 |
| Lantana Photo: Joyce D'Agostino |
Each year the National Garden Bureau selects a group of plants to be featured as their Plants of the Year. This year, Lantana was chosen as one of those honored plants.
Lantana can be found in garden centers in a variety of bright single colors and color combinations. They are best known as a favorite nectar source of butterflies. If you want to invite more butterflies into your garden, Lantana is a great plant to try.
These cheerful plants do well in containers on your patio or doorstep or added to your flower beds. They can even be lightly pruned and brought inside before the first frosts arrive and will happily live on as a houseplant. They can often bloom indoors during this time as well, providing some bright color to those darker winter days.
When grown outdoors, Lantana appreciates a full sun exposure and where they can be easily accessed by pollinators. When growing indoors, they like to be placed in an East facing window that provides bright natural light during the fall and winter.
A native of the tropical regions of the Americas and Africa, it is best to wait until the danger of frost has past and the soil warms before planting outdoors, or when moving from the inside back outside after the winter. Lantana grows very well during the summer months here, is very easy care and a valuable food source for pollinators.
 |
| Swallowtail butterfly on Lantana Photo: Joyce D'Agostino |
This bulletin from the National Garden Bureau has more information and links on growing Lantana: National Garden Bureau-Lantana
