Depressed shrubverbena

Year-round

This plant is often sold as gold lantana and it is a rare Florida native shrub, but its wild home is pine rockland in Miami-Dade County, hundreds of miles south of Orlando. In Central Florida you are growing a Florida native species as a garden ornamental, not restoring a local wild plant, so care it for the conditions here rather than for its true native habitat.

• Give it full sun, at least six hours a day, and fast-draining sandy or gritty soil. Central Florida's native sandy ground works well as long as the spot does not stay soggy after summer thunderstorms.
• It is a low, spreading shrub, about knee-high and three to four feet wide, so give it room and avoid crowding it against walkways.
• Buy the true species, Lantana depressa var. depressa, from a native plant nursery. Big-box "gold lantana" and "lantana" hybrids sold as landscape lantana are often crossed with the invasive Lantana strigocamara, and growing them nearby can cross-pollinate and contaminate seed from the real species.
• Keep dogs and cats from chewing on the leaves or berries. All lantana, including this species, is on the ASPCA's toxic plant list for dogs, cats, and horses.

Its low, mounding shape stays tidy in a front bed without regular pruning to control height, which reads as an intentional, HOA-friendly planting rather than an overgrown patch.

Fall

Fall in Orlando stays warm through hurricane season's tail end into November, with the first light frosts not typical until deep winter, so this is a good stretch for light shaping before growth slows.

• Do one light shaping trim in early fall to keep the mounded habit tidy, rather than a hard cutback, since heavy pruning this late can push out tender new growth right before any cold snap.
• Rainfall tapers off through fall, so start watering during dry weeks again once the wet season ends, usually by October.
• Ahead of a tropical storm or hurricane watch, secure or remove loose mulch and check that the plant is not sitting in a spot that will flood.
• Flowering slows but does not fully stop, so you may still see some blooms into late fall.

A single light fall shaping keeps the front-bed shape neat going into the slower winter months, which reads as intentional upkeep rather than neglect.

Winter

Winter is the one season where this plant needs real attention in Orlando. It is only hardy to about USDA zone 9b to 10a and Orlando sits right at that edge, with frost possible mainly in January and occasional harder freezes some years.

• Watch the forecast for nights near or below freezing. Water the soil well before a freeze, since moist soil holds more heat overnight than dry soil.
• Cover the plant with a sheet or frost cloth that reaches all the way to the ground on a hard freeze night, and remove or vent the cover the next morning once temperatures rise.
• If cold burns the leaves or blackens stems, leave the damaged growth in place through winter. It helps protect the lower plant, and pruning it off too early can expose live wood to the next cold snap.
• Do not fertilize in winter. Feeding pushes tender new growth that is more likely to be damaged by cold.

Cold-browned stems left in place over winter can look messy from the street. A frost cloth removed promptly each morning keeps the bed looking tended even during a cold snap.

Spring

Spring in Orlando is warm and mostly dry, so this is the best time to plant and to help the shrub bounce back if winter cold knocked it down.

• If a winter freeze browned or killed back the top growth, wait for new leaves to show along the base before cutting away the dead wood, since the plant is likely still alive at the root.
• Water new plantings two to three times a week through spring's dry stretch until roots are established, then taper off.
• Hold off on fertilizer until you see steady new growth, and even then use a light, slow-release feed since this species is adapted to lean, sandy soil.
• Watch for a flush of new flowers as days warm, which draws early-season butterflies.

Summer

Orlando's summer is hot, humid, and rainy, with regular afternoon thunderstorms from June through September, so this plant needs little help from you once it is established.

• Established plants usually need no extra watering during a normal wet season. Only water by hand during a dry stretch of a week or more with no rain.
• Good drainage matters more than usual now. In a spot that puddles after storms, raise the planting area or move the plant, since prolonged wet soil can rot the roots.
• This is peak bloom season, drawing butterflies and other pollinators, so this is a good window to skip deadheading and let the flowers run their course.
• Watch the foliage after heavy, humid stretches for fungal leaf spot, and thin overcrowded stems to improve airflow if you see it.