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Lantana Study Spotlights Leading Cultivars

LANTANA STUDY SPOTLIGHTS LEADING CULTIVARS

Lantanas, though long familiar to Southern and indoor gardeners, have only recently come to the attention of Northern gardeners as a worthy addition to the landscape. This floriferous tropical is ideal as a container plant as well as a luxurious and long-lived standard. A member of the verbena family, lantanas offer vivid colors continually enhanced by improved cultivars.

'CONFETTI', 'PATRIOT™ RAINBOW' COMPARED
A recent study by Dr. Peter Konjoian of Konjoian's Floriculture Education Services, Inc. is featured in the April 1998 issue of the Grower Talks magazine. Konjoian reports the results of experiments on the shrubby tropical lantana camara cultivars Confetti and Patriot™ Rainbow. Confetti, a large vigorous, upright grower, represented traditional forms of lantana, while Patriot™ Rainbow, a 1994 FloraStarÒ winner, is a unique new cultivar bred for exceptionally compact form.

GROWERS BENEFIT FROM DIFFERENCES

Performance differences between Confetti and Patriot™ Rainbow give growers a distinct choice. Confetti displayed fast growth and early flowering, with plants averaging 3.2 inches longer and 3.3 inches wider than Patriot™ Rainbow, flowering 10 days earlier than the latter with a comparable display of buds. Patriot™ Rainbow, with its compact habit and late-flowering, may be preferable to growers who look for higher plant densities without the need for commercial growth regulators.

RECOMMENDED FERTILIZER FORMULATIONS

Both cultivars demonstrated similar performance when tested with two Peters liquid fertilizer formulations, Triple 15 (15-15-15) and Excell 15-5-15 (also called Cal-Mag). Triple 15 is a standard formulation while Cal-Mag was recently developed for use in soilless peat lite mixtures. Flowers, buds and breaks were comparable for both formulations. Konjoian concludes that either formulation would be successful in a soilless medium, but that in a soil based medium the use of a formula such as Cal-Mag could result in excessive minor element fertilization.

FERTILIZER CONCENTRATION COMPARISONS

Konjoian also conducted tests to determine how standard greenhouse fertilization regimes based on concentrations of 200ppm nitrogen compared to higher and lower concentrations. His studies confirmed that late flowering was directly related to lowest rates of fertilization, and that stem breakage increased as concentrations of fertilizer increased.

BELL CURVE RESPONSE

Although flowering was faster as fertilizer concentrations increased, Konjoian observed a bell curve response causing growth parameters measuring length, width, breaks, buds and total flowers to peak at concentrations of 200ppm, higher than either 100ppm or 300ppm. He concluded that 200ppm nitrogen applied on a constant basis is the optimum concentration, followed by 100ppm.

IMPROVED CULTIVARS LEAD TO INCREASED LANDSCAPE USE

While Patriot™ Rainbow represents a breakthrough as the first truly compact lantana, new cultivars, including others in the Patriot™ series, continue to put lantanas in the public eye. The Patriot™ lantanas are available from American Daylily & Perennials or their licensees. With increased options in color and form, even Northern gardeners are making room for this exciting tropical. Landscapers who are weary of the same old flowers need look no further than the lively and luxurious lantana. For more information, contact Jo Roberson, American Daylily & Perennials, 800-770-2777.