Lantana

There are so many cultivars available that I won’t list an exact cultivar for you. But now that we have so many from which to choose, you have more options in size and color.

Most of these plants are root-hardy woody perennials, which means that they die back to the ground during the winter for us here. Occasionally we will have one be evergreen, but this winter I doubt that any would have been. In fact, we may have lost some of these plants because we were so cold this winter.

We do have some native species and those species do have more berries which are more attractive to birds, but that also means more seedlings around your yard.

Most commercially available hybrids are sterile so they don’t produce as many berries and they do flower more without deadheading those berries off of them. Some of these plants are large and shrubby, but others are groundcovers that stay very small. So as I said, pick the color and the size of plant that you’re looking for.

As with many plants, available cultivars change each season according to the new plants that are available and have been hybridized by growers over the season.

Lantana loves heat and abuse, so plant them in full sun on the south or west side of your home. They use very low water and they’re not too particular about soil.

Another reward is that they flower all summer from spring to frost. A few to try are ‘Texas Flame’ which is an orange, red, and yellow flower, and ‘Samantha’ which is a yellow flower with variegated foliage.