All the Dirt on Gardening

For those of us who love Lantana camara for its reliable summertime flowers that bring butterflies and skippers to our gardens, it will come as a bit of a surprise that the plant has many names and a bad reputation in some places. There is a creeping Lantana which is L. montevidensis. White Flower Farm offers Lantana montevidensis Lavender Swirl that looks a lot like a creeping Verbena. Lantanas are related to Verbena and the trailing verbenas are also called Weeping or Trailing Lantana. Lantana camara’s many names include:   Shrub Verbena, Big Sage, Red, Yellow and Wild Sage, Spanish Flag, West Indian Lantana, Lava, and Feston Rose.   Lantana Landmark Sunrise Rose  Verbena and Lantana plants are easily confused; Alan Armitage said he had to use a plant lens to distinguish them.   They are considered cold hardy only to zone 9 but ours have returned for 5 years, becoming larger every year.   The plants have no known disease or insect problems....