RSS Feed
|  |
|
|
|||||
|
Tip of the Week
We lived in Wilson County, Texas, about 25 miles Southeast of San Antonio, from 1993 until our return to Tyler. In the small community of La Vemia where our 3-acre "spread" was, the predominant soil is deep sand somewhat similar to parts of Smith County. We were blessed with wild flowers, e.g. Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbr--ushes, and Crimson Clover in addition to other wild flowers and much wild life including turkeys, deer, owls, hawks, the ubiquitous squirrel and such. In addition, we had many "volunteer" lantana plants just about anywhere we looked on our property. I tried transplanting some "volunteers" and found them to be very easy to grow. When I dug them up, to my surprise and chagrin, the sand would fall off the root system completely. Fearful that they might not survive, I nevertheless dug a hole with my posthole digger wherever I wanted some color and dropped them into the hole and backfilled with loose sand and compacted it slightly and kept the plant moist for a week or ten days and crossed my fingers. Surprisingly the root system began to "take root" and "voila" the plants started showing signs of life. Lantana is a very hardy plant which requires very little maintenance and is quite drought tolerant. It has a beautiful flower and blooms throughout most of the spring and summer. There is a plethora of different varieties to complement your flowering garden or shrub bed. It is a perennial which should survive Smith County winters with a covering of 3 to 4 inches of mulch. However -- it, like crepe myrtle and most flowering plants, requires a very sunny location. You should cut them back to ground level before covering them with mulch after they begin to go dormant. I heartily recommend you try them if you have a spot in your yard for a very hardy, beautiful, almost maintenance-free perennial. David E. Pierson Smith County Master Gardener |
for larger version   |
||||
)
