I have a silly question, one which I guess will be hard to answer with
out seeing my plants, but I'll go ahead and ask anyway....

Is there a way to tell if your plants are sick, or if they are just
going dormant for the winter? I have a few plants I am concerned about.

One is a Fragrant Osmanthus whose leaves have some brown spotting to
them and are turning yellow to light green.
Second my Loropetalum whose leaves are browning--the browning is not
occurring uniformly, but seems to be contained to one branch.
Third is a Gulf Stream Nandina whose stems and leaves dropped off the
top of the plant, however the lower stems and leaves are still in tact
and look healthy.

And now a question from the "I know this is dying, but is there any hope
left department......"
I have a Coastal Leucothoe which has lost all of it's leaves and
branches. The remaining stem seems to have some green to it, however I
can't tell if the green is just a fungus on the stem or signs of life.
If I cut the stem, I do not see any green in the center. Bad sign? The
root system still seems strong. Is there any change this little one
will come back to life? Or should I shovel prune it into my compost pile?


Should I just wait these out, or should I take action if there is a
disease going on?

Thanks for any advice!
Heidi
Raleigh, NC