Hi,
I am in St, Louis and lift my Lantana each Sept to overwinter in basement. Usually I throw them in grow room in March and put outside in late May/early June. This year have not put them in grow room yet. I am going to be gone for several weeks and am tempted to try them straight outside. Stems are woody and they are in 5 gallon pots. We leave them in pots and put pots in the ground to make it easier to pull them in fall. Low temps for next week are low in 45's and highs in 70's. If I give them 4-6 days to harden off, do you think I might get away with planting them outside next week?
I won't be devastated if they die but it SURE would make life easier if I could get more done before I leave...
Can Lantana survive zone 6 now?
They will be fine in 45 degree nighttime temps. I wouldn't worry about them even if it lightly frosts on them ( the top leaves may darken some). Its freezes that you would have to worry about
Do you have a way to protect them if you get a late freeze? In your zone I suspect there's still a chance of getting some temps that will be too cold for them, so you'll need to have some frost cloth or something handy to put over them if you get a cold snap.
Thanks!
I've got a heavy weight row cover that's never been used. I'll have a friend cover them if it gets below freezing. :)
I love seeing how you folks up north deal with the tropicals! and as it turns out, I usually treat Lantana as an annual here, because it just gets beat to death by the sun [yes, I know about cutting it back!].
I am talking about Lantana ovatifolia, usually 'Gold Mound'. The other lantanas are much more reliable.