Which cultivar of lantana produces the most blooms?

[Midwestguy]

This may be a tricky question, or it may not have a definite answer, since all lantanas bloom profusely. But in your opinion, or from your experience, which lantana shrub/perennial produces the most amount of blooms and re-blooms for the longest amount of time?

[rainbowgardener]

I think you didn't get a response because how profusely something blooms is very dependent on the circumstances it is growing in - how much sunshine, water, fertilizer (of what type), etc.

I don't grow lantana but I did find this article:

https://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/flowers/hgic1177.html

if you scroll down towards the bottom of the page it has information about various cultivars. Patriot Rainbow and Silver Mound are listed as "very free flowering." Patriot Popcorn is called "profusely blooming."

But I think the main differences in cultivars are that they come in a big range of sizes from very dwarf (12" tall) to full sized shrubs 5' tall or more. Some are sterile and some are berry producing.

[Midwestguy]

Thank you, rainbowgardener. Yes, I know. I'll try to word my question differently next time, but thank you for the link. It was very helpful.
Perhaps a better question would have been which cultivars of lantanas I don't have to dead head. Through my own research, I have learned that New Gold is sterile and doesn't need dead heading to keep blooming profusely. And Miss Huff produces both male and female flowers on the same plant, which are sterile as long as there isn't another cultivar of lantana around that isn't sterile, then the female flowers will produce some seeds, but it still doesn't require dead heading to keep blooming profusely.

[Midwestguy]

Thanks, mod. Do you know if lantana horrida is a seedless cultivar?
BTW, I love the Red Gate Farm website. I have it saved on my favorites.

[lorax]

Have you considered any of the true species? They're generally seedy but require little by way of care and are truly profuse bloomers. L. camara is the foundation of multitudes of cultivars, but will almost always outperform them when given adequate water and sunlight.

[Midwestguy]

I currently have approximately 16 lantana camara 'Ham & Eggs' plants, which I know is a very old cultivar, but I'm not sure if it is one of the "true species" that you are referring to. It does produce lots of berries/seeds. From my own experience with Ham 'n Eggs, it blooms profusely but not continuously if not dead headed. If I don't dead head the fading blooms its profuse blooming comes in waves. However, if I do dead head the fading blooms, its profuse blooming is continuous. I'm not sure if this is what other people growing L. camara have experienced too.
If my budget comes together like I am planning, then I will probably replace all of my Ham 'n Eggs Lantanas with Lantana 'Miss Huff'. From what I have learned, its profuse blooming is continuous without dead heading as long as there aren't other cultivars of fertile lantanas near it.

[lorax]

If it's got a cultivar designation, like 'Ham n Eggs' it's not the true species. However, I'm totally spoiled in that I can walk 10 minutes into the bush and take cuttings from wild plants of various and assorted species.

With my own and my neighbours' L. camara, both of which were acquired by taking wild cuttings, they bloom profusely and constantly regardless of how much maintenance we give 'em. My neighbour is a rose-botherer and deadheads daily; I'm a laissez-faire gardener and trim perhaps once every three or four months if the shrubs are getting unruly. The only difference is that my shrubs look a bit more lush and wild.

[Midwestguy]

You must be located in Hawaii or Puerto Rico. I wondered what you meant when you said you could go into the bush and find multiple species of wild growing lantana. That makes sense if you live in a tropical climate.
I'm not a noninterventionist gardener by any stretch of the imagination. I do enjoy tending my gardens daily, because I find it therapeutical. However, I do not have hours available to spend deadheading, which is why I'm looking for a large lantana that doesn't produce any or very many seed heads.
I also didn't realize there was so much information about bananas (BQ). That's very interesting.

[lorax]

Ecuador, actually. We're the biodiversity hotspot for many plants, Lantana among them.