Hi Melissa, yes sometimes I do scratch the bark to see if a plant is still alive With that lantana, I was just hoping for the best since the branches were just too brittle and I was thinking got to relieve the extreme heat and drought stress it underwent. So I resumed watering and spraying the branches. Although the plant is deemed drought tolerant, it was just too much leaving it bone dry during our furnace weather here in the Central Valley. It really taught me a lot about how to handle plants in my area. Always learning something new and adjusting as the seasons change.
There are two lantanas in that container, one is labeled Golden Lantana and the other is Lantana Ham and Eggs.
An old photo of the two plants in Sept 2011:
Reviewing the photos I took helped me further understand just at what time of the year I get my better blooms, and it seems for my area it is towards Fall.
