I am unsure as to what this plant is. it is beautiful whatever it is and I just want to find out what it is. the leaves grow up looking like the stalka nd then unfold out and the flowers grow up in the middle of where the leaves are growing. New shoots come out of the ground. Please help me identify this.
Hello. It is a Canna. I don't know the exact species, but we have these all over the southeast US. I have quite a few of these in my yard. You may find that some of the flowers may come out yellow as the canna spreads. If you live in an area where the summers can be hot and humid, cannas can become quite prolific, taking up the entire flower bed in just one or two seasons! The state highway departments plant these in the medians of some of our freeways to help reduce the cost of mowing.
Thank you very much. I am very impressed with the hardiness of this plant. It is growing in a clay filled garden and requires very little care whatsoever. The leaves are beautiful and neighbors keep asking me what it is. Thank you again for helping me identify this plant.
I notice that you have allowed the seeds to come to maturity. Should you allow them to dry, you will find them to be black and very hard. The Canna is often called the "indian shot plant" because, legend has it, lead shot was difficult to come by for early Native Americans and canna seeds were used for bird shot in shotguns. Seventy years ago, when a nickle was big time money for a kid, (the price of a tube of BB's for my bb gun) I would raid granddads' canna bed for substitute BB's. If, as soon as the last blossom on the stem wilts, you carefully remove that bloom stem, you will find that there is likely a new bloom spire under the sheath that the stem came out of. New blooms can be expected when you remove the seeds before the mature on the plant.
Cannas are also planted in our streets and highways here in the Philippines. This plant thrive well in places near water. The old folks here call this plant "bendera espaniola" (spain's flag) because the flowers are so colorful like flags and added spain's name because we were colonized by spain then.
