When my Chicago kids were here in May for Mothers Day they went to the garden supply store near my house and loaded up their car with plants for themselves and also for their neighbor. The Million Bells flowers are doing beautifully in the planter boxes on their balcony railings. The red ones are the neighbors, and the kids kept the pink ones for themselfs
Despite their common name, canna lilies are not true lilies at all. They are Zingiberales, and ae close relatives to bananas, gingers, and birds of paradise. The large paddle-shaped leaves closely resemble those of a banana plant.
Banana pant growing In a pot on the balcony
Most gardeners grow cannas strictly for their flashy, ornamental blooms, But the rhizomes are edible and have been cultivated in South America for thousands of years. The starch is still heavily utilized in places like Vietnam, where it is a primary ingredient used to make cellophane noodles.
Practically every part of the plant has value; the leaves can be used for animal fodder, young shoots can be eaten as vegetables, and the stem yields a fiber that serves as a substitute for jute.
The Canna seeds are perfectly round, and pitch black. They look and feel like BB pellets and in the past were used as ammunition for handmade weapons and muskets when traditional lead shot was unavailable.
Canna seeds are used around the world to create musical instruments. They serve as the mobile rattling elements inside the hosho (a traditional gourd rattle from Zimbabwe) and are even used inside baby rattles.
Busek enjoys being surrounded by all the greenery and insists that the door to the balcony be left open so that he can come and go as he pleases. He strongly disliked the days when we were under air quality alerts with smoke from the northern wildfires and the door had to remain closed.
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