Lantana camara Bloomify Red - West Indian Lantana

Lantana 'Bloomify Red' is the leader of a line of Lantanas certified 100% sterile, particularly floriferous and vigorous. This one produces numerous balls of flowers in flamboyant shades, quickly changing from yellow to orange and then to red. This Lantana is also distinguished by its pretty compact and rounded habit. These many advantages make it an excellent plant for ornamental beds, terraces, and balconies. This shrub blooms tirelessly throughout the summer, on beautiful dark green foliage that undeniably complements the fiery colours of the flowering, which is highly visited by multicoloured butterflies. A frost-sensitive plant, Lantana camara is most often grown as an annual outside of our regions spared by severe frosts.

Lantana 'Bloomify Red' is a small shrub of the Verbenaceae family related to Verbenas. The origins of its wild parent, Lantana camara, also known as Lantana or common camara, are located in a vast area including Mexico, Central America, the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, Colombia, and Venezuela. It has become naturalized in many subtropical regions where it is considered invasive. It has given rise to many cultivars, among which the sterile Bloomify hybrids that do not produce seeds. These plants therefore dedicate all their energy to tirelessly flowering, without the possibility of escaping into the wild. Not demanding in terms of soil, water-saving, extremely floriferous, Lantana has only one flaw: its lack of hardiness, up to -6°C/-7°C (19.4°F) approximately for short periods of time.

The 'Bloomify Red' cultivar is a fast-growing shrub, well-branched, reaching about 35cm (14in) in all directions in a season. Its quadrangular section branches bear a few hook-shaped spines and leaves 4 to 6cm (2in) long, tough, rough, and aromatic when crushed, with finely toothed margins. They are dark green, heavily veined, and theoretically persist in winter if there is no frost. Its particularly abundant flowering extends from July to October. In the leaf axils, clusters or panicles of rounded flowers, 4 to 5cm (2in) in diameter, bloom. The small tubular-based flowers gradually change from yellow to orange and then to red, creating an interesting gradient within the bouquet between the centre flowers, a warm yellow turning orange, and the peripheral flowers, a deep red.

Lantana 'Bloomify Red' loves protected, warm, and very sunny locations, it can survive outdoors in mild climates. Elsewhere, it is an excellent terrace plant that should be stored in a cold or temperate greenhouse, protected from severe frosts during winter. While it can make a show on its own, this Lantana pairs well with the blue or white flowers of salvias, lavenders, garden Verbenas, and catmints. It is also a very good plant for a low-water garden, when winters are mild.

Note: Attention, our young plug plants are professional products reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, transplant and store them under cover (veranda, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C (57.2°F) for a few weeks before being installed outdoors once the risk of frost is definitively eliminated.