Canna Indica is a superb tall strain with gorgeous foliage and bright vermilion red blooms. Growing to around 150cm (5ft) tall, the wide banana-like leaves add a tropical feel to the garden. The imposing spikes of gladiolus-like flowers sometimes with gold spots or flames in the petals have four large outer petals and a smaller inner petal making the flower around 12 to 15cm (4 or 5in) wide. Like all Cannas they do best in a rich moist to wet soil, but this variety can also flower in shade, which makes it easier to keep moist. They are ideal to plant at the back of a border where they are in full sun, or to add colour to a partly shady area. They can also be grown in poorly drained areas and in shallow ponds. Given an early sowing in spring, they will start flowering from June and are quickly clump forming, making 8 or 10 flowering shoots by the end of the first season. Cannas can’t help but be focal points: a single specimen can anchor a circle bed. Great for every garden and a perfect choice for the exotic garden, the bright blooms begin in midsummer and continue until frost, for year after year of enjoyment.