Lantana Camara

A weed or an ornamental plant ?  This plant is becoming very popular with the landscaping people.  In many public gardens I was fascinated to see the  vast variety of colors planted - red, purple, white/pink, yellow/orange (like this one that I have), etc... The lantana is a prolific bloomer given sufficient water and trimmings.  At least mine blooms all the same.  Like the bougainvillea , this plant is grafted to bear many different colours on  a single plant  and sells for a good price at the nurseries.

The lantana plant produces a distinctive odor  that is not too pleasant.  This plant is relatively pest free, but look out for aphids. I noticed that butterflies seem to like the flowers . Apparently these plants are cultivated by the butterfly farms for the purpose of attracting these creatures.  This is one of the reason I am considering introducing other colors to my garden as well.  I like this plant  since it grows easily by cuttings.  Once the cutting take roots,  buds begin to appear.  This plants seems to bloom easily.  I think it blooms better under direct sunlight.  The flowers are rather fascinating as they will change to a deeper tone or a different color (yellow to orange) when it matures.  If you look carefully there are at least 3 to 4 shades of colors on one inflorescence.

I keep trimming the branches when the blooms are finished. I noticed that  this plant can be easily shaped into a mini shrub. Sometimes the branches tend to become rather long and dangling so trimming helps to  keep the plant in shape.  I have this lantana planted on the ground as well as in containers.  It is a hardy plant.