Lantana

[MelaQuin]

While some are condemning Privet as being unacceptable - or barely so - let's add Lantana to the list of nice plants to bonsai. NO!!! NOT the pink/cream wild version with all the nasty spikes and the rampant takeover abilities. Try the hybrids, especially Chelsea Gem [orange/yellow]. They are easy to develop tho you have to wire early as once set [and they set quickly], you cannot bend the wood. They flower prolifically and if you remove the spent flowers that shoot will soon send out a pair and that pair a quartet and you get a plant that can flower over many months. Wild Lantana is definitely a no no. But there are a mass of hybrids that can be developed into attractive trees.

I have a lantana hedge in my front yard - not suitable for bonsai because it only produces spindly shoots but it has been there for close to 10 years and the only way it reproduces is any shoot that touches the ground will root. In the backyard I have had a solid yellow, a large white and a shocking pink/yellow and I have never ever had another plant develop anywhere in the garden. The shocking pink/yellow produces black berries but they are sterile.

You can heavily prune a lantana and have a full covering of flowers in 6 weeks... how many other trees can you do that?

I removed the white lantana... it simply got too large. But I replaced it with a compact hybrid, flowers are pink/cream but this is a low growing dome shaped shrub. Yes, I am thickening it for a possible bonsai - maybe another two years in the ground brightening the garden with flowers close to 10 months a year.

Remember, just because a plant is a no/no in an unfettered situation, in a pot it can be an ideal bonsai. Stow those prejudices and get some stock.

[Jon Chown]

Hi Lee, Many of us in our early stages of Bonsai production have tried everything that wasn't bolted down. I have done both privett and verbena (lantana) and liked what I achieved but in reality they are often short lived so I opted for the more recognised species. You are right in that they are relatively easy to produce a reasonable tree out of in a short time so in that respect are ideal for beginners.

Jon

[Steven]

Hi Lee,

I might add that they are very hardy too. I have a small hybrid that I picked up at Koreshoff's 5 or 6 years ago. It has been forgotten about more times than I remember (does that make sense?) and has bounced back from the brink of death many times. It looked brown and dead for about 6 weeks once, just as I was about to bin it I saw a small bud and it came back nicely.

Maybe it's time I started to pay it some attention...

S.

[kcpoole]

Me too having Lantana

I have several different colour ones and although they look like they produce seed after flowering, they will never germinate so are safe to maintain in a pot.
I have orange/pink, White, and red/Pink one but sorry do not know the varieties

As for Longevity, Ray nesci has some very nice ones that are quite old.

Ken