The dwarfs --- white, pale purple and gold are hybrids.I have not seen them spread like the others.

I happen to like the Camera Lantana, and as long as a person is warned I think it should still be available. I also like Mexican Petunias. But there is one plant that I truly wish I hadn't planted, the bleeding heart vine. That thing is beautiful when it blooms, but my heavens, it runs under the ground and pops up everywhere. And so hard to get all the root out where you don't want it. There wasn't a warning of any kind on it. I've never seen seeds form on the white, purple or yellow lantanas, but I've seen seeds on the Camera, and I just dead-head them when the flowers are spent. I do have white ones that spread out and form roots on the branches that hit the ground.

Last week I pulled a ton of the pale purple that had taken over a school garden. Learned in the uplands habitat course that 'bad' lantana has crossed with native lantana and some folks consider the native to be extinct, or near. Also, the lantana berries are highly toxic.

~dianne

The wild "species" form of Lantana camara is invasive. This is the big bush you see along the road or in pastures.

Many of the lantanas you see sold in the trade are sterile or nearly so but not all of them. And some are hybrids or other species.The common, low creeping lantana with purple or white flowers is Lantana montevidensis. Also many do not get huge like the species form (L. camara) does. I believe the U of FL did a study with several dozen cultivars/hybrids to test for seed production/invasiveness and for ultimate sizes.

How do you differentiate L. camara species from L. camara hybrid?

Thanks,
Carol

I think some of the shorter, more creeping forms with colored flowers are hybrids. 2 that are definitely hybrids are 'Gold Mound' and 'New Gold'.

Eric,

I believe the trailing/weeping/creeping lantanas are Lantana montevidensis. I'm interested in Lantana camara. They are upright plants, not trailers. I would like to know how to differential species camara from hybrid camara - if it is even possible.

Thanks,
Carol

Yes, the trailing lantanas are L. montivedensis, it only bears purple or white flowers. There are some lantanas sold as L. camara that are actually hybrids, usually between L. camara and L. montivendensis. These usually have a more trailing/less upright growth than L. camara but have colors other than white or purple (yellow, gold, orange, etc.). As I previously mentioned 'Gold Mound' and 'New Gold' are 2 of these hybrids. Sometimes it can be hard to determine if some of the others are hybrids as they are often patened.

Eric, thank you so much! Do you think it is ok for me to plant the white one? It is definitely a Camara and it is completely upright - no trailing tendancies. Its name is 'Snow Flake'. I don't want to contribute to an environmental problem.

Carol

The white one should be alright. I haven't heard of a white flowering lantana becoming invasive.

I planted Snow Flake in the yard and I gave it a warning as I patted it in, LOL! I'm keeping my eye on it.

Yesterday, I was driving down a major road and there was lantana, growing all over the woodsy berm for about 1/2 mile. It was the hot pink and yellow variety. First time I ever noticed it but made me think of this forum thread.

Carol

Here's a good website about the different lantanas.
http://www.gardenguides.com/107404-lantana-plant-colors.html

I put in a few lantana depressa in February in front of a Mexican sage. I am loving them Even with this drought, they are spreading and flowering their little yellow hearts out.

Thanks for the link - it is good information.

I looked up lantana depressa to see what they looked like. Those are very pretty! I put a link below for anyone else who wants to see.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Google Images - Lantana Depressa

"Vegetative reproduction occurs when lantana stems come into contact with moist soil, initiating root formation at the contact site." Does this mean I could root a cutting? Would I root it in water or soil? Where on the plant would I cut it to get the best chance of rooting? I have a huge and extremely hardy lantana in my yard, and a place I can't get anything to grow. I'd like to try getting some lantana to grow there. Thanks.

Yes, I believe you can root a cutting of Lantana. At least with L. montivedensis. I tried during the spring when mine was putting out lots of new growth. As more an experiment than anything, I put 4 cuttings in water and watched them. Three dried out and died in about a week. The fourth put out roots, but didn't transplant well into soil.

Having said that, I am extremely new to gardening and there was probably a ton of 'user error' on my part. I did not use rooting hormones on my cuttings but simply put them straight into the water. I also did not have my rain buckets at that time and so was using water from the tap, which for where I am, is very heavy with calcium. There were probably a number of other things I did wrong that I am not even aware of. But the partial success of that fourth cutting makes me fairly confident that it can be done successfully and I will be giving it another shot the next time I see new growth coming from my planted ones.

I'm ripping out the white Snowflake lantana. In two seasons, the growth was unbelievable - it took over the bed. It exploded and is huge and I just don't like it. Not enough blooms and blooms are too small to warrant all that space it wants to occupy.

Also, like others have reported, when I trim it back, if the leaves even brush against my arms, they immediately begin to itch. Rinsing with the hose takes care of it right away, but I don't need anything like that in my yard. So all in all, this lantana camara was a thumbs-down for me.

I am going to replace it with more tall pentas. I've been pretty lucky - tall pentas have been perennials for me for several seasons now.

Carol

Lantana Camara is considered and invasive species, check out Calling Out a Bully: Lantana Camara

It sure is invasive up here, even the hybrid "Dallas Red," which I was told was sterile. It's all over Gainesville.

I love lantana and love the butterflies and hummingbirds that it attracts so I intend to have it, along with the much-maligned Mexican Petunias.

HA! I have Mexican Petunias, and I have the purple purple trailing lantana, but dug up the large pink bush. I still have seedlings coming up everywhere. There is so much of the pink and orange around here that I could get it back easily, but I just don't want the trouble. I'll probably just stick with the purple.

The invasive lantana must have come here a very long time ago because I remember seeing it as a kid and I'm 63 now. I guess it's called an invasive because it reseeds itself all over but I've never had a problem controlling it in any area and it's not that difficult to pull out if you don't want it. Again I love it because the wildlife loves it, my only problem with it is the horrible smell the foliage gives when touched. I also happen to love the Camera variety the best which seems to be the closest to the wild one. The Mexican Petunia is a little more difficult since not only does it throw seeds, it spreads underground with rhizomes but it can be controlled. And when it is planted in a large mass planting and in full bloom it is gorgeous.

> Posted by riaweeda
> "horrible smell... foliage"

Citrus-like. Pleasant, to me.

Regarding L. camara seeds: Mine never do anything. I freely toss them about, knowing that there is no concern.

Regarding propagation from cuttings: All of my plants started thus.
Low rate of rooting. I have found that thick entirely green stems are best.

Has any of you seen tufts of tiny leaves in place of flowers?

four(9B (near 9a))

perhaps that's a witches broom of lantana or something like that? sometimes plants have malformed leaves, even without disease.

Mine root in a week without hormone. I just put them in poorly drained containers with wet soil. I stick a bunch in a tray basically, sometimes I remove buds and most leaves (cut large ones in half) if I'm concerned about water loss but I dont think it matters.. Dappled light or East-side of house is best.

Also yes lantana is an invasive species. I live north of the natural range for the native lantana species but I also have not seen the newer dwarf varieties spread, just the shrub lantana.

If concerned about it spreading there is "New Gold' which has mostly sterile pollen so fruit production is minimal.

Still, I would not plant it in a county where the native kind is. Firebush, homestead verbena, and native porterweed are nearly everblooming alternatives that won't hybridize with native lantana.