The first hybridisation of
Cannas was performed in 1848, and since then many Canna hybridizers have made their contribution to the genus over the centuries. This is a date ordered list of those people and their brief stories.
1848 Théodore Année
A retired French diplomatic agent in America, the gentleman gardener Monsieur
Théodore Année of
Passy
Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents.
Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...
, France, brought back from his travels the seeds of several
Canna species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, and in 1848 he crossed C. ''glauca'' with C. ''indica'', so producing the first known and recorded Canna hybrid, C. x ''annaei''
André
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...
, now referred to as C. 'Annei'. Année was rapidly joined by many other enthusiasts and professional horticulturists as Canna hybrids enjoyed rapid popularity in France. In 1866 he retired to
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
, France, and from there released his last recorded cultivar, C. 'Prémices de Nice'.
1850s Jean Liabaud
A resident of
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France.
1850s E. Chaté et fils
A resident of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France.
1860s Jean Sisley
A resident of Lyon, France.
1860s Mr Goujon and Mr Jules Chretien
Resident of Lyon, France. Both supervisors of the
Tete d’Or park.
1862 Antoine Crozy
Amongst the professionals who joined in the enthusiasm for new Canna cultivars was the rose breeder Monsieur
Antoine Crozy of Lyons, France, who first started hybridising Cannas in 1862 and continued introducing new canna cultivars at a rapid rate until his death in 1903, giving his name to a whole new group of