Canna Lilly (canna edulis) for the win!

In this video I showed the success of one of the grass barrier species, canna edulis, that I'm using in the temperate climate to prevent aggressive grasses from taking back over a garden

[@shalomtoday]

Thank you for sharing this information regarding the protection of gardens.

[@erikm8372]

Ya know, this is so interesting, because I knew canna edulis was a “thing”… just wasn’t totally sure. Lacked the confidence to try it myself. Lol. I have around ten different cultivars including the one you featured in the vid. Now I need to cook it. I knew it was related to bananas & ginger, just on a visual level, the rhizomatous growth, the common leaf shape, etc. That told me that clearly, it’s non-toxic, at the very least. Well, my mind has been blown recently, to discover all the other popular plants that canna is cousins with! The arrowroots are a diverse group, the big ones being Canna! Banana! Heliconia (lobster claw) Arrowroot Curcuma (turmeric) Cardamom Galangal Ginger Maranta (prayer plants!) Ctenanthe Stromanthe Calathea (all prayer plants) Strelitzia, a.k.a. birds-of-paradise! Looking at them all, they have distinctly broad leaves, much like bananas have, and they all have uniquely showy blooms. Banana flower is edible. And turmeric and ginger blooms are added into dishes, or stir-fried. Are canna blooms too??

[@megansuttonmercado8419]

This is such good news - I have a huge stand of canna indica that has been a great habitat for reptiles and pollinators. I have also used them for compost and am trying to prep a new plant bed with their leaves. Also going to try having my runner beans climb them, similar to a three sisters patch. I have had so many that we have spread them out to shady areas they don’t like, but where they refuse to die. I am going to dig them up and maybe offer some to my neighbors, but it ks good to know that I might be able to eat them. One warning is that they are beloved by Brazilian skipper butterflies, who stripped many of our leaves. We love raising caterpillars, and I think the caterpillar castings are probably good for the soil, but some people might be discouraged by the huge holes. I also worry that they attracted long-tailed skippers to my beans.

[@twinsgardening896]

It took some research, but Canna edulis is not a species, it's just a specific variety of Canna indica! So they're the same species, "Edulis" is just a specific variety meant to have larger tubers. Any Canna indica can be eaten, and since the seeds are so easy to collect and grow, you can breed your own to have larger tubers!

[@WilderDust]

Edulis is Latin for edible. While canna Indica can also be eaten, the canna Edulis are far superior and can be substituted for anything you use potato for.

[@pamelabratton2501]

My canna edulis is blooming now! They are beautiful. Seemed to get their knobby rooted feet settled and happy at about two years old. I am using them to shade the chicken yard and give them stuff to peck through the fence. I suppose the rabbits would eat them as well. Nice video! EDIT: I live right close to you (Next to Pike) and left mine in the ground and they came back with a vengeance!

[@aprilLiz2023]

Hi thank you for the info. What do the seeds look like? I’m in Australia and I bought seeds that are supposed to be canna Edulis but I’m not sure if they are the right type of canna seed I asked for.

[@erikm8372]

Try to order the rhizome or tubers… much faster growth. Or better yet, find a nursery or big box store (if you are ok with spending money there). This could be useful if you can’t find it in anywhere else. Really, best to find someone who’ll give you some, lol. There are so many varieties these days, and seeds can be dubious online, while tubers are a bit more “what you see is what you get”

[@erikm8372]

Oh yeah, to answer your original comment (duh!)… the seeds are roughly thumbnail-sized, brown pods (some are bigger), that look a bit like a spiky puffball, but they’re not actually sharp or dangerous. Inside are more small black seeds, I THINK... Unless the spiky pods are the seeds?... again, I only do root divisions!

[@twinsgardening896]

The seeds are black spheres, maybe the size of your pinkie nail. Canna indica is actually the species name, canna edulis is just a specific variety!

[@twinsgardening896]

@@erikm8372 The puff balls are the seed pods, the seeds themselves are the round things :)

[@andresamplonius315]

Por lo que lei en Australia solían cultivarla para extraer almidón. Por eso la conocían como "Queensland Arrowroot". En Peru fue domesticada hace cinco mil anos. Si la cocinas al horno queda deliciosa, la dulzura se concentra, a diferencia de hervida. Tambien a si la asoleas unos dias. La variedad ornamental da flores grandes, la comestible flores pequeñas. "LOST CROPS OF THE INCAS", un libro online que puede consultarse gratuitamente tiene información acerca de la Achira y otros cultivos.

[@lornabartlett2744]

Ahmen thanks wonderful because I believe in Jesus. Enjoyed this video Subscribed. Very informative From 🇨🇦 I grow Canna lilies, I store the bulbs in side until June motivated by their magnificent BEAUTIFUL BOUNTIFUL

[@schoolofpermaculture]

Great! Thanks for the feedback! Bless you!

[@BaruchHaShem777]

Someone gave me some Canna lillies and they're growing nicely, but I don't know how to know for sure they're canna lillies and truly edible.

[@megansuttonmercado8419]

Have you tried scanning them with the app Seek and then posting to iNaturalist? If the AI in Seek can’t identify them, the community of science lovers on inaturalist probably can

[@TaLeng2023]

I don't know what kind of canna we have at home.

[@demetriusm8221]

Great content! I live in Plano. If you ever need an extra hand with anything, I'd be happy to help in exchange for some hands on experience.

[@abbyhillman769]

It's a total myth that canna need to be dug up in winter. I suppose if you live in an extremely cold climate, you might need to, but they practically grow wild here in East Tennessee, where we often have single digit weeks in winter.

[@megansuttonmercado8419]

I have the same experience in north Texas - we planted ours in 2020, snd they have been creeping beyond their boundaries ever since.