Have huge lantana that I want to overwinter

I have 3 huge lantana planted in the ground. I want to bring those in for overwintering and I have done this successfully with lantana in pots but don't know about the 'shock' they will experience and when to do it. They are in full bloom but our frost date won't be far off.

Suggestions? Do I cut them back and pot them, hoping for the best? They are about 2 ft x 3 ft per plant.
Kathy

Hi Kathy! Lantana grows everywhere around here and we freeze every year. Not sure how long and hard your freezes are, but I will tell you what folks do around here.

Wind is a big concern for my area. Are you plants sheltered in that respect? If so, gardeners around here cover theirs with sheets. There will be the usual die back, but if the roots are established, they always come back. Here anyway. I would think moisture might be an issue for you. Not sure about the watering protocol during the winter for Lantana. What variety do you have? If i remember correctly, the yellow, sprawling variety is more drought tolerant than the other 3(?).

I have never heard of anyone digging up to winterize. Key is to dig up all roots and pot up immediately. Do not let the roots dry at all. I have killed a transplant by waiting overnight to put it in the ground (or in a pot).

Please know I am not a pro. I just watch what grows around me and how folks keep it alive! Good luck to you!

I had a gorgeous lantana for two years and then it just failed. It wasn't a hard winter, and it was very healthy in the fall, so I don't know what got it.

Here our winters can be very cold, windy, snow. I'm on the border of 6/7 so it's not something I trust about leaving in the ground without more than a sheet to protect them.

Are they pretty hardy when dug and moved? Don't know if they are easily shocked from movement. Lanakila isn't far from me but that little distance can make a huge difference in the weather.

Should I cut these back just prior to frost and hope they survive?
Kathy

Yes, that's too cold. I would think they would be okay as long as you keep the root ball well intact. My instincts with this plant tell me to work carefully but quickly. Don't let the uprooted bush sit around at all. Ground to pot. Maybe dose it with a touch of "transplant shock' type nutrient. Keep out of direct sun. You know the drill....
I sure love Lantana! I really hope it works out for you. Best of blessings! Peace~
Kiley

Here in 7b, my Lantana froze back and came back late next year-

Lantana do go into shock but in a couple weeks bounce right back just as good as new. You can cut it back and stick the cuttings in a pot and they will root for you also. I have done this many times and haven't lost any unless I don't get around to potting it right away.

What color do you have?

Up here there is a yellow sprawling type that is very hardy and continues to bloom beautifully despite evenings in the 40s.
I have the red and orange. It is my understanding that the purple variety is really touchy. Difficult to grow.
The yellow I mentioned above looks dynamite as a ground cover almost.

I have 2- they are both red with yellow centers, but one is nice and compact bush shape, the other is sort of sprawling and open. I just took cuttings of the bushy one to see if they will root on a heat mat.

Let me know how they do. I'll take some cuttings and try to root them as well. We still have plenty of warmth here, so I have a little time to get them going before additional heat will be needed. Thanks for the inspiration!

I was told via Dave Gardener to cut the Lantana back "hard", pot it up and water throughout the winter. That is what I did. We had a hard freeze a couple of days ago. Some of the Lantana leaves were toast.

I'm in zone 6b. I had my Lantana return One year which was really mild two years ago. I plant Lantana every year. So, one year to return out of 20 isn't a good track record.

Edited to Add:

I do have Lantana re-seed through the summer and have some little plants to dig up. I haven't tried until this year to winter over the big Lantanas, but the little ones have done very well. Look really close around your large Lantanas. They might have put out some little plants---either under the stems of the Lantanas or near them.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2013 9:23 PM

If your lantanas don't make it after you pot them and over winter lmk as I have a few confetti that need dug up and gotten rid of. I am sure they will be there till spring :)

can you root lantana cuttings? If so, when is a good time to take cuttings? Alda

Yes you can take cutting and anytime would be good.

shihtzumom how did it work out for you?

Would love to hear also! Just put a bunch of new in the ground. Lost mine during our freakish winter. Several around town are coming back nicely though.....

I have dug mine up the last two years. The big plants over wintered pretty well. The small ones didn't. I watered them about every fourth week. Some made it some didn't. I have plenty for my gardens.

My huge plant lived that winter and was even larger the next summer. It was to large to try again. I did dig up 3 last summer but they died in the basement.

