Hi and welcome to the board. I was hoping someone would jump in and give you the information that you are looking for but saying that I will give it a try. First it would help to know what part of CA you are in? Looking at your pictures I would think that you are having trouble with snails or slugs. With all those rock they could be hiding out and eating at night. It is hard to tell from the picture but the long brown piece looks like it could just come off. If it was my plant the part that looks black I would cut off. Then you might want to use some snail bait to kill them. I would move the rocks and see what is under them also. What does the other branch look like? If you are in an area that gets cold at night (below 40) then you might need to dig this up and put in a warmer place. I sure hope that information will help. Good luck, Barb

This post was edited by barb13 on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 14:34

Thank you for that info... I live in Southern California. Here is another picture of the whole plant. This started happening about 2-3 months ago. When I first noticed something was going on I put a little bit of Seven Dust on that plant and whatever is eating it must like the seven dust :-(

Here is the other branch of the plant... it is also very sad :-(

Here is the other branch of the plant... it is also very sad :-(

{{!gwi}}

Do you think my plant will have a chance and still live... the branches are very strong... But something is attacking it....

I live in Lakewood, just to let you know that I am in So CA also. The base of the plant looks fine and I still think that it might be snails or slugs and you could put something out that would kill them. Or try going outside after it gets dark with a flashlight and see if you can catch something eating it. I did that one summer when a couple of mine seem to have that problem. I was so surprised to see so many slugs eating my plants. I think after you take care of the problem your plant should be fine. I would cut off the part that is black and don't water your plant anymore. With no leaves it really does not need water at all or you will get rot. I would also take the little sterm off that is all dried out. It should just snap off. Hope this will help, enjoy your afternoon, barb