Trailing Lantana Camara Plant 'Luscious Grape'

Grape Goodness for Pollinators

Lantana camara ‘luscious grape’, trailing lantana

Plant Specs:

Perennial flower for USDA hardiness zones 9a-11 (lows to -6.7 °C or 20 °F)
Annual plant for colder regions
Full sun to part shade
Height: 10 to 14 in
Spacing: 2 to 3 ft
Trails up to 3 ft
Flowers: purple with white and yellow centers
Blooms all season until first frost

Plant Propagation:

Herbaceous stem cuttings

Pros:

Long bloom period
Small serrated leaves a striking contrast with bright purple blooms
Trailing flowers look stunning cascading from raised beds or pots
No serious pest issues
In the running for prettiest purple garden flower

Cons:

Must be regularly deadheaded- blooms prolifically with pruning!
Too short to be fully appreciated in some areas of the garden
Lantana is a potentially poisonous plant to pets and small children.

An option to grow this safely would be to put it in a hanging pot.

Trailing Lantana Growing Tips:

Deadhead every few days for a bounty of beautiful blooms
Fertilize with an organic fertilizer that promotes flowering
Average water needs. Don’t overwater.

Pollinator Plus:

This nectar plant also attracts bumblebees, eastern tiger swallowtails, gulf fritillaries, skippers, and more…(please report what butterflies/pollinators this has attracted to your garden in a comment below.)

There are not many pollinator reports on this variety yet. Many websites, books, and nurseries suggest planting lantana, which insinuates all lantana varieties contain the same nectar content and will be equally attractive to all butterflies.

We had tiger swallowtails all over our grape lantana last season, but they didn’t touch our ‘bandana’ lantana camara plants in the next raised bed over.