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Georgia Gardener

Why won't my Lantana bloom this year?

18 years ago

I have planted a lot of lantana this year. I have put in yellow, lavender and white varieties. It performed so well in a very rugged situation in the past and since it is one of the few plants that take baking sun and the deer don't appear to want to eat it, I thought it would be good color for the summer. But for some reason this year it isn't blooming as it has in years past. I have fed it with osmocote and still no blooms and not much growth either. The location I had it in before is as I said a rough area. Meaning it is mostly clay and the heat off the driveway is tremendous but it just did great. These new plantings do have better soil but still loads of sun. Anyone have any ideas why they aren't blooming? Thanks, Tallmom

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Comments (11)

PeaBee4
18 years ago
For one thing, it's waaaay too early. It's a summer and fall bloomer. If you buy one now that has blooms, there is a very good chance that it was forced into bloom.
Kathy Bochonko
18 years ago
The ones I bought this year stopped blooming right after I planted them. I am noticing the beginnings of some new buds now that it is warming up. They like it very hot, the nights have been too cool for them until recently. Just be patient and be sure you don't kill them with kindness in the meantime.
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So the small ones had NO visible old wood when the season started?? This is not possible unless someone (e.g. friend, relative, neighbor, animal or landscaper) removed it. The old canes simply do not dissolve or disappear. There could also be different soil conditions in the area. Try spent coffee grounds or high-phosphorus fertilizer to encourage more blooms. Also, winter kill is winter kill. The closer the plant dies to the ground the worse it will bloom. The big shrubs look like they're close to a building. The closer to a warm structure, the better off they will survive winter. Hudrangeas differ greatly across the species too. Some can bloom on current year's growth (from the ground) and some only bloom on old wood. If all of your plants are a kind that bloom primarily on old wood, try raking leaves over them and leave the piles there all winter and part of spring until danger of frost has passed. This will protect both the stems and next year's flower buds. And do not cut off/down any old canes until around Memorial Day, as here might be a chance they are not dead yet.
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Aqua_449
18 years ago
I'm just now starting to see green about 2" from the ground on my "Miss Huff". I LOVE that plant.
frankie_Lynn
18 years ago
Lantanas are ALWAYS late to get started up here--but worth the wait. I was happy that most of my annual ones survived the winter and have put out some green leaves at the base. I even have some seedlings that have shown up--they have come up previously and are always an unpredictable color, but that's part of the fun. frankie Lynn
grogreen
17 years ago
Hi, I just planted some Lantana, do the Lantana get as big here (just NW of Atlanta) as the tags say they do (5 to 6 ft tall with an equal sized spread)? I know they would in Florida, where they don't die back every winter, but I was wondering what to expect here where the real heat wave is just about to begin - is the season long enough here for them to get really big? Thanks.
Iris GW
17 years ago
5 to 6 feet tall would only apply to the Miss Huff variety. The others are more of a 2x2 or perhaps 3x3 maximum size.

What kinds did you get?
woody_ga
17 years ago
My Miss Huff is about a foot tall. I planted 3 of the annual variety, and they are doing almost nothing. I expect to see some action when it warms up.
buford
17 years ago
Too early. I just planted some from HD. They have some flowers on them, but lantana is a mid-late summer bloomer.
grogreen
17 years ago
sorry folks, this was my mistake - I was searching for Lantana advice and I did not realize that this post was from MAY "2005" and not MAY "2006", so when I did not notice the old date, I posed a question on it yesterday (May 16 "2006"). When I realized how old this thread was I opened a new thread and posed the question again as I didn't think this one would pop up in the newer/recent topics..and now I have two of the same thing..sorry!!
jennifratrix
17 years ago
Our Miss Huffs are 2+ ft tall already and have some buds about to bloom. I know it's early though. Maybe these cold evenings will keep those buds closed. Anyway they will surely be 5x5 like they were last year, and full of butterflies and as drought-tolerant as anything a person could want. What a great plant!
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
17 years ago
Mozelle gets as big as Miss Huff. My lantanas, Miss Huff, Mozelle, Dallas Red, and New Gold are all covered with buds. New Gold is blooming.

Several years ago, I decided to kill off some lantanas and cut them to the ground in the fall. They all came back! So now I do fall cutting back without problems. Of course, we have had relativly mild winters the past five years.

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