When we moved in to our house there was nothing in the yard but three old fruit trees and tons of weeds that produced the most vicious seeds that ended up in the dog's fur, ears and eyes costing thousands of dollars to have removed. The first plant I put in the ground was a cutting of a canna lily from my next door neighbor. I wasn't familiar with tropical plants and I hadn't seen the canna lilly before but she showed me their tall stalks with red, orange and yellow blooms and I fell in love.