New Appreciation for Lantana

Sometimes we’re just plain wrong about things. I was wrong about Lantana. It was never a plant I placed at the top of my list of beauties to purchase. But it is a beautiful plant, and a top choice for adding long-lasting color to hot, dry spots in the garden or on the patio deck. Because it also attracts butterflies, Lantana has a lot going for it. Again, I just didn’t know.

Lantana is tough, with rough and strong stems. Perhaps this is part of the reason this shrubby plant didn’t top my list of faves… no flouncy petals, no soft leaves, no arching stems, which are all things I tend to like. But it is a plant that offers so much more.

Long-Lasting Color

Lantana shows off slightly convex flower clusters (think, shallow saucers tipped upside-down to show a colorful base). These flower clusters sit on stems in a manner that creates the look of “all color, all the time”. The blooms are long-lasting, and the plant can take some serious heat. This is what you want for your south-facing hanging baskets that you struggle to reach up to water. This is what you want in a part of your garden that has few shade trees to cool it down. This is what you want for the patio container that you often overlook when it comes to watering.

New varieties of Lantana are popping up, left and right, offering new color mixes of the florets that make up each flower cluster. Tropical color mixes are very popular for this plant of tropical origins. Atop fairly dark green foliage, bright colors pop and look absolutely terrific.

Handling Heat and Dry Spells

Lantana needs very little water. Water your plants once a week, and if by chance you are called off on an unexpected trip to Monaco (hey, we can all dream)… well, your plants will likely be just fine, drying out even further.

Lantana or Verbena?

Lantana has a doppelgänger: Verbena. This “double”, or near-twin, looks an awful lot like Lantana, and possesses some of the same characteristics. For example, like Lantana, Verbena is also very drought tolerant (though Lantana handles drought conditions with even greater ease). Verbena is wonderful for drawing bees to the garden, and because its lacy flower heads sit high atop stems, it can be placed mid-way or near the back of garden beds, with flowers poking up here and there to become butterfly magnets. 

Verbena is grown from seeds. Lantana is propagated through cuttings. With Lantana, you won’t have to worry about a plant invasion, even if your in-the-ground beauties grow fat and lushly covered in flowers (which they will), and even if you do a poor fall clean-up and let plants go to seed and drop to the ground. Instead, you will purchase Lantana this year. Next year, you will purchase it again, perhaps in a new mix of colors. You are in control of this plant, so you can add it to exactly the spots you desire to fill.

I still like flouncy petals and soft and silky greenery. But Lantana’s different form is very appealing, and a great contrast to these other plant forms that I like so much.

So, topping the list… well, I guess I have to add Lantana to the top. It’s a “hot” plant that can handle the heat. What’s not to like?