Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Saturday - October 20, 2012

From: Vernon, BC
Region: Canada
Topic: Non-Natives, Propagation, Shrubs
Title: Can lantana be grown in British Columbia from Vernon BC
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Can I grow lantana in Vernon B.C. Canada?

ANSWER:

Probably not. There are five lantana species native to North America, with the following general description:

"This species is a member of the verbena family (family Verbenaceae), which includes about 75 genera and 3,000 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees, mostly of tropical and warm temperate regions."

If you are interested, you might follow each of these plant links to our webpage on that plant and learn where that plant is native, and you will quickly see they are all native to the American South and Southwest.

Lantana achyranthifolia (Brushland shrubverbena)

Lantana involucrata (Button-sage)

Lantana urticoides (Texas lantana)  This is the most widespread of the native lantanas, but still it grows no farther north than North Carolina. See this USDA Plant Profile Map for its distribution.

Lantana velutina (Velvet shrubverbena)

Lantana canescens (Hammock shrubverbena)

There are also a wide number of selections of Lantana camara which are not native to North America at all, require USDA Hardiness Zones of 10 to 11, and have a native range of tropical America.

 

From the Image Gallery


Brushland shrubverbena
Lantana achyranthifolia

Texas lantana
Lantana urticoides

Velvet shrubverbena
Lantana velutina

More Propagation Questions

Deadheading a petunia and why
July 13, 2008 - Can you please tell me the correct way to de-head a petunia and why?
view the full question and answer

Propagation of Lime Prickly Ash in Austin
March 22, 2010 - We found only one small what we think is Zanthoxylum fagara or Lime Prickly Ash, Colima on our 8 acres, and the deer had apparently recently broken the main stem. I quickly made 6 or 7 cuttings, dippe...
view the full question and answer

Restoring the woods in Central Austin.
May 08, 2012 - I live in Austin, south central between Red Bud trail close to the low water bridge and Bee Caves road. My question: I want to make the wooded sections of my yard attractive. They have filtered sun...
view the full question and answer

Transplanting a young lilac
November 05, 2012 - This past spring I planted a hybrid lilac in the ground. The weather here has started to get cold, and much more so at night. Also, the temperatures go from warm to cold and back again as if unsure wh...
view the full question and answer

Stopping erosion on bank of a Florida retention pond
July 21, 2015 - I live on a retention pond, which has had all vegetation killed by the lake doctor. As a result the bank has eroded so there is a drop off directly to the water rather than a sloping bank. What plan...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.