Friday, July 2, 2010

Lantana, Love it or Not?


Do you grow Lantana? In some places it can easily become an invasive obnoxious weed and in other places it is an almost ever blooming, can take any kind of situation in stride, hardy, happy perennial.
There are many varieties of lantana and I am telling you, butterflies and skipper moths absolutely love it. They are drawn to the flowers like I am to the beach on a warm sunny morning. The stems are kind of hairy ( sometimes they will make you itch) and it has an odd smell. The first time I saw the plants, I thought it smelled much like deep woods off, but now the scent is a little less pronounced.
I have it planted in several places. I love flowers and I can't get enough and one that is constantly in bloom is all the better.


The foundation border in the back of my house never seems to welcome anything I plant. I can and have planted many different things there, but nothing seems to thrive. I think I will mix in some different colors of lantana and other things and let it become a flower bed for "survivors" only. Who knows maybe it will live up to it's reputation of being hard to kill.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

In our garden we've got a lot of lantana.. Too much really. We're trying to get rid of some.
But it just doesn't want to go !

Anonymous said...

I always thought that was a weed! And it does smell funny.

Susanna Originals said...

You take such lovely pictures! I'd take Lantana or anything else - miss my garden.
Susan

Campbell Jane said...

I'll take some of Grace's extra! I can't get it grow but I know that it does grow around here. Pretty photo!

Yodi Insigne said...

My grandma hates this plant. She said it's the flower for the dead -- maybe because it grows wild in our local cemetery.
It's really colorful, and we used to call it "Espiritu" or spirits of the dead. Now I know it's called Lantana.

storybeader said...

I love lantana. Never thought of it as a weed before. It's so colorful. Funny...

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