Who grows lantana?

I bought some lantana baskets for the butterflies and read someone said to "deadheaded" them or they would not bloom as well. I would like to know from those of you who grow this if you remove the spent flowers or not. I would also love to hear what you grow for the butterlies. I have several different milkweeds and probably a lot of other things they like but just wanted to know what others have grown and had success with in this area. Thanks.

I would try to remove spent flowers on lantana because the berries aren't doing you any good. (I am not a good deadheadert tho.)
Swallowtails really liked my tall zinnias one year. They really liked my butterfly bush too.

They will bloom fuller if you deadhead but I have grown them for the past two years and never dead headed and they still looked good plus the butterflies loved them.

wisdomskr

I confess, I am a deadheader. I deadhead almost all my plants especially into the late summer months, I think it brings on more blooms. I have a small pair of snips that I carry with me and a plastic grocery bag when I tour my beds. Last stop is the compost pile.

As far as the butterflies, can't do with out my butterfly bushes, and echinacea.

Thanks yall. I have always tried to provide for the birds and bees and love the butterflies. The other morning while I was outside potting up stuff I spied a bit of color in a shrub that I could not identify and went to check it out. It was a black swallowtail butterfly coming out of its chrysalis. I sat there in amazement just watching it as it slowly began to move it's wings and legs. I have seen this on tv before but never first hand and I was so happy and grateful to be able to witness this in my yard. That's why I bought the lantana in case it decided to stay around. Yesterday, it was still in the same area of the yard and was on the lantana so that made me really happy. Miracles of nature make it all worthwhile.

That is great! Last fall I bought a bush and a few days later noticed a monarch chrysalis on it. Not sure if it got there before or after I brought it home. Anyway, was a great chance for us to watch and I did see it the day it came out.
I saw a swallowtail today and a maybe frittilary yesterday- black and orange but not monarch.
typing edit

This message was edited Jun 16, 2008 9:14 PM

I grow Lantana every year it is one of the "must" have plants in my garden. Mostly it sits in a pot on my patio. Where I have a good view of the Butterflies coming and going. I would love to plant more but I have not gotten the knack of growing these from seeds and at the prices they want for them I usually only get one.This year I picked up a couple of extra due to a good sale. I planted an old pig trough (yes we really did at one time raise a few pigs and this is the trough they ate from). It's newly planted and not looking it's best yet but I have hopes that it will fill in well.

Holly that makes a nice container, You have Lantana, Heliotrope, ? and a pentas. What is the yellow/green foliage plant?

Here are a few close ups of what is in the container. This was a great find for me. I've never seen a variegated Lantana, it had yellow flowers on it when I picked it up and it looks like there are more flowers coming. We brought this home from our last trip, picked it up at a nursery in S.C.

Wow! Look at that lantana! Sure is pretty. I love vaiegated plants too! The pig trough is great! Wish we had some of those laying around here. When I lived in NC there were all sorts of "planters" available if you were inventive. (We lived on a farm) By this middle of the summer, that should be full of flowers and butterflies.

Here is a picture of the Pentas it's Bahamas Lavender. With a name like that I couldn't pass it up. LOL
This is my first year for Pentas, not sure why I haven't picked any up before I hear they are great for Butterflies.

I have two other Lantanas in there Desert Sunset and Orange Sunrise.
This is the Orange Sunrise.

And of course the Helio, I have and old cracked metal feed scoop that sat on the deck last year with some Pussytoes in it, I think I will plant something in that again this year and place it next to the feed trough.

I just love the smell of the heliotrope! About the pussytoes. I received some at the swap. I put them in dirt in a pot but don't know anything about them. Where should they be planted? Sun or shade? Could they be left in a container or should they go into the ground? I have some pots that are shallow, more like for succulents, etc. that I could put them in.

I wanted to add one more picture, this is from last year. One of the plants that got a lot of Butterfly action last year were my Morning Glories.

Wow on that too! I pull up everyone of them most of the time. Years ago, I got some Grampa Ott's seeds and now there are everywhere in the yard. The smother everything in my flower beds. Last year we put bird netting around the vegetable garden that ended up being a deer buffet and the morning glories covered the netting by the end of the summer. So, whatever fence left standing will have them growing on it again this year. Did not plant vegetables this year. I gave up and put some cukes and tomatoes in pots up close to the back door.

