Lantana can be prolific, especially "irene". I think "radiation" is the most hesitant to grow of any of the lantana. Your pictures show yours (one of which is radiation) as being next to a concrete wall and so the plants suffer doubly from heat. Give them some shade and have patience, as it takes time. It is so very hot here that we have to grow what will live here. Maybe planting catsclaw ivy by the wall would help, as the vine would cling to the wall and cool that area down. catsclaw can be invasive but take your clippers and prune it when it gets shaggier than you want it to.

Yes, I did dig around and look for any green, and I removed the mulch earlier this spring. According to what I've read, this particular cultivar (a new introduction) is hardy to zone 7, and has survived 0 degree temps. As I said, I am arguably zone 7 and my minimum temps this year were consistent with zone 8a. Anyway, I thought it was reasonable to hope that one or more might overwinter. I'm hoping someone in a zone where they do come back to let me know exactly how late is late? I read somewhere that someone had them come back as late as June. I just would like to know what is typical. The empty spots are bugging me, but I don't want to give up on the lantana just before the miracle happens, either! Thanks for your help, Lisa

I totally forgot to update this thread! In the end, I went out in the middle of the night and found 3 well-fed caterpillars chomping away at the lantana. So it was as I had expected. I hand picked the caterpillars and moved them to a nasty's neighbor's front yard. Then I bought some thuricide to get rid of any that I didn't find that night. Things have been good since. I do hope they weren't Monarchs :( There's a ton of moths in the ivy next to my lantana. So I suspect it was all moth caterpillars.

Who know's? I found Lantana varieties confusing, I spent a lot of time researching them & looking for sources last year. I finally got the big hardy kinds by hook or crook because I could not find them online or at the nursery's. I'll leave it at that. The only hardy kinds I bought locally were 'Miss Huff'. The rest I started from seed I bought from Texas Native Plants (urticoides) or cuttings from established big ones around here that I knew were hardy. I just checked around outside, a couple more are showing signs of growth. If I need replacements for any that didn't make it, I'll root more cuttings from these. The gold kind I got at Farmer's Mkt (New Gold or Old Gold? I have no idea, it wasn't labeled) is very low growing but not nearly as fast growing or heavy blooming as 'Dallas Red' which was unbelievable last year, it spread to at least 6ft wide and bloomed like crazy. If its not hardy (so far nothing) I'll just winter over cuttings.