Four Garden Rant, North Coast Gardening blog commenters win Tropicanna^® cannas!

 Congratulations!

Four winners have been in announced in a Tropicanna cannas giveaway held this month as part of posts by Amy Stewart and Genevieve Schmidt of the wildly popular Garden Rant and North Coast Gardening blogs, respectively.

North Coast Gardening's Genevieve Schmidt (left) and Garden Rant's Amy Stewart (right) pretending to be Tropicanna cannas in the video accompanying their blog posts about the tropical, colorfully foliaged plant.

The winners, drawn at random, are: Michelle Derviss, Roberta Perez, Pat Leuchtman and Nicky of the 'Dirt and Martinis' blog (she didn’t want her last name listed). All these women were very excited to receive their Tropicanna canna rhizomes, and some of the ones in warmer areas have already planted them in pots.

Tropicanna Gold cannas (top) in a container with torenia 'Viva Catalina Blue' (lower left) and heuchera 'Velvet Night' (bottom right).

“I’ve created a subtropical, Balinese-inspired garden in which the Tesselaar cannas are going to be very happy,” says Michelle, a Novato, California gardener and author of the 'Garden Porn' blog. In her blog comment, Michelle even suggested a great, tropical plant combination that's perfect for container gardens or beds: Tropicanna Gold with a brilliant red foliage plant such as phormium or red banana. “Throw in some big-leafed coleus, some alocasias and a few succulents," she added, "and ya all will have a knockout vignette.”

Speaking of knockout vignettes, check out  these pics of Michelle’s home and "Pina Colada Garden," just 20 minutes north of the Golden Gate bridge.

The original Tropicanna cannas (top) in a container with zinnias (lower left) and lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (lower right).

“Thank you so much for the beautiful Tropicannas!,” says Roberta, of Monterey Park, California, who mentioned in her blog comment that her Tropicannas were so gorgeous, some jerk up and stole them on her! “I already have some pots with their names on them!" she says. "I will take photos when they are up!”

 Cool!

Nicky, of 'Dirt and Martinis,' hopes to blog about the Tropicannas and their progress on her site. “I grow in an area that gets hammered with snow in the winter,” she says. “So, I'll take great pleasure bringing these beauties indoors when it gets too cold for them.”

Tropicanna Black cannas in a container with salvia farinacea (left) and dichondra 'Silver Falls.'

Pat Leuchtman, a Charlemont, Massachusetts gardener who authors the Commonweeder blog, hasn't ever grown cannas before, “but I’m ready for Tropicanna drama.”

And with winter hanging on by its icy claws in the Northeast, who there wouldn't?

Again – congratulations, ladies! Enjoy your Tropicannas! And don't forget to send pics!