How to tell if my lantana and mexican heather made it?

I asked this in perennials but it occurred to me there would be more people with direct experience with these plants here....

I have two favorite but borderline hardy perennials - mexican heather and lantana - in my garden. I left the dead foliage on all winter, they were well mulched. I just chopped off their tops last week and now I stare at bare stumps wondering how the heck I can tell if they are still alive.

I could buy replacements, but I'm sure if the originals return they will be bigger and better than new nursery stock.

Are there signs I can look for? How long should I wait until I give up, rip up, and plant new ones?

Pic of "popcorn" lantana which I've never been able to find in the plant files.

I don't know about the Mexican Heather, but the Lantana should be fine, it takes it a while to start growing because it requires warm weather to grow.

Larissa, I cut my lantana to the ground every spring and it starts to come back up in a few weeks. I've found it to be pretty aggressive once it gets going. By mid-May, it usually looks full again.

...and I find if I let the branches stay on Lantana, sometimes they leaf out fully. If there are dead branches, I will trim them off after it leaves out. Heather is more cold sensitive for me and may not come back.

larissa if you ever do cuttings on your popcorn lantana, I would be interested in swapping w/ you. I hav a nice small collection.
Lantana should survive OK, though I have lost a shrub or two at my 2nd home which is in z8, bet. Hou / Dal
On the Mex. heather, mine appears to have bit the dust after the cold spell in Feb, so I'm yanking it out.

Lantana down here is beginning to show some green.

Ack, I cut it to the ground, did I kill my lantana? *sobs*

oh no, no harm has been done. it'll come back

I am glad you started this thread, I have been pulling lantanas (except horrida) out for years.I have mulch to learn. HaHa

Zone 8b, Lake Sam Rayburn, East, TX
Podster "hit the nail on the head". Be patient til green leaves show up then prune dead portion off branch, if you wish a larger bush. Otherwise, its ok to cut bush to ground.

I'm really interested in "Popcorn" Lantana. I have several old varieties of Lantana you might be interested in trading for. By the way, Lantana is so e a s y to propogate. Just stick your branch in good soil and it will root quickly.

I'll send a pic when I learn how LOL

All of my lantanas are still looking bare and leafless.....but they always return when it gets warmer...as Josephine said. They are almost always a "fool-proof" plant. (A nuclear war couldn't destroy one, lol)

Melanie

Ok, I promise if my popcorn lantana comes back I will take cuttings for everyone!

I liked it myself because everyone had orange, yellow (especially yellow), pink and purple lantana but I hadn't see any white, so I snatched it up. :)

Lantana and Mexican Heather are "late sleepers" in this part of Texas. I don't expect to see any sign of life from them (or the Mexican Firebush) for another month yet. But once they start, they grow like crazy. They are well worth the wait.

Carla

For me (8a), lantana and lavender start greening up again in April. I've heard that plumbago may take even longer. Salvia greggi starts greening up now. Last two years I waited and waited for mexican heather to come back. Maybe I didn't have enough patience, but I dug the roots up mid May. I have to admit that it wasn't in the most ideal location (brick mailbox planter). I really wished it came back, it is such a beautiful, useful, low maintenance, low water use plant.

My white trailing lantana is putting out a few leaves now. Another kind of lantana looks like it is coming up right beside the old main stem. It could be something else coming up, but I don't think so.