This is my neighbor’s on our side of the fence. She planted it several years ago, these pics were taken last March.

As you can see, it had a lot of blooms last year. This year the flower output is less than half that. Some years it has a heavy flush, some years not so much.

So to answer your questions — yes and yes.

It’s extremely drought-tolerant, although the horrible summer we had last year took a toll. It dropped a lot of leaves starting in the middle of summer.

OK, thanks. But we're talking about LOADS of flowers on one plant versus virtually none on the other. Size and growth-wise, they are identical.

Right. I’m just saying it’s normal and I wouldn’t worry about it.

Again, many thanks for learning about your experience. It is pretty odd when you plant what appear to be identical plants right next to each other and they behave very differently, but maybe things will even out next year.