On Gardening: Luscious Basket Tangeglow is lantana perfection

Norman Winter, Tribune News Service on Sep 11, 2025

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The Garden Guy fell in love with Luscious Basket Tangeglow lantana last year after seeing it in recipes at Young’s Plant Farm Annual Garden Tour in Auburn, Alabama. The colors were so incredible. Like the name suggests, it is a Tangerine that seems to be glowing. Proven winners officially call it Peach, Orange and Yellow.

You might wonder if those colors could shake the industry with so many lantanas already available. University testing answered that in the affirmative. Luscious Basket Tangeglow is a winner: Perfect Score Oklahoma State, University of Minnesota, University of Tennessee and Director’s Select "Best Performance" at Penn State and Top Performer awards too.

This was my first year to really give it a trial in one category and that is butterflies. You might be thinking, aren't lantanas one of the butterfly champs anyway? That would be true. I’m growing eight different varieties, and this year Luscious Basket Tangeglow lantana was, and still is, the daily winner bringing in those graceful creatures of flight that we all love.

Our butterfly year started off painfully slow for our region but then it hit big. By big I’m talking quantity and size. The giant swallowtails, eastern tiger swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails and monarchs too, often feeding together. but there are others, gulf fritillaries, silver-spotted skippers and several species of yellow sulphur.

You will also like the size and structure of the Luscious Basket Tangeglow. It has a mounding habit reaching 24-26 inches in height and 24 inches in width. This is a size you can enjoy in containers and boxes and is super manageable in the landscape. It is NOT one that will get away from you.

You will love the size of the flower cluster composed of the smaller florets. They are large and ever changing in color and intensity. They really do seem to pulsate or glow. To me it is reminiscent of embers in a fire

Luscious Basket Tangeglow is recommended as an annual in all zones and perennial in zone 9a-11b. The varieties of lantana I am growing are all in the Luscious series. In the 6 years that I have been growing them I have only lost one plant from cold in my area of zone 8.

Fertile well-drained soil with plenty of sun will give you the green thumb. So, it stands to reason that good potting soil in a container with drainage holes will be perfect, even more so with Luscious Basket Tangeglow.

The recipes I saw last year looked as though they were designed by an artist. Never Lonely features Luscious Basket Tangeglow lantana, Supertunia Bermuda Beach petunia and Superbells Yellow calibrachoa. It will bring a mood of cheer and happiness.

The other recipe was generic and only had a number ID. It featured the star of this column, the Luascious Basket Tangeglow and Superbells Cherry Red calibrachoa, which played off the lantana to perfection. The third ingredient taught everyone a lesson and that is the value of succulent foliage. The plant I am referring to was Mezoo Trailing Red Livingstone Daisy. The plant has green and cream variegated foliage and small red flowers.

The Garden Guy combined his Luscious Basket Tangeglow lantana with the fiery orange Rainbow Rhythm Primal Scream daylily and lavender SunPatiens.

Someone recently asked why we need another yellow-orange lantana? My answer is you’ll "want" this one. Your color combinations will pop and last until fall. Your pollinator count will skyrocket which will be followed closely by the Happy Dance.

Follow me on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy for more photos and garden inspiration.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)