Alicia's right, we just have to be patient. Of my three CMs, all of which were very leafed out before the freeze and all of which got toasted, my big one (west wall up against white siding of the house) is sprouting new leaves. The other two, both unprotected on east and west sides, are still thinking about it. Seems they'll be a bit behind schedule this year - may be not a bad thing if they blossom after the Japanese Beetles make their march thru the South!

i forgot to mention .... i had a lot of browning in spring... especially on variegated plants... and also noted on all p. thunbergiana .... my theory is that it was very mild last fall .... read the warm [relatively speaking as to prior years] ... but not hot ... for an extra month .. thru almost Xmas .... then immediately below zero .... i like to water real late in the season .. but it always becomes a carp shoot as to blowing out the irrigation pipes before they freeze solid ... so they may have gone into winter a bit drier than i preferred ... and i wonder if they were not properly hardened off before the sub zero weather??? or so it goes.. ken

My Leonard Messel magnolia buds were fine too. None had fully opened, just a few at the top were puffing out showing some color. My Rhododendrum mucronulatum that was in full bloom got hit. But it is somewhat presentable. It looks like the flowers shrunk and are slightly wilted. It still provides some color. I drove by some full blown huge white magnolia trees and every flower was brown. ugh. what a shame. My hellebores look fine. (relatively speaking, they are kinda bland and I am looking at some of the new varieties, but that's another story). I covered my pot ghetto (recently relocated to handy patio shelves for the spring) even though it was mostly perennials. Lots of fresh foliage to consider. I brought in my Caladium tubers. (they really had no right to be outside in the first place -- the summer tease got them out there) Jap Maples had not leafed out in the least so that's good. New foliage can be very susceptible to spring frosts. Pansies loved it. They look even better. Next week 60's again... yippee!!

Most of my losses where herbs. The crazy parsley that my kids gave me for mothers day in 1995 and came back every year is a no show for the first time. Of course I didn't save any seeds from it last year. My thyme, oregano, tarragon, also bit the dust. But then again that section of the yard was a swimming pool with 9 1/2 inches of rain on it and geese having a good time. (first time I've ever had that happen in 26 years). Also lost a dwarf coreopsis that I've had for 10 years and my blue boy rose bush looks pretty sick with just one stem. Also lost my clematis duchess of edinburg, that one hurts as have had it a long time. Funny too, cause the sickly clematis firworks made it through the winter and is growing slowly, but quite nicely. Hope it blooms for the first time this year. My major damage was to my WS seedlings. All that water has bred lots of slugs. For some reason they are hitting all my zinnias and dahlias, leaving me just a few to hope for but not touching any of the several hundred other seedlings I WS. Finding lots of those nasty things as I pick up containers, nothing else being touched by the slugs, even the hostas and i'm not finding slimy stuff on the plants, but their telltale damage is seen. On the survival side, the one thing beside the weeds, especially dandilions, which sure look healthy this spring, that not only survived but looks wonderful are the burning bush that hubby and I cut down to the ground early last spring. Those things just won't stop regrowing. We got so desperate that we used the real strong roundup on them and they still keep regrowing. Now I have tons of really healthy looking seedlings growing all around where the 5 original ones where. Have sprayed them all again and they still look really healthy. Narcnh, seeds need to make contact with soil to be able to germinate. I have mulch all around all of my plants and in all of my beds. Have never had a plant reseed, even cosmos and morning glory because of the mulch.