Lantana (Lantana camara) is a tropical beauty, but do not let that convince you it’s difficult and fragile. Rather, it’s a difficult evergreen tree which reproduces so freely and establishes so easily that it is considered invasive in some nations. Lantana usually has no trouble blooming, so when your plant fails to flower, you are probably doing something wrong.
Location, Location, Location
The common lantana is indigenous to Central and South America and dozens of varieties and species exist. It can be scrubby in its native habitat but it blooms without stopping. Remove it from the warmer climes, and its flowering and health can endure. In case your lantana has stopped blooming abruptly, it may be that you don’t reside at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 11, which is the point where the plant thrives. You may still develop the plant as an annual, flowering in summer and autumn.
Care and Feeding
Your goal in growing lantana would be to mimic as much as you can its indigenous conditions. In case your lantana has stopped flowering, it may be receiving too much water. Wild lantana only drinks when it rains and cultivated lantana demands little water after it is established. Reducing on water may be sufficient to make the plant restart flowering. And think twice before fertilizing this indigenous plant. Excess fertilizer decreases or eliminates flowering.
Transplant Shock
Sensors that wilt or quit blooming immediately after transplant may be suffering from transplant shock. In case your lantana was covered in flowers in the pot and starts to languish in your lawn, you may just need to give it more time to adjust to its new environment. To provide the tree its very best chance, transplant in autumn or early spring before the summer heat at a spot with well-draining soil. Water the tree at least once a week until it is created and you see new green shoots.
Containing the Beast
Lantana takes seriously the old adage to go forth and multiply. The plant grows quickly. Even in cooler climates, a lantana transplanted in spring can develop to more than 3 feet tall by the time summer wanes. And common lantanas spread so freely they’ve naturalized in the wild, forming grand thickets at Florida, Texas and Hawaii and muscling out indigenous plants. Choosing a sterile hybrid , like “New Gold,” reduces that issue significantly.