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David's Plant of the Week
September 9, 2006

Colorful Lantanas
By David Rodriguez

The lantana is a great landscape plant which is very adapted to our area, provided they are grown in a sunny location. When established, the plants are very drought tolerant, and continue to produce bright and attractive blooms in the hottest of weather. Although a tender perennial, lantana is best used as a warm season annual, replanted each spring. Butterflies and hummingbirds adore lantanas.

Some of the best varieties which are available from our local nurseries are:

	New Gold -- bright yellow, sterile flowers, spreading habit. This variety named New Gold blooms profusely but NEVER forms berries. The berries that form on most lantanas must removed before more blooms will be produced. This is a revolutionary new development in lantanas that insures this plant will be a continuous beauty rather than a virulent pest with its unwelcomed seedling offspring. But you MUST insist on the New Gold variety; all other lantana varieties exhibit the characteristics which lead botanists to label them with the highly unfavorable specie name of horrida.
	Weeping Lavender -- Fragrant, lavender, sterile flowers, low spreading habit.
	Weeping White -- Fragrant, white, sterile flowers, low spreading habit.
	Texas Flame (Dallas Red, New Red) -- Orange/yellow/red tricolor blooms turn to deep red, maintains a compact bush shape. This is the reddest lantana available.
	Pinkie -- Pink/cream bicolor, sterile flowers on an extremely compact plant which never requires cutting back.
	Samantha (Lemon Swirl) -- Bright yellow, sterile blooms and beautiful variegated foliage on a compact bush. A beautiful plant even without blooms!

If you can't grow this plant, I can't help you!

Remember, Learn and Have Fun!