Lantanas celebrate summer in gardens
Since it’s much too late to plant for this summer’s landscape, gardeners can take notes on what they see elsewhere and make plans for their own garden next year.
Walking through the trial garden at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs, I noticed that few plants celebrate summer quite like lantana.
The brilliant blooms of these heat-loving plants light up the landscape. Three varieties from the Luscious Lantana series captured my attention with their dazzling colors and nonstop flowering. They might make good additions to the sunny areas of your landscape next spring.
The first variety I spotted was Luscious Vanilla Breeze lantana.
This selection brings a soft, graceful elegance to the garden with rounded clusters of delicate, creamy white flowers that are gently brushed with buttery yellow at their centers. Each tiny floret forms part of a larger bloom head, creating a full, lace-like cluster that glows in the sunlight.
As new flowers open, the subtle yellow highlights gradually fade to creamy white, giving each flower cluster a beautiful depth and dimension. Set against rich green foliage, the blooms create a refreshing, cooling effect that brightens borders, containers and mixed landscape beds.
Luscious Citrus Blend II radiates the warmth of summer and is the next lantana I noticed.
The large flower clusters resemble miniature sunsets, combining brilliant shades of fiery red, glowing orange, golden yellow and soft peach. Individual florets open in different colors and gradually change as they mature, so every bloom head is a living mosaic of warm hues.
The colorful clusters shimmer in the sunshine, creating a cheerful display that you notice from across the garden. The rich blend of citrus colors gives the impression that several different lantanas are blooming together on one plant.
For gardeners who appreciate soft yet strong colors, consider Luscious Pinkberry Blend lantana.
This variety has dense flower clusters in a beautiful blend of rosy pink, yellow and cream tones on dark foliage. Newly opened florets display bright yellow centers, and each bloom cluster has remarkable texture and color variation.
As the plant produces fresh blooms throughout the season, it develops into a colorful mound covered with blossoms that sparkle in the summer sun.
Lantanas thrive in full sun and perform best in well-drained soil. Once established, they tolerate intense heat and periods of drought while continuing to bloom with very little maintenance. Even during the hottest weeks, the plants remain covered in flower clusters that attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators from morning until evening.
After seeing these beautiful lantanas flourish in the trial garden, I can confidently recommend them for almost any sunny landscape.
Whether you prefer the refined elegance of Vanilla Breeze, the bold tropical colors of Citrus Blend II or the rich, berry-inspired blooms of Pinkberry Blend, each variety offers months of nonstop color, exceptional heat tolerance and reliable garden performance.
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