Lantana

Help. My bandana red lantana is taking more than it's alloted share of room. It looked so cute when I bought it in the spring, and the plant tag said that it grows 12"-14" tall and wide (mounding). I'm sure it's at least 18" tall and 24" wide (sprawling). I need to move this baby to the back of my flower border asap. Can I transplant it now? Or do I have to suffer until the fall before I can move it? I don't want to lose it? I live in zone 8a.

Deebie,

Lantana are pretty hardy. If you are ready to water it every day for the next week or so, as you would any new planting, go ahead and do it.

As always, when you dig it, do it wide to avoid cutting the roots too much.

Also, I would suggest you move it after the sun has gone over the trees in the early evening. It will have all night to recover.

Molly

Thanks for your help. I'm sooo ready to move it and more than willing to water it. We're supposed to be getting some rain in a day or two and that should help. Since I'll be moving it in the evening, I'll have to fend off bees and mosquitos. I've never been bitten by a bee, and hope for the best.

Do what ever you want to with it. You can't kill the darn thing. They are as bad as wisteria and johnsongrass, they refuse to stay where they are planted and won't die. Every time a bird eats a seed, somebody somewhere gets a new planting.

Oh I envy you. I buy lantana every year but it doesn't make it through the winters. Some say Ms. Huff will but not so far for me.

My favorite is the hot chinese orange red -- Deebie -- maybe your lantana has reached its max size. If it has---will it be ok where it is? Since it apparently has overshot its predicted height and width ---it may be at its max.

It is my experience with confettei(sp) Lantana, it will out grow its' deminsions. If you want it to mound more and be less leggy looking cut the tips of the longest runners back about 6 inches to 10 inches. This encourages branching below the cut point. Also prevents the flowers from gowing to seed. Since this is not hardy, in zone 7b, for me I am allowing the lower flowers to seed hoping I will get some volunteers next spring.

Max size or not, it's taking up way too much room. It's also getting leggy. I think I will take gcorrier's suggestion and cut back the tips, after I move it.

Okay guys, on second thought, maybe I won't move it until after I've tried cutting it back and seeing what happens. I have lost one or two lantanas over the years. Even here in zone 8a their survival has been unpredicable for me. As for lantana volunteers, I have never gotten any. Maybe it's because I use mulch in my beds. Could that be a factor?

I think the lantana in my yard would come back through concret. Mulch wouldn't effect it at all.

I have found that mulch does keep flowers from reseeding -- but if crazy invasive the wind and other factors will send the seeds far and wide to non mulched areas. This especially true with the very tall rudbeckia - those five foot babies go everywhere.

Missingrosie, If you are talking about golden glow let me know. I'd like seeds for that. I have yet to get my wish list in place. Let me know what you're looking for and I'll see if I have it. I'm not big on plant specifics/varieties by name. But I'll share what I do have. Thanks again guys.

I have to tell you this. I'm always reading about other people's deer encounters and would laugh. Well, I got a surprise visit(s)this past week. One day I was admiring my sweet potatoe vines and the fact that they were so lush. I even tucked into a seedling that rooted (probably from a piece I dropped when dividing this spring). It was growing onto my concrete patio so I laid out neatly in the flower bed. The next day, I couldn't figure what was wrong with my lush flower bed. Then I looked at the potatoe vine and it was all long naked stems. My first thought was tomatoe hornworms, but wondered why it didn't touch any of the angel's trumpets. I'd also just planted a new variety of echinacea (full of bud about to open) and it was half its size minus buds. My hibiscus was half it's size. I looked further and saw animal prints in the mulch and realized I had had a deer encounter.

Two days later my container plantings in front of the garage were stripped. The deer had returned and gotten all the leafy sweet potato vines, including one in a hanging basket. I've got to find a way to stop feeding these deer. Not laughing now.

Deebie,
I have had good luck propagating lantana by scratching the bottom of one of the long runners, making sure that the exposed green area is in good contact with earth, putting a small stone on top, and watering every 2-3 days. Roots have formed, and when new growth just starts in the spring, I cut the runner and replant it. I don't know if it works with all lantana, but my gold, white and purple ground cover lantana and a red upright have propagated this way. I have done the scratch and stone thing in August or September here in 8b Texas.

Debbie, there is a product called Hinder that you can spray on your plants and deer will not fool with them. Won't hurt your plants. Farmers in our area use it to keep the deer away from their soybeans. Not sure if it has an odor. Vicks salve on pie plates work as well. Locks of human hair will keep them away but have to change it weekly. Barber shops or beauty parlors is a good source for hair.

here they are - not sure of variety.

up close.
They are about 5 feet tall.

Texasroses, nice to see posts from someone who obviously knows his/her stuff from good old Marlin. I grew up nearby and we went there all the time to shop. Neat tip about rooting the lantana. Never had heard that one.

The rooting method will work on grape vines, azaleas and most other woody type plants.

Missingrosie, those are beautiful. I don't know if I can handle five feet plants. I think 4 feet is my limit. But, thanks anyway. We can find something else to trade.

Thanks everyone. I'll try the scratch and stone method before I cut my lantana back. Some of my friends would just die if they knew I cut it back before rooting cuttings.