Sad.
Kathy

Sorry to hear. It is always a gamble!
Peace~
Kiley

They need mulched thick and mine died to roots but came back. mulch after good hard freeze- might even consider marking the spot they are in, then burying them 3-6"in dirt with mulch, then uncovering when the freezes get softer in spring.

Shitzumom: my mom lived in Okla. zone 7, and her lantanas came back from the roots. Last year was a cold bad year for all of us. I heard on the news recently next winter was to be worse. God forbid! :(

Kathy I have lantana seeds for postage if you want some. I have pink/yellow and I also have orange/yellow.

Lantana seeds take a long time to germinate. Hate to be Debbie Downer--just be aware of what you're up against.

I'm new to gardening. I surf the web and Google alot to learn (plus now I lurk here in DG, learning alot) But sometimes I just can't keep quiet!!

This first year, I planted a lantana camara: its so pretty, I'm wanting MORE, so I looked into it. Mine is commonly called called ham=and=eggs as the flowerets turn from yellow to orange to red but in so doing all thee color florets make up a flower cluster with all colors showing!! It's a perennial, so will come back every year. This type can only be propagated from cuttings, recomended being taken in late spring (I guess it's because it's so much easier to keep them warm then).

There are also perrenial lantanas that can be propagated by seed.

It just snowed here last week and I'm pre-occupied keeping MYSELF warm, so I guess I'll wait to ask for cuttings until winter is OVERR!!! (I DETEST the cold!)

Hi Bet, welcome aboard.
Cuttings are to be taken in the spring because the stems are less woody. Lantana is actually a shrub; the stems get pretty rigid making it difficult to root when it's not a soft, young shoot.

Lantanas are perennials in some areas--depending on the growing zone.
Lantanas will make it in 7a but will not make it in 6b over the winter. In Florida, the Lantana montedivensis (orchid one) is considered invasive. When I was a kid, I lived in 7 b and Mom's lantanas came back reliably every spring. Here, in 6b, I had them return once about four years ago when we had an exceptionally mild winter. My brother lives in 7a and his always come back except last year because we had a more severe cold winter than usual.
So, you may want to put a little mulch or even a couple of bricks around your beloved Lantana just in case, since you like it so well. It is predicted to have another very cold winter throughout the Mid-West and East.

Make a note on your calendar to ask for cuttings in early spring.

Edited to add:
Lantanas can be grown from seed, but the seed needs to be stratified, and sometimes, it takes 60 days for the seed to germinate making it difficult to grow in a season. For me, it's easier to just shell out the bucks and get a couple that I want.

This message was edited Nov 16, 2014 6:14 PM

Lantanas are not reliably hardy in freeze zones but there are varieties like "Miss Huff" that are more hardy than others. I believe that one came from Athens, GA. Growers are trying to push the limits of their zone tolerance through selective breeding. I'm aware that if we have lantana that survives extreme winter here it is of potential interest to state university botanical research gardens. In any case, selective hardiness is what generally accounts for why some growers are successful with overwintering lantana in higher zones and others mulch and do everything right and lose them.

Yes, I've heard of Miss Huff. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it in this area. It's great they're working on hardier Lantanas. They are such tough plants in the summer heat and drought.

thanks for the tip about MORE mulch and/or bricks....my lantana is mostly dead, but some of it is still green (even with a bedraggled flower cluster!), even after our first snow. Since it's still going, I think I may need to do BOTH: brick and mulch. Since it's likely to do bad things weather=wise tonight, going to get some bricks will be the first thing I do tomorrow, if I can get out!

I've already got about 2 in. of pine bark mulch around it, up to the stem.... but AM going to go get some more ASAP!!

Hmmm.....so it's a shrub? does that mean my little first year lantana will die back THIS year (it's barely 6 in wide and 4-5 in tall)? Does this lantana generally die back for winter then come back and grow even bigger the next year, until they reach their maximum size??

If I had some mulch and brick left over, I'd brave the weather (46 and dropping, WICKED wind!) and rush right out NOW to rescue my little plant from the cold!

Poor plant! (as I take another sip of hot cocoa)

Enjoy that cocoa!! :) Can I have a cup? :)

I plant quite a few Lantanas each season, because they require very little care once established, and they bloom very well all season until a hard frost.

