Hey all. . .This is my mother's day gift, two slightly old and stunning lantana trees. The catch is that I live in indiana, and in about two more months come the season change these puppies will be black and blue. I can't cut them off it would just take too long to ever grow them back here. . .ultimately I want to take them inside but every time I've tried a lantana inside within a month or two I lose it. can anyone give me any suggestions on growing these inside? should I use lighting and if so how much? Any help would be valued because I hate to see these go. -lyn
sorry to elude you if I did but this is two pictures of the same tree. . .the only one I have of the other one is going in the photography forum because of a good close up of a killer bee on it. . .check it out if you want :)
I over winter 4 lantanas every year, all I do is cut them back by 1/3 or 1/2 in the fall ( to fit in my house). 2 sit near a window that gets southern exposure and i allow them to dry out slighty between waterings, the other get moved around a lot and usually get western exposure. It is very normal for your lantana to loose most of its leaves indoors in the winter, as long as the tissue under the bark is still green, its still alive. They can also take a bit of cold, I have tried and many friends do this, keeping them in a greenhouse or sunroom that goes down to about 5 degrees celcius over the winter, and they always come back quite strong. I hope this information helps, and if you do decide you cannot keep these overwinter, please try to sell them or give them away to some one.
The biggest downfall to how my home is set up inside is that I have one good north window across from a bright white garage. . .when I bring them in their leaves usually turn black, but is there a possibility they aren't dead when this happens? I have a hard time telling a dormant plant or tree from a dead one and I'm sure I've probably killed many because of how many I've been convinced are still alive just to find out they're dead as doorknobs :-/ So does the scratching the stem to see if there is green work with any woody plant?
Yes it does work with any woody plant, also when are you brining them indoors? It should be well before it begins to frost outside.
I'm not sure but I think I'm going to have to migrate them onto my porch because i've noticed the leaves taking on a deep red tone - never seen them do that before. . .I just wish I knew more about them. :(
