group)(Heritage Group)

Origin SPRENGER Karl

Parentage unknown

Height Medium, over 3ft/90cm

Foliage Dark

Flower Bi-coloured

Blooming Good bloomer

Flowering Summer to frosts

Tillering Average

Awards 1908 RHS A.M. and 2002 RHS AGM.

Available Specialist

Introduced by Karl Sprenger of Messrs Dammann et Cie, Italy in 1898, Canna 'La France' is a medium sized Italian Group cultivar; bronze foliage, oval shaped; round main stems, coloured purple; half-round flower stalks, coloured bronze; clusters of flowers are open, red-orange with a salmon-red blush, throat yellow, staminodes are large, edges frilled, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer, flowers in summer until frosts, blooms open in the early morning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Canna 'La France'

Canna 'La France' was awarded the 1908 RHS Award of Merit, and then the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2002; it is available from specialist growers; and is registered with the KAVB.

As well as being awarded the RHS A.M. in 1908, again, this time under the synonym of Canna 'General Eisenhower', C. 'La France' won the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) at the 2002 RHS outdoor Canna Trials. 

In my opinion, after after collecting, growing, breeding, photographing and researching Canna for nearly 30 years, this is one of the most beautiful of all cannas of all time, and the judges at the 2002 Royal Horticulture Societies Canna Trials agreed with me when they awarded the cultivar the prestigious Award of Garden Merit. 

The fact that so many nurserymen over the last century, have tried to claim it and rename it (remember that even the plant which won the RHS AGM was entered under a popular synonym) confirms the unique desirability of this canna cultivar.

References

RHS Journal of 1898-9

Damman & Cie, 1899

La France - 1896 About 4 feet high. Numerous stalks. Broad lanceolate leaves, very large, of a splendid purple and shining as if varnished. Very large and regular flowers similar to the ,, Austria", of a brillant yellowish scarlet. Unique for its beauty.

Railton & Co., Australia, 1900-1903

LA FRANCE. Similar to America, but with still darker foliage and of more compact habit; flowers orange scarlet. 1/6 each

RHS Journal of 1907-8

RHS Journal of 1908-9

Featured in 1908 outdoor trials at Wisley. Orchid-flowered, classified under dark foliage and flowers orange-red.

L. Clause Catalogue, Spring 1929

La France. – Feuillage pourpre noir. Fleur saumon nuancé vermillon. Haut. 1 m. 50.
[Black-purple foliage. Salmon-tinted vermillion flowers. Height: 1.5 m.]

Tropical Plants and Gardening, H.F. MacMillan, 1935

Fls scarlet with yellow throat, tinted foliage.

Tropical Planting and Gardening, H.F. MacMillan, 5th Edition, 1954

Bronze or purple- leaved, flowers scarlet with red throat.

Hart Canna, 2000, Internet October 2000

Flowers orange red, yellow at the throat. Leaves brown. Tall.

KAVB International Canna Checklist, September 2004

Karl Sprenger, 1898; flowers orange-red, yellow at the throat, leaves brown, height over 80 cm. A.M.-R.H.S. 1898

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