Hi Jeff -

First of all...wanna commend y'all for having it come back. I live in VA too and for some reason, other then my hanging baskets, it never has. Have tried it in the ground a couple times...???

I'm no expert & am sure others will know more. But I'll tell you what I know about mine. Go ahead and cut back to where you usually do since you want to keep them in check. Just make sure there's new growth left...like you're used to seeing.

All you're doing is 'topping it off' so to speak. In fact, it will get fuller since it will split off from the cut area. At least that's my experience in my baskets (which I have re-used the past couple years).

I'd say as long as you leave enough buds left, it will be a happy camper...and with the bizzare weather we've been having I would not wait to do so. Do it now.

That's cool! Do you know which one it is? Mine are the ones with orange/yellow flowers. None of mine have any live branches. If the branches are sturdy, not floppy, and you have room for a HUGE shrub, it could be a fun novelty this year. If you can't devote a LOT of space to it, you certainly won't hurt it by trimming the old branches off.

I would cut them back as you usually do. They look much better without the old growth which only makes them look ragged. Al

We don't do anything special to ours. We do let the leaves that pile up on it during winter stay until we're ready to rake in early spring. I suppose that might provide some protection from the cold. Also, our ground never seems to freeze. We have a bit of success with overwintering certain annuals because of that.

I believe the variety is "Miss Huff". It's mostly pink and yellow with a hint of orange. I'm not completely sure, but I think this is the same variety my mother grew for several years and it always came back. Another house near her has a lantana bush roughly 6ft tall, and it comes back every year. That's why I gave it a try, and sure enough it worked.

Our NOID creeping purple lantana have survived winter too. Both have green on them, but it looks more like growth from last year and not so much new growth. If they remained somewhat green all winter I would be excited!

We tried a yellow/orange type in a pot and it took too long to come back, so it was dug up and repotted to see what would happen... Needless to say, it did break dormancy just barely before it died from what I think was stress. The creeping red/orange variety ("Dallas Red"?) didn't survive in the ground last year. And it doesn't look like the creeping yellow variety survived this year.

I'd like to grow the "Miss Huff" as large as I can this year, but with all the plants from winter sowing that need a spot, I think I might have to keep it as small as possible!

Thank you for the help!

I love Lantana and so do the butterflies and I want to get this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Info about