How to Overwinter Lantana (2 Incredible Ways)

Lantanas are an absolute blessing for any garden. Everyone wants to have this plant in their garden for its eye-catching sight. 

But this plant needs warmer and frost-free weather to grow. It becomes crucial to take proper care of them to combat the frosty climate. 

Therefore, it’s important to know how to overwinter lantana? 

There are two ways that you can follow to overwinter lantana. If you choose to semi-dormant it, maintain a proper temperature and watering routine. In case you choose the house planting way, water it more regularly. Providing sunlight and refraining fertilization are needed in both ways. 

As you’ve got the primary idea already. But you need more enlightenment to take care of your lantanas properly. Hence, stick with us for more details.

Why Does Lantana Need Overwintering? 

As we already know, lantanas have some climate requirements. This plant is originally from Central and South America. But they can grow up in the southeast part as well. Then why does this plant need overwintering? 

Lantana can survive well in the warmer part of the country. In the case of a cooler climate, it can survive in frost-free cooler zones. It can live without any extra precautions in plant hardiness zone 9 to 10. 

But in areas with a frosty climate, keeping lantanas alive is a critical deal. Even though lantana that grows in cold areas can tolerate a little bit of frost. 

When the temperature falls around 29 degrees Fahrenheit, its foliage gets affected. They can die even at this lower temperature. Moreover, the leaves start to turn purple.  

Hence, your lantana plants need care and the right conditioning in winter to survive. Wondering how you can do that? Well, we’ve explained everything in the next section. Let’s jump in there-

How to Overwinter Lantana?- 2 Methods You Can Use

As we already know that special treatment should be given to lantanas during the frosty climate. But how can we do that?  

Well, the overwintering process isn’t very tough or requires a lot of things. All you need to do is nurture your plant inside. The time span and the treatment will vary though. 

There are two ways for you to overwinter your lantanas. Here are the detailed description of them-

Methods 1: Keeping it Semi-Dormant 

In the case of keeping it semi-dormant, you’ll place it inside and outside both. But you’ve to make a certain routine for that. 

Here’s a list of the things that you must keep in mind while making the routine-

• Ensure a temperature between 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. You can keep a light around the plant to ensure indoor temperature. 
• Move it to a bright chilly position such as the sun porch. As we’re not nurturing it as a complete houseplant. Hence we need to take it outside too. 
• Changing the watering routine during overwintering is immensely important. Your plant needs much less watering than normal during this process. Just water it once a month to save the roots from drying out. 
• Never fertilize your plant during this period of overwintering. This is refrained and can stress the lantanas severely. 

This is how you can take care of your lantanas by keeping them semi-dormant. But there’s another way as well. Let’s know about that as well-

Methods 2: Making it a Temporary Houseplant

You can make the lantanas a complete houseplant for the winter. You’ll take care of them just like other houseplants. So, how to do it? 

Well, here goes the things to consider while treating the lantanas as a houseplant-

• Houseplants need a more regular water routine than normal plants. So, you need to water lantanas when the soil is dry 2 inches beneath the surface. As you can see no absolute rules, hence it needs more attention. 
• If you have a south-facing windowsill, place your plant there. If you don’t have one, just place it on a sunny windowsill.
• Place it in a room where the temperature is between 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You might need to decrease the temperature during the night though. 
• The same ‘no fertilizer’ rule goes here as well. So, be careful about this.

So, follow these things to make your lantana a houseplant during Winter. After the winter passes by, you can place them outside again. When it’s 55 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s considered to be spring. 

As we can see, the temperature is an extremely sensitive issue for overwintering lantana. Hence, keeping proper track of it utterly necessary. But how can we do it? 

Well, we need a thermometer that will measure the temperature. But which one will be the best for this purpose? Okay, don’t worry about it. Here are our best picks for you- 

Just pick a thermometer for your home. This will surely fulfill your needs and make your overwintering easier. 

Hopefully, in spring your plant will bloom again and bless your garden with its magnificence. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: How do you bring Lantana back to life?

Answer:  Winter takes a huge toll on lantana plants. So, they need some care to revive their health and beauty. Fertilizing isn’t a necessity but it promotes flowering hugely. Pruning the plant encourages its growth. So it can bounce back quickly. Cutting back a third of overgrown plants will literally give them a new life. 

Question: Should lantana be cut back in the fall?

Answer: Spring and fall are the blooming seasons for lantana. So, you should trim your plants during the late winter or early spring. That’ll enhance your plant’s growth. Prune your plants before the fall and they’ll grow better and look majestic in your garden. 

Question: Is Lantana poisonous to touch?

Answer: Absolutely not. Lantanas aren’t poisonous at all. They can cause irritation on your skin as it has skin irritants in it. But the irritation doesn’t get that serious. At times, people don’t even feel it. So, no need to worry about lantanas causing you severe skin problems. 

Take Away

That was all from our side. Hope this post will answer all your questions regarding how to overwinter lantana. 

You definitely wouldn’t like losing the blissful sight of lantana from your garden. So, start taking care of your lantanas so that the winter can’t harm them. 

Happy gardening. Best wishes to you, buddy!