Lantana camara seed

LATIN NAME: Lantana camara
COMMON NAME: Lantana
Lantana is the shrub that blooms in every colour it can think of. The tough, fast-growing, evergreen shrub carries the small, rough, strongly scented leaves, and the dense, rounded heads of the tiny, tubular flowers open through the whole warm season, changing colour as they age, so that the heads carry the yellow, orange, pink and red all at once. The small, dark, berry-like fruits follow, and the shrub keeps blooming almost without a pause. It is a fine, easy, generous shrub of the warm, sunny garden, though it spreads freely and is best kept to its own corner. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Lantana holds a steady position in the plant science, and the shrub has been studied for the colour-changing flower heads and the strongly scented leaves. The way the tiny, tubular flowers change colour as they age has drawn the botanists back time and again, and the shrub keeps showing up in the work on the warm-climate garden shrubs and the pollinator plants. The dense, rounded heads of the flowers draw in the butterflies and the bees through a very long season, and the tough, easy habit has also made the shrub a regular subject of the studies of the spreading, drought-tolerant plants of the warm regions.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Lantana works hard in the warm, sunny garden. The dense, rounded heads of the colour-changing flowers keep the butterflies and the bees busy through a very long season, and the tough, fast-growing shrub is a fine, easy, dependable filler of the warm border and the dry bank. The small, dark, berry-like fruits feed the birds of the warm garden. The shrub spreads freely in the mild, open regions, so it is best kept to its own corner and clipped after the flowering. It has been written about in the horticultural papers for its long, colourful season, and it is a fine, generous shrub of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.
Lantana is one of the most generous of the warm-climate shrubs, and the dense, rounded heads of the colour-changing flowers keep the garden alive through the whole warm season. The small, rough, strongly scented leaves give the shrub its own fine, fresh character.
To grow the lantana from seed, soak the small, dark seeds in warm water for a day, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil, covering them thinly, keep them in a warm, bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a few weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the well-drained ground, keep the young shrub to its own corner of the garden, since it spreads freely in the warm regions.
Lantana camara
(Lantana Confetti) offers creamy-yellow, soft pink and orange flowers.
If you have a hot, baked spot, lantana is your answer. This hard-working plant will not only thrive with little moisture and in full, unyielding sun, it does so with ease. In fact, lantana is a flower that seems to have it all — it produces an abundance of brightly colored flowers all summer and fall and it’s a magnet for butterflies (hummingbirds like it, too). It’s easy to grow and is a great choice for containers. Plus, if you have a very sunny spot indoors, you can grow it as a charming indoor plant. In frost-free climates, it’s a great perennial groundcover, as well.




