Here's what the cuttings look like...

hmmmm, can you plant them in pots and bury them (plant the pot and all) right up next to your south foundation? Maybe bury them with leaves later. I have had a number of plants overwinter that way. My lantana is extremely late to come up, which you may know since you have them too.

I am surprised every year when my lantana comes up...I'm always afraid the winter killed it.

Lisa

I like Lisa's idea, if it is possible for you to do it that way.

I overwinter tender lantanas in my unheated greenhouse in the winter because our low-lying microclimate and dense, red clay (even when well-amended, it tends to hold too much water in wet winters for the lantanas to survive) make their survival real iffy when left in the ground. The longest I've kept lantana alive in the ground here is three years and that was in the early 2000s when our winters seemed very warm. Our low temperatures tend to drop down into the single digits a couple of times a winter (often down to 0 or 1 degree) even in the best of winters even though we are in zone 7b, so I'd rather dig up lantana, pot it up and overwinter it in the greenhouse than take a chance on leaving it in the ground in my specific area. I'm in a really cold microclimate so every single zone 8 plant I've tried to grow here has only lived 3-5 years if left in the ground to overwinter.

In the greenhouse, even when the outdoor temperatures drop into the single digits, the temperatures tend to stay warmer in there, so the lantanas often hold onto their foliage, and sometimes their flowers until December or January. I really don't water them unless I notice they are incredibly dry. About the coldest temperatures they are exposed to in there are the mid-teens, but they have the advantage of being in a container with a well-drained growing medium that I keep on the dry side, so that helps.

Trailing lavender lantana is L. montevidensis and for a long time was believed to be cold-hardy only to zone 8b. However, gardeners in some parts of the country have found it to be cold hardy to at least 8a and sometimes even in 7b or 7a if they have the right microclimate with soil that drains very wet and that stays warmer than the general area in winter. Planting one up close to a masonry wall (especially if there also is a driveway or sidewalk nearby) that faces south in a place with well-drained soil is an ideal location to overwinter lantana in the ground.

Some years, I have overwintered geraniums, lantanas and ornamental sweet potatoes indoors in a spare room that has morning sun from the east and afternoon sun from the south. I had to be really careful not to overwater them because they really weren't making new growth---they were just kind of sitting there barely hanging on, but they survived, and then were very happy once I put them back outdoors, in the ground, in mid-spring.

Good luck overwintering them, Eric.

Dawn

I don't think lantanas would be hardy here even in a protected spot but thanks for the post. I thought they were very tropical but I may try to protect mine over winter if you get yours to survive.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think I'll try keeping them in our attached garage with some of the other potted tropicals I overwinter there.

My luck with overwintering lantana outside is hit or miss. I've had some last a couple years, some die right away after just one winter, and one that is heading into its 5th winter. That particular one is the orange/red variety. It's in a very sunny spot with good drainage, around lots of concrete, and is protected from the north and west winds. By sept it gets huge--it'd reach over 8' in diameter if I didn't prune it like a shrub. It was one of only two that survived our unusually cold winter last year. (It even reseeded this year and apparently crossed with one of my white ones, as this one bloomed pink--pretty neat!)

I usually let the dead leaves accumulate over them all winter, and I'll occasionally dump more leaves over them for more protection. That's what I do with my cannas and they've come back every year...

My "big" lantana was sold to me as a perennial by a nursery that does make a distinction between annual lantanas and perennial. I was skeptical, but it survived both of the last two winters (one warmer, one a lot colder) It sits at the end of my driveway, which is on an incline, so it does have drainage. It didn't come with a name, but I believe it is a camara and is pink and yellow.

I had a few others survive last winter as well. They do have excellent (too excellent!) drainage and no protection other than the leaves I let gather.

Good luck on yours!

Lisa