Lantana is a flower whose unearthly beauty can be appreciated only during its flowering. It is for this property that gardeners and gardeners loved it, and now this plant is used to decorate an apartment or a plot.
Appearance and main features
Why is lanthanum so attractive? The flower belongs to the verbena family, there are about 150 of its varieties.
An evergreen shrub with small inflorescences in the form of umbrellas native to America. Its height ranges from 1-4 m.
The plant has a very unusual property: during prolonged flowering, it changes color from yellow to purple. The flowers are located on the top and collected in inflorescences. Coloring can be different: white, yellow, orange, pink, red, violet. The plant has a pleasant delicate aroma.
The gray-green leaves of lanthanum are hard, pointed at the ends, have serrated edges, they contain a large amount of essential oils. If the leaf is slightly rubbed, you can catch a rather pungent smell, something reminiscent of mint.
Growing conditions
Each plant has its own characteristics, with the exception of lanthanum. These flowers are unpretentious, too
fertile soil is not suitable for them. It is advisable to plant in meager land, this will restrain excessively rapid growth. For full growth and flowering, a mixture of humus, sand and turf land is suitable, drainage is also necessary.
Lantana actively blooms not only in the open air, any bright room is suitable for it. It is advisable to place the flower pot at the window or on a glazed loggia. The flower does not require high humidity, but periodically its leaves should be sprayed with water. In summer, the ideal temperature for breeding is 20 ° -25 ° C, in winter - 15 ° C.
Despite its unpretentiousness, lanthanum also needs additional nutrition. The flower is recommended to be fertilized once a month. When the first buds appear, it is necessary to feed lanthanum already 2-3 times a month. From May to the end of August, the flower is fertilized every 2 weeks.
Varieties
In nature, there are several varieties, each of them differs in certain features. Prickly lanthanum is most commonly found in nature. A flower, photos of which are found in many sources, grows on the banks of rivers and in forests. It grows up to 4 meters in height, has erect branches, often rough, covered with spikes. Leaves are oblong and pointed. Yellow, red, purple or white flowers are collected in dense axillary inflorescences and are located on the top of the bush with a diameter of up to 5 cm.
There is another variety that is quite common, it is Monteviden Lanthanum. The flower comes from South America, reaches 0.5 m in height. The leaves are dark green in color, slightly rough to the touch. Pale purple flowers are collected in verbenoid inflorescences.
Three-leafed lanthanum looks somewhat unusual. The height of the bush can reach 2 m, oval leaves are pointed. Fairly small flowers have five petals. Most often, white, less often found in a delicate purple hue.