Shrub Verbena or Lantana
Lantana hybrids (VERBENACEAE)
Planting and Growing Shrub Verbena
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow shrub verbena or lantana in the accompanying Planting and Care Guide table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and fruit of shrub verbena or lantana
- Growing conditions for shrub verbena or lantana
- When and where to plant shrub verbena or lantana
- How to plant shrub verbena or lantana
- How to shape, prune and control growth of shrub verbena or lantana
- Watering, fertilizing, and care of shrub verbena or lantana
- Landscape uses of shrub verbena or lantana
- Pest and disease control for shrub verbena or lantana
With species-specific recommendations from the Planting and Care Guide table in hand, next visit the Planting Trees and Shrubs section to find details and demonstrations on how to plant and provide for early care needs.
Also visit the Caring for Trees and Shrubs section for facts and demonstrations on upkeep, pruning, and fertilizing your plant.
Growing Shrub Verbena
Many hybrids of fast-growing, often thorny, evergreen, tropical shrubs, to 6 ft. (1.8 m) tall and wide, with shiny, deep green, oval, pointed, fragrant leaves, to 5 in. (13 cm) long.
Many hybrid cultivars available with spreading, groundcover, or tall forms and growth habits.
See also Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla) and Verbena or Vervain (Verbena spp. and hyb.). Lemon verbena is within the same plant family as true verbena, but shrub verbena or lantana is an unrelated species.
Shrub Verbena Planting and Care Guide
Flowers and Fruit
Many tiny, cream, gold, orange, pink, purple, red, yellow, bicolored flowers, in flat, mounded, or spiking clusters, to 3 in. (75 mm) wide, in summer or continually blooming, form blackberry-like fruit in autumn.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Plant as tender annual, zones 6–8; ground hardy, zones 9–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Damp, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Full sun. Space 3–4 ft. (90–120 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep damp. Fertilize annually in spring. Prune to promote bushiness. Propagate by cuttings, seed.
About This Species
Good choice for banks, hanging baskets, borders, containers, ground covers in formal, meadow, wildlife gardens. Attracts butterflies, hummingbirds. Mealybug and orthezia susceptible.