Lantana

Lantana is a genus of flowering shrubs in the verbena family (Verbenaceae), with Lantana camara the most widely grown ornamental. It is famous for dense, dome-shaped flower clusters in which individual florets change color as they mature, giving multicolored “changeable” heads of yellow, orange, pink, and red.

Valued for blooming relentlessly through summer heat and drought, lantana is a staple of warm-climate gardens and containers, and a powerful butterfly attractant. In cold regions it is grown as an annual or tender container plant.

Despite its garden virtues, Lantana camara is a serious invasive weed in many tropical and subtropical areas, and its foliage and unripe berries are toxic.

Lantana is recognized by its rounded, multicolored flower clusters and aromatic foliage.

• Flowers: Small tubular florets packed into flat-topped or domed clusters (umbels), often two or three colors per head
• Color change: Individual flowers commonly shift color with age, creating the trademark multicolor effect
• Leaves: Opposite, oval, toothed, rough-textured, and strongly aromatic when crushed
• Habit: Bushy, mounding to sprawling shrub, 2-6 ft; some trailing types
• Fruit: Small berry-like drupes ripening from green to blue-black (toxic when unripe)

Lantana thrives on heat and neglect once established.

• Light: Full sun is essential for heavy flowering
• Water: Drought-tolerant when established; water moderately and let soil dry between, avoiding soggy roots
• Soil: Well-drained soil of average fertility; tolerates poor and sandy soils
• Temperature: Heat-loving; perennial in USDA zones 9-11, grown as an annual elsewhere
• Feeding: Light feeding only — too much nitrogen reduces flowering
• Propagation: Easy from softwood cuttings; seed is possible but slower

Deadheading or shearing encourages more bloom and limits seed set. Wear gloves, as the foliage can irritate skin and is toxic if eaten.

Lantana camara is native to the tropical Americas, particularly Central and South America and the Caribbean. It grows naturally in open, sunny, disturbed habitats, scrub, and forest margins.

It has been introduced across the world's tropics and subtropics, where it has become one of the most widespread and damaging invasive species, forming dense thickets in Australia, Africa, India, and the Pacific. In cooler climates it is a well-behaved warm-season ornamental.

Lantana is grown as a heat- and drought-tolerant ornamental for beds, borders, containers, and hanging baskets, valued for nonstop color in tough conditions.

Ecologically it is an outstanding butterfly and pollinator plant, though this is offset by its invasive spread and the fact that birds disperse its seeds. Caution: All parts, especially the unripe green berries, are toxic to humans, pets, and livestock; lantana poisoning is a notable problem for grazing animals.