Some are traiilers; some grow into a spreading up-right. Then, I had one this year that was very compact and made a very tight neat mound. It grew to 12 inches tall by 15 inches across. All of my Lantanas put on considerable size through the season.
I am surprised, Bet, your Lantana reached 6 X 6. Hmm. I wonder if it will make it through a Very Cold Winter. Maybe, it won't get too cold for it in your zone 7a. However, my mom's always came back reliably in zone 7a. Yet, I do recommend putting mulch and bricks on it this winter due to the predicted colder winter. Don't put the protection on top of the plant -- just around it.

Will it come back? Probably. Will it grow bigger? Definitely should grow bigger. Mine usually grows about 2 feet high X 2 feet across by the end of the summer.
Does it die back? Yes, in zone 7a. Although, in the plant descriptions, it reports a perennial in only zones 9-11. Even Though my mom's (zone 7a and my brother's lantanas, in a different state, zone 7a, reliably return with no protection. But my brother's did Not return from last winter's severe cold weather.
So, no matter what you do, it may not return if we have an unusually cold winter which it sounds like we are suppose to have. In zone 6b-no return. Our unusually cold temp last night was 3 degrees and broke a record. The coldest temperature prior to this one was back in 1976.

So, if that happens, just buy another one next year. I dig mine up each fall and put them in my downstairs garage under lights with watering once a month or so. Next year, just to be on the safe side, you might want to dig it up or just plan on buying another one the following season.
You need to consider the 5 bucks it costs to replace it vs. digging, potting up, setting up lights and having to take care of it (although minimal) through the winter and re-planting the following season. Some of mine make it and some don't. That's just the way gardening and life is: You win some----you loose some.

I bought my lantana from Plant's Delight as a zone 7a perrenial plant. (they ALWAYS send me good, healthy well-grown plants!

BetNC, I buy mine loacally. I don't have to pay postage then. They are pretty good size when I buy them. They are pretty plentiful around here.

Here's one I like. I put it with my Orange-Red Rose. They look nice together.

http://www.sierravistagrowers.net/growild/node/244

Follow-up
I packed a flower pot with leaves and up-ended the pot over my poor lantana!! (in addition to about 3 inches of mulch up to the stem!!)

plus I'll take your alls advice: if it doesn't survive the winter, I'll get another one!

@Birder, before I ordered it online, I TRIED to find the kind I wanted locally.....maybe next year, it'll be available locally

I have seeds for Pink/yellow, Orange/Yellow/Pink, Orange/Yellow, and have a few Dallas Red seeds. If they don't freeze I have several small plants I have to move or dig up in the spring. These are open pollinated so not sure the color they will be. Send me a dmail come spring to see if plants survive and seeds now if you like. A SASE for seeds if you would like some.

The problem for me with growing Lantana from seed is it takes so long for the seed to germinate: 40 to 120 days depending on Seed Germination Source. By the time I got my seed to germinate, it would be fall, and it's an annual here which would die out in the winter. :(
You are very generous to offer your seed.

I have had some re-seed on their own which is a real surprise and a bonus, but it was a real warm winter.

My lantana toss a few seeds around, if I spot the seedlings I pot them and overwinter them in my greenhouse. The big ones I wait til they die back and trim short in January or so, they come back with new growth from the roots.

This message was edited Jun 26, 2015 9:13 AM

UPDATE
My lantana didn't make it through the winter.

Over the winter, I tried my hand at indoor seed starting; I sowed and grew much, MUCH too many. . . .those annuals with some unusual perennials from a new friend here on DG, already makes for too many plants for my very limited gardening space!

In fact, since I didn't plant in the corner where the lantana shoiuld have come up. . that means I have a spot for one of my new perennials if it should get too crowded where it is!

I'm already looking forward to NEXT year: the annuals that fill 3/4 of my front garden will be gone and then there'll be ROOOMMM! A blank slate! The possibilities!!!

Gonna start any Lantana from seed?

I love lantana! Here in Texas 7b, I hated it that they would not last the winter. Then, by chance, a bird planted a New Gold lantana close to by back driveway. It was beautiful for a summer, then I thought it would be gone. But behold, it came back the next spring! It has come back for four years now, because it is planted next to concrete, which is warmed by the Texas sun all winter! Last year, I experimented in my front yard and planted 5 lantana between a walkway and a sidewalk. They were gorgeous for the first year, and then the real test - the second spring after a cold winter (for Texas). And they came back!! So this might be a solution for you - but the plants can't be too far from the concrete!

I'm in 8b and it overwinters here no matter where planted, and the birds plant seeds and it comes up with babies if we get rain.