I really like lantana (Lantana). It’s a perennial flowering plant in the verbena family. It’s a hardy native and you can frequently find it growing wild in the area. These specimens are in our backyard landscape and I’m pretty sure they were planted. An individual plant can grow to about 2 or 3 feet high and 3 feet in diameter or more. In the winter, when the leaves have died, you can cut it to the ground and it will be back in the spring.

The flowers are actually flower clusters. Each small flower is called a floret and they come in several colors including red, yellow, orange, white, and blue.

This photo show one of the ones we have and its flowers consist of red and orange florets. The flowers are about 1.5 inches in diameter. You can see the little flower buds, which look purple and will open soon.

Red and Orange Lantana

Right next to our red and orange lantana, we have an all yellow one. This flower is partially opened and you can see the floret buds in the center, as well as completely unopened flowers around it. There’s a tiny fly-like insect on one of the florets.

Yellow Lantana

Here are a couple of completely unopened flower buds. It’s interesting that some of the florets look white and some yellow. When they open, the flowers are all yellow.

Yellow Lantana Buds