The convertible rose available from us bears the botanical name Lantana camara and originally comes from a more temperate than tropical warm zone, which extends from southern North America to Central America. From there it was able to spread and, once introduced, hold up very well, only in the German winter is it too cold for the changing flower. The convertible rose is therefore kept near and, in the bucket, where it thrives well with little care.
The convertible roses are even extremely easy to care for, if you meet the basic needs for care, and that will surely succeed even a beginner.
Table of Contents
Location and soil for the convertible roses
Location fundamentally affects the welfare of the plant, so you should be careful when choosing:
- Convertible roses like a sunny spot very much, but are also satisfied with a location in partial shade, which should, however, be relatively bright.
- After all, they come from regions rich in sunshine, if they get too little light, the bloom can fade.
- The changing rose prefers when this location is protected from rain.
- The convertible rose needs nutrient-rich compost-based soil.
- The pH value of the earth is important: acidic is permitted, neutral too, only alkaline, i.e. calcareous, the soil should by no means be.
- The substrate should be loose.
- A clay pot with a drainage hole is well suited as a plant pot.
- You should add gravel or broken clay drainage to the bottom of the pot.
A convertible rose can do a lot, the richer the earth is in loose organic material, the better excess irrigation water can drain off and the more sun it gets, the more eagerly it will grow and set flowers.
Repot convertible florets
If it gets too tight for the convertible rose, it should get a new, larger pot. You’ll realize it’s time to repot when you lift the old pot and see roots growing through the drain hole below. When repotting, a pot should be chosen that is one size larger, an even larger pot would stimulate the Lantana to form more root mass than leaf mass. Repotting should always be done carefully so that the tender root ends are not damaged.
Pour convertible roses
- Convertible roses want to be watered evenly and with not too large amounts of water.
- It prefers rainwater or at least stale water, convertible florets can be sensitive to lime.
- Ideally, the potting soil always remains evenly moist.
- It is always time to water when the soil in the pot feels dry on top.
- How quickly this happens also depends on the location: A lantana in full sunlight evaporates a lot of water every day.
- Waterlogging should be avoided please.
- This can be achieved if, some time after watering, it is checked whether water has collected from the drainage hole and this is thrown away.
The fertilization of the convertible rose
- Convertible florets develop many flowers and need a lot of nutrients for them.
- As soon as the convertible rose comes outside from its winter quarters and has finished leaf formation after pruning, it should therefore be fertilized.
- At the beginning of the growing season it will be sufficient to fertilize the convertible rose once a month.
- When the first blossoms appear, you should re-fertilize about every two weeks.
- You can use a liquid fertilizer from the trade, in dosage according to the instructions (no more, be careful!).
- The Lantana is also happy to take an organic natural fertilizer, the risk of incorrect dosing is less great here.
- Fertilization continues until late summer, then again at somewhat longer intervals in September.
The cut of the convertible rose
The convertible florets grow as small shrubs with mostly slightly drooping branches that have spines or bristles, and they contain several poisons, so you should definitely wear gloves when cutting and dispose of the cut parts in such a way that no one comes into contact.
- The maintenance pruning gets the Lantana at the beginning of sprouting, you should shorten all shoots fairly strong. The reason is that the convertible rose only develop one flower next to the other on young shoots, the older shoots, on the other hand, are much sparsely populated. Depending on how the girth of the convertible rose and how much it has grown in the last season, you can cut the shoots in half or remove them once more; it is possible to cut them back to the width of a hand.
- When the Lantana begins to bloom, how long that blooming season will be up to you. If you make the effort to prune out all of the withered flowers in a timely manner, you will almost certainly be able to extend the flowering season well into late fall.
Hibernating convertible florets
Read our detailed article on winter storage. A summary of the most important points can be found here:
The Südkinder Wandröschen do not like our winter, and indeed not so much that you have to be careful if unpleasant jumps in the weather suddenly appear in autumn: Then you would have to “save” the Lantana from the cold immediately, you would have to move to winter quarters immediately z. For example, if the convertible rose would otherwise have to spend a night in real minus temperatures. This is how the convertible rose is brought over the winter well:
- Wintering in a cold house is ideal, i.e. a greenhouse that is bright and allows the plants to cool down but never expose them to frost.
- If such a greenhouse is not available, the winter quarters can also be moved to another bright room, perhaps a winter garden or a cellar with a window.
- It is important that this room can be kept at temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees, otherwise the plant cannot switch its metabolism down. – When the convertible rose has gone to rest, it no longer needs any nutrients and only little moisture.
- This means that you only need to water just enough until spring so that the potting soil around the roots does not dry out.
- From the first signs of early spring around the middle of February, the convertible rose can be made warmer again, now the metabolism should be increased again and the budding stimulated.
Propagate convertible roses
The convertible florets are known as spreading artists, and they would not have come this far if they had reproduced easily and quickly:
- To do this, you can first use cuttings, e.g. B. those from the cut in spring, they are simply put in pots with potting soil and should take root there soon.
- Seeds germinate well too, but if you take these from your own hybrids, you will not get exactly the same plants, so the new plants may flower in completely different colors.
Pests and diseases of the changing flower
Convertible florets are actually strange to us, and they are kept in unfamiliar surroundings, at least in winter, both together make them quite susceptible to an infestation with whitefly. If you notice whiteflies, you should fight them as soon as possible. Control with parasitic wasps of the species Encarsia formosa, which you can obtain online or from specialist gardeners, should bring good results.
Aphids also appear more often on the lantanas. You can prevent an infestation by adding a defense compound to the plant pot right from the start. That can be B. be chopsticks that are soaked with pesticides against aphids and simply put into the potting soil.
The play of colors and fragrance make the convertible rose special
The exciting thing about the convertible rose is that it lives up to its name with its flowers: These really change, in a miraculous way the convertible rose first flowers light yellow or orange, then the flower suddenly turns red or purple and even later maybe lavender or violet … Since this happens with every single flower, but not all the flowers of a Lantana develop at the same time, you have at times a flower bush with many colors in front of you.
The scent of the convertible rose is also something very special, it is difficult to describe, but in any case very characteristic. The smell is usually described as beneficial and pleasant, but if you have a sensitive nose, you should probably smell a Lantana first before you buy it, because for some the convertible rose simply stinks a lot.
Caution: The convertible rose is poisonous!
All parts of the convertible rose are poisonous, but the fruits are especially poisonous. The best thing to do is to simply pick them off and throw them away, because they are not exactly the best look either. The Lantana has a whole potpourri of poisons to offer, triterpenes and icterogenin and Lantaden A and B, whose consumption can be deadly, and even contact with the leaves can lead to skin irritation.
Converting rose varieties
The usual variety that we cultivate and that changes colors so enthusiastically is called Lantana camara, of which over 20 cultivars are available. The entire variety of varieties is of course only offered by specialist nurseries, in normal retail you usually only get one variety. The Lantana camara is sometimes bred as a standard stem.
There is also a second variety that is cultivated in horticulture, but is offered much less often: The Lantana montevidensis, a permanent bloomer from Uruguay that flowers in white or yellow or blue-purple. But the Lantana montevidensis stays with these colors, perhaps with a little play in the richness of the tint, this convertible rose cannot change color.
Conclusion
If you do not have an infinite amount of time for plant care, but would still like to house a very special plant, you should certainly take a closer look at the convertible rose. But be careful, the convertible rose seems to have what it takes to make flower lovers “addicted”, whoever has bought a small convertible rose should very often end up collecting the exciting wonder plants.