I'm A Garden Designer
Get Me Out Of Here!

I was commissioned to recreate a tropical rain forest in the heart of London's West End. Now I've designed pet friendly gardens before, however on this occasion I had to help design one for a milk snake, a python, a crocodile, tarantulas, frogs and even a fruit bat! No, it wasn't for some unusual garden, but it was for the opening credits and "sting-shots" for the television programme called "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!"

One particular plant that the director insisted I provide was a green and yellow striped Canna "Preoria", occasionally sold as "Striata", with bright orange flowersfor the tarantula to scuttle over!

Cannas are large, bold and exotic plants with brightly coloured flowers and large foliage and can grow up to heights of nearly six feet. These flamboyant plants are super for creating an exotic and sub-topical style in the garden or grown in a mixed border to give height, colour and foliage interest. They originate from forest margins and moist open areas in forest in Asia and tropical North and South America.

These handsome plants may appear as if they're difficult to grow but providing you just give them a hot sheltered spot in a bed of good compost with some general feed and you water well, you'll be rewarded with their exquisite display. My own Cannas remain in the ground over winter and you can do this too providing that you ensure that their bed is in a frost-free sheltered spot, otherwise cover them with a layer of straw.

In my own front garden I have Canna 'Wyoming' and they look superb. I brought two of these plants a few years ago and now they have multiplied to fifteen, five-foot tall exotic flowering plants with bright showy orange flowers set against bold large bronze with purple veined foliage. If your Cannas become over-crowded then they can simply be dug up and divided in spring or late summer.

Cannas are mainly known for their bold yellow, orange red coloured flowers but there are some daintier varieties in pink, which add a nice delicate colour to a border. The foliage of the Canna is superb too, coming in a range of colours from green, bronze to amazing multi-veined and coloured large leaves, so they're good value for both flower and foliage interest.

The stunning Canna 'Durban' also known as 'Tropicanna' has amazing foliage of deep purple, orange and red striped leaves with orchid-like petals of bright orange flowers. For large exotic foliage interest go for the Canna musifolia which has gigantic banana-like leaves, but unfortunately it won't flower in our British climate, but looks spectacular nevertheless.

© Judy Fenyvesi 2002