Canna 'Cleopatra' is a gorgeous herbaceous plant which despite being introduced in 1895 has been seemingly missing from the plants beds of UK garden centres. Growing to approximately 1.2 metres tall, this bi-coloured ornamental specimen has the star quality to stand out amongst the regular collection of canna lilies. Its strange, haphazard chocolate/green leaf colourisation is due to it being an unstable colour hybrid. It is as though two distinctly different colour forms have been spliced together but rather than one dominating so that the hybrid reverts to just the one type, the variation is extremely stable! There is even a colour choice of red, yellow and even a mixture of the both. Remember to dead-head your spent booms to encourage more flowering.
Flowering from mid-summer to the autumn, it will perform best in organically rich, well drained soils. Canna 'Cleopatra' will tolerate a shady position but to get the best show of blooms position in full sun. However it will require watering during periods of drought.
Regarding its cold tolerance, you can leave Cana 'Cleopatra' outside in the ground in zones 8-11, but for colder regions you would be best lifting the tubers after the first frost and potting them into a dry mulch to overwinter in an unheated frost-free environment.
As the buds begin to show in early spring you can lift and divide in order to produce new specimens. Canna 'Cleopatra' is relatively disease free although keep an eye out for Canna Leaf Roller and Canna Leaf Virus.
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