Lantanas are perennials grown as
half hardy annuals in most climates, or wintered over indoors. Lantana camera
can grow as tall as 10 feet in very warm climates but is usually no more than
three feet tall, and dwarf varieties no tall than 18 inches are very popular.
Little round flower heads are clusters of tiny flowers in shades of red, pink,
yellow and orange, sometimes all in one cluster. Alba is a white variety.
Trailing lantana l. sellowiana is less hardy, with trailing stems and flowers
that are usually combinations of lavender and yellow.
Both are excellent
container plants but are also grown in gardens, the trailing kind as a ground
cover. Lantanas are warm weather plants. Sow seeds indoors in late winter
because they take a long time to germinate. In warm climates sow outdoors in
the garden, as several gardeners buy plants and then stem cuttings when they
need new ones to bring indoors for winter display and for a source of new
cuttings for the following season. Plants can also be dug up, cut back to five
to six inches, and kept dormant in a frost free basement until early spring
with just enough water to keep them alive but not enough to produce new growth.
Source: Charismatic Planet
