I also live in MA, as you see, and have grown lavender lantanas in hanging baskets for many years. They are most certainly not drought tolerant--whoever told you this was wrong. I water and fertilize every single day. 1/4 teaspoon miracle gro to one gallon of water. Water til the water is coming out of the bottom of the basket. You will get large plants packed with flowers all summer. They need full sun here. And water every day--twice when it's in the 90s. And the fertilizer--or few flowers. It's a lot easier than it sounds and the results are gorgeous.

Butterflies DO go nuts for these plants, and we often see hummingbirds visiting them as well. The fact that it's in a hanging basket could be an issue if the drain hole is not at the bottom surface of the pot. Is the pot the type with a recessed hole that allows about 1/2 inch of standing water in the bottom? Any time a basket is hanging, it has to be hanging from something, that likely casts a shadow... so I wonder if it's getting enough sun? There are so many Lanatanas that are so different, at least in flower color and size, but in a nutshell, I think it would be safe to say that none of them would appreciate poor drainage/standing water and all need tons of sun. Deadheading a hanging Lantana would be something I'd enjoy, but even if you don't, and miss many of them when you do some, any time you can remove the balls, hopefully the plant will get the urge to make more. The monsters in the yard do not get any of this from me and they keep blooming though, so probably much less helpful than other plants notorious for requiring it for continued/prolonged blooms, but I don't have much experience with the other kinds except to kill them with too much water and shade when I lived in OH. The ones in the yard here usually die back to the ground every winter, then end up 6-7 feet tall, bloom from mid-summer until frost. Full sun all day. This past winter many branches remained alive well above ground level and area already pushing the 7-foot level. No care has been given the past 6 years except to cut dead branches sometimes in the spring, sometimes not at all. In a container, fertilizer may be required for satisfactory blooming as is common for many blooming plants. I'd go with the multiple advice on that too. Linda, at any time, you're welcome to add a picture of your plant to the discussion, one picture per entry if you have more than one.

Lantana is hardy here so we don't move them, but based on having grown them for years, here's my best guess. I dont' see why you can't take them inside. I think I would dig them and pot them now in a good quality potting mix, but leave them outside. Wait until their first leaf killing frost and then take them inside. Cut them back to about 6 to 8 inches, and cut way back on their water. I would let them get dry between waterings. They go dormant in the winter anyway, so I don't think they would need much, if any, light. It's highly likely that your basement will be warm enough. They are reliably hardy into the teens, maybe hardy even to zero. Look at it this way, you have almost nothing to lose, and alot you may learn.

What people are referring to is host plants, Leo. If a butterfly lays an egg on a plant with insecticide on it or in it because of systemic insecticides, the caterpillar will die as soon as it eats the leaves. The same thing wouldn't apply to nectar plants, although it wouldn't be a bad idea to wash the plant/hanging basket off before sitting it out where the butterflies and bees might use it. I don't think it's necessarily the nurseries or Walmart or Lowe's that put insecticides on or in the plants, but the growers who they buy them from. You did say you got some passionvines/p. incarnata from Educational Science, didn't you? If my memory is right about that, then you did good, because Educational Science doesn't use insecticides on their plants - they grow them to be host plants. Two other nurseries that don't use insecticides are Pine Ridge Gardens in Arkansaas and Shady Oaks Butterfly Farm in Florida - if I can't start my own host plants from seeds or cuttings I root myself, then I prefer to order from safe nurseries. MissSherry