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.
Resources:
1.
2. Luscious Grape Lantana Plants for Sale
Find More Purple Butterfly Blooms on our Butterfly Flowers Page
Please post below if you have any questions or comments about growing trailing lantana in your garden:
In Texas, we do get some freezing days. My Lantana is in a hanging planter, drips water out quickly. What should our winter plans be to save this planter?? Do they need sun in winter? Maybe putting in garage will not be good. Other Lantana is in ground and comes back each year. Do I have to bring in my 5 inch new Milkweed cutting finally growing in the garden. Have netting over it to keep deer out. Thanks, bobbie
Hi Bobbie, if milkweed is perennial to your region, I would leave it outside so it can go through its natural growth cycle. For gardening info specific to your region check out some of the resources here: butterfly gardening groups
I had the same experience with Bandana Lantana as well as some of the hybrid Echinaceas…. no butterfly interest