If they looked fine going into winter they should bounce back very well.

They'll probably be OK. I had a couple of OG's that loooked dead. They were exposed to cold and wind for most of the winter, and they lost many leaves. They grew back, however.

For me, OG doesn't do as well in winter sun than when the plants are shaded - mostly under a big snow pile. Most times OG is a semi-shade plant, but it does grow in full sun. However, the full-sun plants won't have evergreen leaves. (They can get brown and toasted). My full-shade OGs are truly evergreen. I wouldn't worry about the winter scalding. The only other thing that might be a problem is if there were a lot of de-icing pellets placed on your sidewalk. If the de-icing stuff is mixed in with shoveled snow and put on the plants, the leaves will suffer. Another factor could be transplanting. For me, it takes a full growing season for OG to really establish itself. The first season it looks OK, but kind of puny. I suspect all of its energy is going toward root production since OG is spreading/suckering groundcover.

Don't know how closely related Mahonia Repens is to Oregon Grape (still new at this), but I fall planted a dozen a couple of years ago and lost one third of them thru the winter. My guess is that I didn't keep the new plantings watered frequently enough through the dry winter. The ones that did survive do well in shade and the ones in the sun getting only morning sun. I've got a few that birds have planted too (those are my favs).

That's interesting about OG in full sun. That could be the problem. Eventually these plants will be in the shadow of others, but this winter they took full sun.

Well most everything has leafed out and the Oregon Grape is dead. And, I think I know the problem. I did a Google search on Oregon Grape and salt-tolerance and OG was listed as "very salt sensitive." Since these shrubs get lots of road salt during the winter, it's no mystery they did not survive.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

I have lost them over the winter when I have very small plants ($12 size). If I plant larger ($30) they seem to do fine quickly regenerating from what is still alive.

I think a little die back is natural in the Winter sun as Dirtboy58 mentioned, but they bounce right back. Same goes for Cherry Leaf Laurel and Yew.

We have strong cold winds here, so it is especially a problem on these particular evergreens unless protected.

Road salt is deadly to a lot of plants - sorry you lost yours. I only have one Oregon Grape (Mahonia repens) and have it planted so it is somewhat sheltered from the winds and is in partial shade. It is doing fine, actually started flowering and producing berries last year. I love the red fall colouring, the blooms, etc.. It is a plant that, IMHO, is well worth growing. Hope you don't get discouraged, Canyon Home - try it again at a different site in your yard.

Holly