LOL Wyldeflwr, You must have gotten them from Hart. That is how I ended up with Pussytoes in a feed scoop. Last year I came home from the swap with tons of plants and I had these Pussytoes in a bag Hart just dug them up while we were there and passed them out. I was looking for something to put them in and saw the old feed scoop sitting in a corner and set them in it, thinking that would hold them till I got around to planting them. I liked the look and never planted them till fall. This spring I was walking around calling Pussytoes, Pussytoes where are you? I couldn't remember where I planted them. LOL
I did finally find them but now I can't find the picture of them in the scoop. LOL Here is a link with a couple of pictures.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/758190/

Forgot to answer your ?'s. Hart would know best but I think they do very well in dry soil. Mine certainly did well planted in that small dry scoop and I was thinking that sedums would grow there very well this year.

Lantanas are the very best plants!! I started out with 5 of the Confetti's about 5 years ago and they have reseeded over the years and I've gotten about 20, If mine get to over loaded with berries I'll deadhead but only then, Mostly out of laziness because it would take me hours to get the job done. I also have the low growing yellow (can't remember the name!) but have never had any of those reseed. I've tried the lavender varieties but they never make through the winter.

Meg, where is Ellenboro? How far down in NC? I grew up in Durham and spent a good part of my adult life in and around there. I lived in Hurdle Mills before coming to Maryland. What zone are you in? I didn't think lantana would overwinter or self seed here in Maryland. That sure would be nice.

HollyAnn: I'm confused about lantana. I don't think I've ever seen it, and I know I've never grown it -- but I thought it was a tall plant. I bought some (by mistkae) this year, and only belatedly realized they get to be 4-6', which doesn't work in my yard. But here you seem to be referring to a short plant. What species/cultivar do you have?

Happy mine are a little taller than that right now the plants stand at 8-12 in including the flower stalks. The Patriot classic "Desert Sunset" lists the height at (30-36in). I've grown that before always in pots and I know they didn't get that big for me maybe 20in. Bandana "Orange Sunrise" height 12-14 in. I don't have a tag from the variegated one but I'm sure it's called Samantha no idea on the height. I brought that one back for S.C. and had never seen a variegated Lantana before. I looked around after we got home and wasn't seeing it in the local nursery's. Then the little guy down the road from me had it, he said a lot of them don't carry it because it doesn't bloom well. But mine is covered with blooms right now.

Thanks for the info!

Sorry, Happy I thought you meant 4-6 inches. That's why I said mine were taller. We also found that butterflys love them and actually had zebra swollowtails on them one year.

This is the first year I have grown them. Got some cuttings last fall from DG'ers and now they are taking over, but I'm not complaninig I luv 'em!

jada, yours are beautiful! I may take mine out of the pots and put them in the ground. The year I did grow them in the ground, they spread out to three or four feet in all directions but since I purchased them in pots, I hadn't thought of putting them in the ground until I just saw your picture.

They definitely need space. The place I have them is sun intensive and they dont mind it at all. I buy different colors, as I find them so they will be mixed and colorful. The red and yellow havent grown as tall, but I just planted those this year.

I've never put mine in the ground either. They aren't hardy for me and I use them on the patio to bring the Butterflies up close.
Jadajoy, Are they hardy for you?

Holly
Those variegated are to die for! I just picked some growing in pots at the university :-). ( Just a little piece, spank me) They are in water right now.

The others I planted last fall and this spring they were just dry twigs. I resisted pulling them up. They just took off come June . I heard some are perennial, some not, but i think it depends on the zone. Since this is the first year for them I'll see how they fare next summer thou they did survive this past winter as babies.

wyldeflwr,, I am between Charlotte and Asheville in zone 7, I was told years ago to get lantana to come back NOT to cut it back in the winter and keep it on the dry side, I dont cut it back until I see the new growth in the late spring. I have tried most all of the lantanas except for the red, Confetti and Radiation come back the lavender does not do well and I have many of the short gold yellow ones but I dont remember there names and I put more in each year as I can afford it. The yellow ones seem to have different varieties each year but they all do well. The yellow never reseed for me, I thought this year I would try to do some cuttings of them and see how it goes..

Thanks meg, I will try that this year and see what happens. I would love to have them come back and our winters haven't been as cold as usual lately either. So, we shall see. Do you mulch them?

wyldeflwr good thing you asked,, I only use large nuggets of pine bark mulch so it lets it breath a little, the fine ground mulch seems to keep it to damp. and at times they have gone for 3 years without new mulch or soil. I live way back off of the road so I dont care what they look like in winter and often just let leaves from a large oak fall were they want to and that is enough protection from the wind,

Thanks, that's what we recently purchased for some of my other beds. I will try that.