bob_71 Loc: Severna Park, MD

In my garden, at best, I am at the northernmost limit for Lantanas (Zone 7). I have tried for years to overwinter the plants without success. Today, I read, for the first time that to prune Lantanas in the fall is a virtual death sentence for them...it inspires me to hope that waiting for new growth to emerge in early spring is the proper way to do it. I have bought plants from various sources over the years and have grown them as annuals...trouble with this is that even though some were vigorous plants, they didn't reach a large size early enough to be as attractive to the pollinators as they could have been. In my efforts, I have ALWAYS pruned heavily in the fall and predictably failed.

This year, I bought ADULT plants from a couple of reliable sources and have been amazed! My plants reached over 4' in height and spread and have been covered all summer with a huge variety of Hummingbirds, Hummingbird Moths and butterflies. In the same garden, I have eight Butterfly Bushes planted among my Lantanas. Both varieties did a great job attracting the pollinators but the Butterfly Bushes grew to 7' tall requiring difficult deadheading and cumbersome positioning for taking photos while I pulled up my chair to the Lantanas and waited for the subjects to come to me. As recently as yesterday, I had a great deal of success photographing the Butterflies on the Lantanas.

Please share with me a few photos of some of the blooms and their visitors!

Hope all of you are enjoying a fine fall weekend!

Please view in DOWNLOAD!

Yellow Trailing Lantana as Hanging Basket

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PAINTED LADY on MISS HUFF Lantana

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CHAPEL HILL Lantana

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HAM 'N EGGS Lantana

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LUCKY Lantana

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ORANGE SULPHUR on POT 'O Gold Lantana

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SAMANTHA Lantana

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DOOK Loc: Maclean, Australia

Beautiful photos, Bob--gorgeous flowers. Strangely, lantana is classified as a noxious weed over here & is not intentionally grown by home gardeners. I often see it growing wild & photograph it, though.

Earl.

angela k Loc: Long Island

Bob, these are beautiful images... I find lantana hard to get a decent shot, but you inspired me to keep trying!! I buy them every year and deadhead as they grow and this year I did have lots of butterflies in my garden on them and the butterfly bushes....
The day before yesterday, I went out back and a spot a Monarch on the butterfly bush... thankfully I still have some flowers, but I was shocked, I thought for sure they'd be in Florida by now... our weather has been so warm, they're all mixed up!!

Again, beautiful set and I love seeing your butterflies, always a pleasure to view!

sundar Loc: Charlotte, NC

Excellent shots, Bob ! Like them all.
We have Lantanas in bloom and no signs of any butterflies so far.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Excellent shots, Bob - both the Lantana and the butterflies! You have some varieties of Lantana that I have not seen before. Lantana grows wild here and I also have it in my garden. I agree that it is one of the best attractants for butterflies and bees.

HOT Texas Loc: From the Heart of Texas

Beautiful shots Bob!!!!

merrytexan Loc: georgia

beautiful group of butterflies and lantana, bob! i'm glad you finally had the success you had hoped for.
i love lantana...it's a favorite because it doesn't need to be watered often, and the butterflies,hummingbirds and skippers are crazy about it.
how do you get both the lantana and the butterfly on it in focus?

STVest Loc: LA - that's Lower Alabama

Beautiful shots of some beautiful lantana, Bob!
In years past the hummers and butters have shown love for my lantanas. Alas, this year my lantanas performed VERY poorly, so had almost no visitors. I'm blaming it on the excessive rain we had this year. I've read that too much water will inhibit their bloom and this year's circumstances bear that out. I did not know about the pruning; heretofore, I've just lopped mine back whenever they got straggly.

CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC

Bob, excellent photos and education. I need to find some and will start them in the spring.

Greg

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Good job! Both the lantanas and the butterfly bushes attract tons of butterflies! The hassle of dead-heading the butterfly buses is worth it, though!

Treepusher Loc: Kingston, Massachusetts

Beautiful shots, Bob! Good advice on the lantana, too!

suci Loc: Texas

Excellent shots Bob. My lantanas didn't do very well this year. Too dry. I am in Texas and I usually cut Lantanas back to the ground. They always come back in the spring. Some of the Lantana bushes have been here 20 years or so.

bob_71 Loc: Severna Park, MD

A number of states here define it as an "Invasive" plant, and place restrictions on it. I find virtually any plant that produces berries that birds will consume to be potentially invasive. In my opinion, it is a well contained plant that is easily dead-headed. I have NEVER had a Lantana volunteer in any of my gardens. Thanks for visiting my post and for adding your content to the post!

Bob

bob_71 Loc: Severna Park, MD

Thanks, Angela! The main value of the Lantanas is that they are VERY attractive to the butterflies and their maximum height allows me to use my 100mm Macro lens while sitting in a chair at VERY close range. The Lantana's grow best in bright sun so there is usually ample light to allow an aperture setting at 8.0 and above that allows for deeper depth of field. The combination of higher aperture, the added steadiness allowed by the chair and shooting with the mode dial set on TV usually allows for acceptable DOF. The ability of the newer cameras to accept higher ISO's allows lot's of latitude. The last couple of weeks, the butterflies seem to be nearly 100% newly hatched. This is evident in their pristine condition...most have no wing edge damage, scratches, etc. I appreciate all your comments...they add so much to a post!

Bob

bob_71 Loc: Severna Park, MD

Glad you came by! I can hardly believe that in "Toasty TEXAS" that you aren't wrapped up by butterflies. Do you have other plants that the butterflies are feeding on or is it a lack of them on anything? I appreciate your comments and the smiley!

Bob