Nice gift! Very interesting bi-coloured leaves, not one I'm familiar with. Had to google it and it sure is a beauty. Hope you post a picture when it blooms popmama.

I'll post some of mine later...I also got some but I purchased them the Saturday before Mothers day and I ordered one from Brian's Botanicals...Finally got the deep varigation I've been longing for

Be careful not to let any all green plants remain cause they will take over...it'll hurt but if you get 2 to three all green in a row I'd cut it out

I'll keep an eye out for all-green. My uncle has had this Cleopatra for years. It just took me a while to get him to give me a division. I bought him a Stuttgart in exchange.

A Stuttgart from where...online or local nursery

What a thoughtful gift from your uncle. I didn't know any canna had leaves like that! I hope it does well for you because I can't wait for you to show us the flowers.

Hi sandyslopes, the flowers have the same pattern as the leaves but in yellow/red. They are stunning! I really hope it blooms for me too. I also want him to teach me his method for over-wintering. He does it differently than I do but clearly whatever he does works. I'll update you all when this one blooms.

I posted mine @Popmama...

Did your uncle give it to you like that or did you have the privilege of planting it yourself? Either way do you know if it has eyes on the bulb...so you can be expecting new shoots to come up soon as well

He divided his Cleopatra earlier in the season and gave me one piece of it. He divided it and planted a few divisions in separate pots. He gave this one to me in this lovely pot. I don't know if it has any other eyes.

For future reference division of one plant provided it has roots will grow...but it's much better to get a rhizome with at least 3 eyes or the existing plant and 2 or more eyes on it it will spread better grow stronger and have more stability

Love to see a photo update :)

FrozeBudd, thanks for asking. It's growing like a weed! No buds or blooms yet, but it has put on a lot of growth.

It's looking great, I'm a bit jealous, lol :) ... thanks for posting !!

It's a really cool looking canna. I hope it blooms!

We have a bud! My uncle's bloomed already (he lives in a warmer climate), but the blooms were solid red this year. No variegation. I'm hoping mine will be bi-colored. Will update when it blooms.

You should have bi-colored blooms it's highly unlikely that you will have varigation and nonvarigated blooms...the foliage usually dictates the blooms but you can have an all green stock with crazy bi-colored flowers...I have a lil of both...and usually if you watch most of the time between 7 or 8 leaves your bloom pod starts to show up. and a lil hint get a little water dish for the bottom of your pot...when the plant is thirsty/drying out it will pull the water in as it needs...I have some of mine submerged in water and I add fert to the water and they are growing like mad with the roots flowing out the bottoms.

Well, my uncle got all red blooms this year on variegated foliage. The picture on the left is this year, the one on the right is from last year. I looked online and found that Cleopatra blooms can vary from year to year.

Yes they can...

She got very tall!

There was one bloom about a month ago, but our crazy winds took it. But it's giving me another late-summer bloom. It's so exotic looking.

Now I just have to hope I can over-winter the rhizome for next year.

I really like them, I will have to look for some come spring.

Nicholsworth, yes I want to get him to explain his method to me. I watched about 30 videos on youtube with various methods for overwintering. I am just more confused than ever. I have always kept mine in the pot, covered the pot with brown paper, wrapped in bubble pack and put in my garage. But it does take up a lot of space so I am looking for a method that will take less space. I just bought a temperature monitor with remote sensor and put the remote sensor in my crawl space to see what kind of temperature that stays.

When he gives me his method, I promise to share.

I tried to overwinter my elephant ear last year and it failed. That's another thing I will need to try again.

popmama..my blue pot is portable but the 4 concrete urns are NOT!..I've read about cannas too and I don't have any experience to say "this works" I had 3 cannas planted in the ground last year..they were on the east side of my garage..I have inground bananas there too and I cover them with leaf filled garbage bags..people were saying "my cannas by my house came back..didn't dig them up and they survived" well I covered everything but I lost 1 banana and ALL of the cannas..I removed the bags when the weather seemed warm enough but it got cold again..I recovered with compost but I guess it wasn't warm enough for a borderline plant..

I am no expert but all I have done was dug them up and put them in a box with wood chips in my basement. Now my basement in winter is about 50F.

I got this information from the person that gave me his extra cannas and this is my third year of doing this. Oh.......I was told to check on them in January to make sure they’re not moldy or shriveling up from lack of moisture and when you put them away,don’t let them touch each other.

popmama, what a beautiful bloom! So different looking than any I've seen. I really like that one!

Last year I had one that bloomed kind of a washed out yellow, but this year it's a more intense yellow with some orange spots in it. Prettier, I think.

I've been enjoying my three basic cannas and am also wondering how I should overwinter. So I like hearing everyone's methods. Last year I planted mine in plastic pots and put them in my daylight basement. It's always hard to get the watering right. Too cold and they can rot if they're wet, but also don't want them to dry out, either. They all made it, but one that got too dry was slow to come back. But cannas have come back more reliably for me than Elephant Ears.

Thanks, sandyslopes! I also love it. I've wanted one for a while and getting a division was the best!

I've always over-wintered mine right in the pots. Cut down the foliage, put a brown paper bag over the pot, wrap with bubble pack and tape. Then I put them in the garage. I pay no attention to them whatsoever until April Fool's Day. But the garage system does take up a lot of space. So I've been considering the dig/dry/store method like kingd describes above. My only problem will be whether or not I have a spot in the basement that stays that cold.

I dug/dried/stored my elephant ear bulb last year and it didn't come back when I potted and started watering in the Spring. But I want to try again.

Overwintering is easy it's all about how you want to do it..I'm all over the place so I have some that I keep in pots near windows and others I keep in boxes with peat moss you can easily keep them in boxes cut back with dirt and lightly water the key is basic...don't let them get too dry... too cold or over water them which can cause root rot...monitoring is the ticket ...

If you're like me and you have favorites that you really cherish...keep a select few in pots and baby them like I do shuffle them in and out of the windows to make sure they all get their share of sun...and keekeep the others dormant...remember it doesn't hurt if growth begins on the cut back rhizomes it actually helps with your monitoring cause you can actually see what's going

No room for keeping them in windows here. It's either the in-pot garage method or the remove-all-dirt and store in boxes in the basement method. I'm still trying to decide which way to go. We are getting our first frost and may get snow over night, so the time has really come!