I thought some Lantanas would be perennial in your area, Susan?

For those who like a wild, sprawling plant, Talinum paniculatum is interesting and most definitely long-blooming.

Plumbago is worthy of mention here.

Thought about this more, definitely another vote for Cannas, BUT leaf roller caterpillars can and almost certainly will attack these plants where hardy. (One awesome advantage for those farther north who need to dig up the tubers to save for winter.) They eat the flower buds and tender new leaves. Manual inspections and control take dedication, consistency, and lasts about the whole time they are growing. If one would feel compelled to use chemicals to combat that, I would strongly urge you to please pass on the Cannas. Hummingbirds use these for nectar, so it would be cruel to attract them to poisonous flowers.

There are so many things one can grow in a yard, I've decided to limit any new additions to those that provide nectar for hummers/butterflies (though wouldn't automatically turn down other plants if offered for free!)

purpleinopp said:definitely another vote for Cannas, BUT leaf roller caterpillars can and almost certainly will attack these plants where hardy.
If one would feel compelled to use chemicals to combat that, I would strongly urge you to please pass on the Cannas. Hummingbirds use these for nectar, so it would be cruel to attract them to poisonous flowers.

There are so many things one can grow in a yard, I've decided to limit any new additions to those that provide nectar for hummers/butterflies

me too...



BTW... Speaking of poisonous flowers, I ran across this article that discusses the danger of container grown plants... and even seeds... grown with harmful neonicotinoid pesticides that continue to kill birds and butterflies for years after being applied!
http://gardeningsoul.blogspot....

There's source links that are worthy of continued reading...

Plants pictured above are Heliotropium amplexicaule, Lantana camara 'Miss Huff', Canna indica(?)

Yes, much vigilance is required!

Yes, I've totally stopped using pesticides. My bug control is by picking or smooshing them or spraying with water or soapy water... I just avoid pesticides completely. I do love my hummingbirds and I plant for them and butterflies and bees, so I don't want to harm them.

Karen

purpleinopp said:I thought some Lantanas would be perennial in your area, Susan?

For those who like a wild, sprawling plant, Talinum paniculatum is interesting and most definitely long-blooming.

Plumbago is worthy of mention here.

Thought about this more, definitely another vote for Cannas, BUT leaf roller caterpillars can and almost certainly will attack these plants where hardy. (One awesome advantage for those farther north who need to dig up the tubers to save for winter.) They eat the flower buds and tender new leaves. Manual inspections and control take dedication, consistency, and lasts about the whole time they are growing. If one would feel compelled to use chemicals to combat that, I would strongly urge you to please pass on the Cannas. Hummingbirds use these for nectar, so it would be cruel to attract them to poisonous flowers.

There are so many things one can grow in a yard, I've decided to limit any new additions to those that provide nectar for hummers/butterflies (though wouldn't automatically turn down other plants if offered for free!)

purpleinopp, I think most Lantana are hardy to zone 9 but mine actually did come back from the root after dying completely down to the ground. It was way too big for a flower bed where I planted it and I found out they were invasive, or are they? Newer varieties are sterile so maybe I just need to pay attention. LOL.

Oh, what kind of Talinum paniculatum do you have? I looked it up and there seem to be several different kinds.

No pesticides here either.

None here either.

Yes, we don't own any packages of stuff that kills anything.

I wish I could answer the Lantana questions! Yes, this is a shrub (by the end of the year,) though the way it dies to the ground, 'feels' like a perennial to me. I think some of the confusion about hardiness comes from the way it's not evergreen like farther south. There's so many of them in this area, it's definitely not marginally hardy here, but extremely hardy. When I first asked about Persian shield after moving here, several people told me it would probably come back from the roots, but not be hardy. Coming from OH, anything coming back from the roots is hardy, all anybody expects, anything but dead = hardy. The calling of any plants "only root hardy" was something I'd not heard of before moving south. Depends on the winter anyway, last winter Lantana was evergreen, and blooming profusely by March (but still not Persian shield.)

