Lantana - a flower that pleases the eye

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 plot.

Appearance and main features

What is so attractive about lanthanum? The flower belongs to the vervain family, there are about 150 varieties of it. Evergreen shrubs with small inflorescences in the form of umbrellas come from America. Its height varies within 1-4 m.

The plant has a very unusual property: during prolonged flowering it changes color from yellow to purple. Flowers are located on top and collected in inflorescences. Coloring can be different: white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple. The plant has a pleasant delicate aroma.

Gray-green leaves of the lanthanum are rigid, pointed at the ends, have serrate edges, they contain a large number of essential oils. If the sheet is slightly rubbed, you can catch a rather sharp smell, something reminiscent of peppermint.

Growth conditions

Each plant has its own characteristics, except for lanthanum. These flowers are unpretentious, excessively fertile soil is not suitable for them. It is advisable to land in a scanty land, this will deter excessively rapid growth. For a complete growth and flowering a mixture of humus, sand and sod land is suitable, drainage is also necessary.

Lantana actively blooms not only in the open air, it is suitable for any bright room. It is desirable to place a pot of flowers near a window or on a glassed-in loggia. A large flower does not require moisture, but periodically it should be sprinkled with water. In summer, the ideal temperature for breeding is 20 ° -25 ° C, in winter - 15 ° C.

Despite its unpretentiousness, lanthanum needs additional fertilizing. It is recommended to fertilize the flower once a month. When the first buds appear, it is necessary to feed lanthanum 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. Most common in nature is found spiny lanthanum. The flower, the photo of which is found in many sources, grows on the banks of rivers and forests. It grows up to 4 meters in height, has straight branches, often rough, covered with spines. Leaves oblong and pointed. Yellow, red, purple or white flowers are collected in dense axillary inflorescences and are located on the top of the shrub up to a diameter of 5 cm.

There is one more variety, which is quite common, it is the Montevideo lantana. The flower comes from South America, reaches 0.5 m in height. The leaves have a dark green color, slightly rough to the touch. Pale purple flowers are collected in verbena-shaped inflorescences.

A somewhat unusual looking lanthanum is three-leafed. The height of the shrub can reach 2 m, the oval leaves are pointed. Quite small flowers have five petals. Most often white, less often there are gentle purple hues.