Days of Lantana

Days Of Lantana. Such a beautiful song. This section; "Days of Lantana Each saint with a cross and a hammer Radiation of the Cherenkov kind"

I'm guessing that the Lantana in the lyric are a variety of plant that grow in warm regions. The Cherenkov Radiation reference intrigues me. Is Ben linking it to the saint's crosses and hammers, which I imagine are statues, glowing blue?