It seems hard to believe, but here in the U.S. southeast the days are already shortening, as we move from summer toward a fall that’s not too far away. Of the four varieties of lantana on my property, Mary Ann Lantana is the most prolific bloomer; it continues to add new flowers through late August and well into September (sometimes even October!). After that, I cut it back — almost to the ground — to get it ready for cooler weather so it can rest over the winter.
For these photos, I used the same post-processing approach that I described for images of my Landmark Citrus Lantana (see Making Pictures: Landmark Citrus Lantana (Gallery 1 of 3), relying heavily on Lightroom’s radial filters and adjustment brushes to emphasize the blooms and, in some cases, darken or eliminate backgrounds. Here are before-and-after versions of four of the eleven photos, those that I transformed the most. The last one’s my favorite!
Funny thing happened as I was assembling this blog post: I realized that I had written several times about my “Miss Huff” Lantana — but as it turns out, I don’t have Miss Huff, I’ve got Mary Ann. They’re very different; see here versus here. Several blog posts, tags, and brain cells have been corrected…. 🙂
Below is the first set of Mary Ann Lantana images. Thanks for taking a look!
Lantana is one of my summer staples. So reliable and hardy. I love any plant that I don’t have to stress over with the watering.
It handles the summer heat here really well … two or three waterings a week seems about right, and if I miss one, it doesn’t mind. Every time I go to a garden center, I see new varieties — including some with purple or violet blooms — so next spring I’m going to carve out space for a few more. Thanks for the comment!
For some reason, it struck me this morning, those flower buds would make a dandy design for mints, attractive and tasty-looking.
A nice series, and that last shot is a nice elegant way to finish.
There are some lantana varieties with “candy” in the name; they may or may not be edible. Probably not. 🙂
These candies — https://www.candystore.com/petite-smooth-melty-nonpareil-mint-chocolate-chips/ — are about the right color, just need to work on the shapes.
Thanks for the comment!
Really like lantanas, first came across them on my holiday in Corfu Greece. There they are weeds but the butterflies love them!
Some varieties of lantana are considered invasive weeds here in Georgia also, as well as in other warm climates. I guess there’s a fine line between friendly and unfriendly lantana! 🙂
As well as butterflies, hummingbirds like them too; I see one or two hovering at the blooms almost every day. So far, no luck on hummingbird photos, though; they’re too quick for me!
Thanks for commenting!