Lantana is
Great for
Summer
Color and
not a Favorite
Food for Deer
By Tim Price
L
antana is one of the most rugged flowering foliage
plants that you can plant as a shrub or as a perennial flowering plant. Most people do not realize that
there are over 150 species of lantana. Most lantana
in the South is planted as an annual which most
people do not realize is a perennial. In the Deep South the
most apparent color that you see is yellow, red, orange, blue
and white. I have seen some lantana reach heights of 6 to 8
feet. Most people usually cut their lantana back after the first
frost. Many times people complain how lantana does not
come back each spring; this is all dependent upon what type
of winter we encounter. If your lantana is slow to come back
in the spring it is because the winter was hard on the foliage.
Lantana will be killed back to the ground at 28 degrees but
will return from its roots in warm weather.
12, lantana will be perfect for your garden. At my garden center we take a
lot of cuttings from lantana because it is one of the easiest plants to root.
If you have the time and a place where you have consistent temperatures, lantana is a very easy plant to grow. So just remember if you are
looking for a plant that the deer will not eat, an abundance of flowering
clusters, and is easy to grow, this is the plant for you.
Tim Price has been a landscape contractor since 1979. He owns
Lake Martin Garden Shop; a retail garden center located in Ourtown,
Alabama. He can be reached via email at [email protected].
The reason why deer do not like lantana is because the
characteristic of their leaves which are somewhat poisonous
to animals. Lantana puts off a fragrant smell that is the scent
of animal urine. Most deer do not agree with lantana as a
food source. One of the biggest reasons deer do not eat it
is because of its smell. The leaves are very rigid and have a
rough texture; this is another reason why deer seem to stay
away from this plant. Lantana grows berries as it matures and
birds enjoy the fruit.
In the landscape if you are in a high deer populated area and
you are doing plantings, such as new landscape or improving
the landscape of your property, I would add lantana beds
throughout your landscape to discourage deer from nibbling
at other plants. Another recommendation for lantana in the
landscape is for attraction of birds and butterflies. A small
water garden feature along with lantana is another helpful
way to attract insects. Lantana can also be planted in containers which you can incorporate within your landscape.
When planting lantana in containers most people plant them
as annuals. These containers will accent and beautify other
plants.
I have a landscape friend on the coast that plants a lot of lantana, and I asked him if he was concerned about the sea mist.
He told me that lantana was one of the most flowering shrubs
that he uses in landscape for its durability to sea mist. As you
know the weather along the coast starts warming up faster,
and he says that with the heartiness of the plant and the long
lasting summers he can just about grow lantana year round.
One more note about lantana: if you live in zones 8 through
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