TROPICAL DREAMS
A slow spring is absolutely painful . After waiting all winter for the fond soft air and pollen - inducedsneezes that herald spring in this part of the public , it is awful to have to putup with stale rainyweather . It seems to dampen the feel without appreciablydiminishing the pollen numeration .
Still , there are compensation . Thefragile show of the pansies in front of my theatre belies the fact that theyhave withstood a previous spring snowfall , gusty wind and parky rain . The cold overcast conditions has made the daffodil last longer . Chickweed , which is doubtless imperviable to anything short of volcaniceruption , is rampage through my backyard . My flower seedlings , hardening off on the back porch and freshly plant inthe front perimeter , may be throb a flake , but they are hanging on . If they can do it , clothe only in their shadowy secondary leave , I can do ittoo .
I console myself as the rainwater pelt down by thinking about braggart , brassytropical plants . This is a new lineof thought for me , as I do n’t know many people who raise cannas or elephantears ( Colocasia esculenta ) or even fancy - leafed Caladiums . They for certain were n’t part of my childhood . My mother , had she get laid about them , would have found them distastefullygaudy . My father would haveresisted found something that had to be claim up and stored in the winter .
But , as the psychologists say , we all have to give puerility behindsometime . In my case that time isnow . I have decided to indue insome cannas . The jury is still outon elephant ears , but I will probably terminate up with one in a pot on my back porch .
amazingly enough , this would be quite in keep with my“old - fashioned ” garden . TheVictorians loved canna for their showy blossom and foliage . Back in the dayswhen hoi polloi had either more time or more garden helper , they were not averse tolifting and stash away big batches of goodly rhizome through the winter . In parts of the Deep South and California , cannas can still be foundnaturalized at old home plate sites .
There are all kinds of vendors that trade canna on the Internet . They also provide a wealth of canna lore . Most sources , let in the venerableHortusThird , mention that canna originated in tropical and semitropical region . One beginning claims that indiginous head-shrinker in some ofthose areas traditionally eat the flora ’s roots . Another , somewhat more credible source , refers to canna as “ thebirthplant of the month ” for September . Isuspect that there is more manure on some of the website than there is in mygarden .
canna are big , with some of the cultivars progress to 8’ . There are also dwarf kind that come in at about 2’ . I am looking for a plant life , with flowers that are predominately yellow orwhite that stands between 2 ’ and 6 ’ ( I do n’t like having to get up on aladder to observe my flowers).Variegated foliage would be a skillful add-on as well .
hitchhike through one catalogue I detect ‘ Princess Di ’ , named , as manyplants are these days , after the late Princess of Wales . ‘Princess Di ” stands between 2 - 3 ’ tall , has grayish foliage andcream petals with a crimson centre . It’sa possibility . A similar cultivar,‘Richard Wallace ’ is a bit taller with yellow “ gladiolus - like ” peak . It was hybridize in 1902 , which appeals to the historian in me . If I am feeling a little risky and softheaded , I may even go for ‘ StripedBeauty ’ , which has green and icteric stripy leaves and “ red bud , whitestriped yellow flowers” . Eventhough it only rises between 2’-3 ’ , ‘ Striped stunner ’ go like it willhave a lot of impact .
If we have a few more rainy natural spring days , I may feel do-or-die enough tobuy all of the above , plus an elephant ear or two . There is a strange - vocalize cultivar of the latter , Colocasia esculenta‘Illustris ’ , that sports grayish black leaves with lime green veins and leafedging . If the rains continue , Ican put it and a few canna in giving mickle around my Adirondack professorship , then settleback and pretend I am in the rain forest . Itwill beat walk around my garden and watching the rosiness get black spot .
