Orange Canna Lily of Historic Natchez

This superior cultivar has long been a staple in the flourishing gardens and grounds of Monmouth Historic Inn. Nestled along walkways garden beds, established long before plant patents existed, this vibrant, virile beauty meets and greets the tourist, guest and residents of the 1818 Antebellum Plantation, every Spring.

Canna Lily is a sustainable food crop and was considered a vital food source to native cultures as it contains the highest percentage starch of any known tuber.

Scientific name: Canna indica

Sustainable Food

What: Tubers, young shoots

How: Pulp to remove starch, cook shoots

Where: Sunny areas, often in landscapes

When: summer, fall

Nutritional Value: Calories

Other uses: They will absorb pollutants/contaminants from wetlands

Flower Color: Varies widely among cultivars, commonly red, orange, yellow, or pink.

Fruit: Produces a capsule-like fruit approximately 1" in diameter.  

Seed: Seeds are round and black, about the size of small peas.

Height: Typically grows 3 to 6 feet tall, though some varieties may reach up to 10 feet.

 They can be cooked like potatoes though the natives would also make flour from them. To obtain canna lily flour slice the tubers into 1/4" disks and allow them to dry for a day or two. Then crumble these disks up in a large bowl of water. The starch (flour) will sink to the bottom of the bowl and any fiber will float to the top where it can be collected and discarded. Allow the starch to dry completely then grind/pound it into flour.

The tubers can be eaten raw but cooking them makes their starch more digestible. Traditionally they are boiled but baking in medium heat (300F) a long time gives great results. Native cultures would bury them under a fire for up to 12 hours. Cook them with their skin to keep them from drying out during cooking but then discard the skin before eating.

The starchy tubers can also be used to make alcohol, just like potatoes. A amylase enzyme of some sort needs to be added to break its starch down into sugars which can be converted into alcohol by yeast. Yeast can't change starch into alcohol.

The young shoots can be cooked and eaten like asparagus and the leaves can be used like banana leaves to wrap food for baking.

These plants are hardy and grow very well in most conditions though they prefer sun and moisture. Leaf-roller caterpillars will "stitch" the top growing leaves together resulting in stunted, ugly growth but they don't kill the plant. Just open up the leaves and remove the caterpillar. You can also cut the rolled leaves off and the plant will resume normal growth.

These plants will thrive in the southern areas of the United States but north of the Mason-Dixon line it is best if you dig up the tubers and store them in a dark, cool (but not freezing!) place then replanting them in the spring.

Listing is for 50 seeds of the most recent harvest.