When I was asked to trial the new Luscious Citron lantana, my first thought was, “Why in the world do we need another yellow lantana?” But now, six months later, I know the answer. You’re thinking you know the answer, and it has to do with butterflies. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Let’s start by looking at the color orange. There is a huge group of gardeners who think orange is too gawdy for the garden. The Garden Guy loves orange and the more ‘Good Lawdy How Gawdy,’ the better. We know, however, that once we tone it down or neutralize it a little by changing it to apricot or salmon, this group of gardeners will accept. It is like soft pedaling orange.
There is another large group that feels the same way about yellow. There is a reason the school bus is yellow; it gets immediately noticed. It grabs all of the attention. How do you soft pedal yellow, so to speak? Welcome the Luscious Citron lantana, making its debut in 2022. Some might call it a pastel but if you have ever seen a citron fruit, this nails it.
