Lantana montevidensis

Small clusters of lightly fragrant purple and lavender flowers are born from summer to frost on this easy and adaptable perennial. With a low, naturally spreading to weeping habit Purple Trailing Lantana makes an excellent choice for the garden or as a spiller in mixed containers. Excellent for butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Hardy and considered to be non-invasive. Evergreen in mild winter climates and makes a wonderful freely flowering groundcover. The Trailing or Weeping Lantanas are evergreen in mild winter climates and may flower nearly continuously in frost free climates and in these areas a single plant may grow to 8-10' wide in time. Cool temperatures gives the foliage a purple cast. Where temperatures fall much below freezing they often freeze back to near the ground but generally return readily in spring if provided with a winter mulch and good drainage. Lantana are only second to Porterweed in our garden for their ability to attract butterflies! Lantana are loaded with flower power and normally flower continuously from late spring to frost. This durable and reliable perennial is moderately drought tolerant, deer resistant, salt tolerant, and is generally pest free. For the best results provide your Lantana with an average to well draining soil with average moisture in an area that gets 6 hours or more of sun per day. They can be cut back to near ground level in winter. Provide a protective mulch in winter where hardiness is questionable.

When I visit southern California, I often see this weeping Lantana in people's gardens, blooming away endlessly and carefree. It has a simple grace lacking in modern Lantana selections and wants to bloom year round with multi toned lavender flower clusters on wiry trailing stems. You won't find this Lantana in garden centers here in the northeast, so we began propagating it to make it available. Where it is winter hardy, Lantana montevidensis will form a low shrub 12-18" tall and up to 5' wide. Butterflies and bees adore it.

Purple bloom, spring-fall