Although they make tons of seed balls, if I've ever pulled any Lantana sprouts, I sure didn't recognize (or smell) them. I pull a million sprouts every year, but have never thought a single one was Lantana. Since I'm just a few miles from the border, I looked again just now. It's not listed on FL's noxious weed list, though is discussed an an economic pest:
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/nod...

I've never seen what looked like 'wild Lantana,' just purposely planted landscaping around houses. Maybe the germination of seeds is only prolific farther south? (I drive down dirt roads looking for wildflowers, I think I would have seen at least one if it was 'weedy here.')

Within the growing season here, usually gets 6+ feet tall, 8+ feet wide. Not for most small beds, but I do have one in a corner that I let sprawl through to the outside of the fence, but trim the inside part once a month or so while it's growing so it doesn't bully the other shrubs until they're big enough to successfully co-exist (Buddleia, KO rose, a climbing rose and Passiflora on the fence, some bulbs that bloom before the shrubs get huge.) Lots of good stuff for the compost pile from that, already here when I moved in, MY idea to put the other stuff around it. Looks just like the one in your pic, but the pink is very faint, usually just looks orange.

Almost forgot, I have no idea what kind of T. paniculatum showed up here, sorry. It was in a pot for a couple years, then I stuck it in the ground - with not enough elbow room! Are there cultivated hybrids? I'm pretty sure this is just the species. I put some pics in the plant database if memory serves. Also not a plant for a small bed (or someone who doesn't like to trim/deadhead.) Maybe I'll (or more likely DH will) get a good shot of the whole thing sometime, the flowers are very hard to even see in a pic at that distance, and the thin whip-stems they are on. I just really like the foliage for some reason, it's a nice light green.

I love Lantana and even more if the butterflies like it. I have never seen one 6x8! Holy Cow!! What are you feeding it? Mine was only tree foot wide but it was young, it still caught me off guard because I was not expecting that and I got scared when I read it was invasive. I would welcome a large plant at this point, I just need to plant it in the right place this time. LOL.

Count me in as another Lantana lover but the deer also love it. It will successfully overwinter indoors at low temperatures though it always looks dead until it revives in spring. Maybe I didn't read the label well enough one year when I planted one in a hanging basket but it did look lovely and never got huge.

That's a good idea about bringing it inside for winter. I was thinking about doing a basket with the Lavender Trailing Lantana that I ordered and the two white ones will act as a ground cover at the corner garden. I am slowly turning it into a moon garden. I have a dwarf crape myrtle and three white knockout rose shrubs and they are a very long blooming perennial. Also I would like to add PowWow White Coneflowers because they were also a good long blooming perennial.

Susan, that sounds lovely! Your list brought to mind tall Phlox, 'David' would be a nice addition to your moon garden.

Speaking of Phlox, I've always loved them and find them particularly long blooming. And modern varieties start blooming much earlier for me, and just continue throughout the summer and fall. 'Katherine' and another I think is called 'Nicole', start over a month before some of my older varieties, and just keep going.

Same here. They are some of my best and longest bloomers. ♥ them.

I think they pair well with Echinaceas, and both are major butterfly magnets!

It may take a few years for Lantana shrubs to reach this size, IDK. The fence is 3 ft. tall.


That's from July, by November, they're even bigger. I should have cleared the dead stuff over winter like I usually do, but failed to get that done last year.

I have an Early Light Pink that I just love with the Heuchera obsidian.
this was June 12 2013

gemini_sage said:I think they pair well with Echinaceas, and both are major butterfly magnets!

Thanks Neal! Great idea! I just love these White PowWow's and I am pretty sure I ordered a couple of white Asters, so it might turn into a Butterfly Moon Garden.

Thanks for the suggestion, Neal. I have 2 phlox still in pots and have been wondering where to plant them. I will try one with the echinaceas.