There was a story on Lantana on last weeks Gardening Australia. They called it "one of Australias worst weeds"

Here is a link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Weed of national significance

It's unfortunate that these plants were even introduced to Australia in the first place. They are certainly an environmental disaster. As a bushcarer, most of the work I do is pulling out lantana and privet and replanting with indigenous plants. They may be OK in some parts of the world, but Australia has a very sensitive environment. The problem is in their prolific seed production, ease of germination, and the fact that they totally obliterate anything growing underneath or near them. You really need to go deep into the bush to find areas which are totally natural these days. Take a walk through your local bushcare site, and you will see what I mean.

I dont see much evidence of them being a threat in WA, yet WAQUIS have also banned them?
I agree they are a pest in NSW and Qld, but in the dry rain lacking desert of the west? C'mon, its going too far.

Ive heard from a reputable nurseryman that Agapanthus will be next! Time to buy the stocks methinks.

Rug13by, you are obviously a fan of lantana, but for mine they are not a particulaly attractive shrub. They are sprawling and twisted, and would need a lot of maintenance to keep them looking good. There are a lot of alternatives you could choose. Another thing is that if WA allowed them, then AQIS would have no control over what came into the country to protect the vulnerable areas. It's the price we pay for living on such a delicate continent.

I have quite a few, had them here for 20+ years and have never had a plant come up from seed, I have never even seen seeds on them, so I doubt they would be a problem in WA. Perhaps if one was to prune and leave the prunings in bush land further south, they could be a problem. I know of several plants we can't have here, but are ok to have over east.

Thank you mrsmuggleton. I also have a large and old Lantana which has been here years but has NEVER set seed, so what exactly is the bullsh*t all about?

Stupid do-gooders in control!

where did you hear about this rugby, I hadnt heard of the ban. I do agree with you about lantana, as far as I knew the old style L. camara wasnt allowed to be sold anymore anyway, only the montevidensis and camara hybrids. There is definitely a difference in the way certain plants behave in different climates and our climate is so similar to lantanas natural climate zone and that is why I think it behaves itself so well over here, there just isnt the rainfall particularly in summer that causes it to go beserk.

rug13y,

theres no point getting rude about this issue.
the people who impose these laws are knowledgable on this topic, that is why they have their jobs.

What you will find in this situation is.
1. They have implemented the precautionary principle in which the 'if in doubt - dont' rule has been applied
and
2. Would you think its fair for the eastern nurseries to be disallowed whilst the western nurseries profit?

Additionally Lantana isnt just Lantana, there are many various genotypes. The ones you have may just be in fact benign types. If the government continued to allow more nursery material to be imported into WA then the gene pool of the wild plants (be they few or numerous) will continue to be stronger and varied, resulting in genotypes which are more suitable to marginal country.

Also you cant convince me that Lantana wouldnt become a weed in the SW of Western Australia. Sure it might not be an issue in the rest of the 70% of the Perth area but what about the wetter regions? As mentioned there are a myriad of other species to grow, sometimes you just have to accept the facts and get on with it.

In summary, your not going to convinced anyone if you portray your arguement in the manner which you currently are.

regards Kris

It seems to me that this is just an issue of eastern states nurseries not being cooperative or rules not being enforced.

"2. Would you think its fair for the eastern nurseries to be disallowed whilst the western nurseries profit?"

absolutely, if nurseries in qld and nsw are still growing it for sale then they deserve a serious kick up the behind.

"If the government continued to allow more nursery material to be imported into WA then the gene pool of the wild plants (be they few or numerous) will continue to be stronger and varied"

I doubt it would be economical to ship lantana plants to wa, and youre not going to have a queue of people lining up to buy this *rare* plant :), it would be cheaper for the nurseries to toss out their stock rather than go to the expense of having the plants treated, shipped and inspected on arrival only to find that most of the plants would be dead by the time they arrived.

In WA if a plant is declared here, you can not buy it or import from anywhere, we have a regulated system when importing plants to the state, so why dont the other states enforce a similar thing for their weed species?

"Also you cant convince me that Lantana wouldnt become a weed in the SW of Western Australia. Sure it might not be an issue in the rest of the 70% of the Perth area but what about the wetter regions?"

the wetter regions might get a bit more rain in winter but they are still dry as a bone for most of the year and they also experience frosts. Lantana has been grown over here for decades and decades and if it was going to be a problem, it would already have happened long ago. The vast majority of wa falls into a very dry mediterranean climate, and the much drier semi arid/arid regions, totally different from the eastern states.

"As mentioned there are a myriad of other species to grow"

I think youll find this is the reason lantana is so popular over here because we are very restricted in what we can grow because of limiting factors such as a very dry climate that has been in drought for a number of years, very long hot summers which last up to 6 months, and in many urban areas the soils are very poor sandy coastal soils which are like dust for most of the year, so any plant that will actually survive and flower in our long hot dry summers is going to be a popular choice because its darn hard to grow anything over here on minimal water.

The thing is, I had heard a long time ago that L camara wasnt sold here anymore, and I cant even remember the last time I saw it for sale, so I dont think this ban is going to make any difference to us. it sounds like some of the state agric depts have just been very lax in enforcing a ban in their states on problem plants. maybe the wa nurseries are just used to following a stricter plant scheme but if nurseries over here made noises about their right to sell a declared weed, it just wouldnt fly with the ag dept.

What 'wetter' regions wooroonooran? I take it you have never trecked west of Broken Hill?

Until you come up with some real researched information, I shall take your opinions very lightly.

Lantana is not a threat to the most of WA, yet the PC do-gooders who are the 'experts straight out of uni' tell us otherwise?

If I want to be annoyed about this issue, then I shall be until some truth comes out of it!

Well rub13y, you are welcome to take all the lantanas you can find on the East Coast - be my guest. It will save a lot of people time and effort having to remove them. Bring a number of large trucks, so you can do a relay across the Nullabor. You might have them all in WA by the end of the century if you get cracking!

Nice ;)