Inviting myself to your pity party--I lost a lot more than I expected and have damage to others that may prove fatal. None of my foxgloves survived the 8 ft. of snow that fell, including healthy winter sown plants along with nursery-grown specimens. One of my 'Chandelier' lupines was slowly eaten by some nasty, crawly thing--I caught it in the act of chewing its way towards the crown. There's no sign of my coreopsis yet, or the turtlehead. My Harry Lauter walkingstick tree is split down the middle and budded branches broken off my azaleas. Probably won't know the full extent of the losses for another few weeks.

Our lowest temperature that I recall ever was 19 below zero on January 24. I've lived here my whole life and the lowest I can recall was -12. The rafters in my roof actually contracted so hard from the cold each one made a loud BANG every time. The snow started falling and didn't stop--roofs were collapsing all over the state including nearly a dozen right here in the little town where I live.

roofs collapsing, okay pity party over.

Yeah, I think I would take dead plants over a collapsed roof any day.

Though, it still sucks.

Karen

I live in central New Mexico and we had record cold temps this winter. I lost every potted rose that I had - make that every potted plant including some big evergreens, all my pencil holly plants died, an italian cypress, a very large broom and lots of damage to other evergreens and roses that are planted in the ground. But we can't control the weather and it gives me opportunity to buy a bunch of new plants. So far it looks like all the perennial flowers survived.

It is still too early to assess the whole damage in the gardens, but so far it appears I've lost some perennials, both in pots and in the ground, due to voles. Also there were numerous mole tunnels throughout a few grassy areas and nearby the pot ghetto. This is the first time I recall such damage since living here thru 9 winters. Apparently the rodents were having a field day under the unusually deep snow this year.

Some young plants planted out in the fall made it thru the winter and some didn't. All the Foxglove made it, but half and half on the Columbine (so far). Looks like I lost Geranium Rozanne again, this is the 2nd one, which was a replacement for the first Rozanne that died!! If it doesn't appear I'll ask Bluestone to replace it again since it was an expensive plant.

Lots to do for Spring cleanup and I should be able to better assess which plants have made it after that.

Isn't it kind of early to pronounce anything DOA yet?

Things in my area are behind this year - it's been a cold early spring - crocus are finally starting to bloom (usually end of March bloomers), brunnera are barely starting to poke though, and they are usually gearing up to start blooming by this time. I think patience is the word this season. :0)

Not really too early when a similar companion has been growing for quite a while. I have had other foxglove, columbine, etc. coming up for a few weeks. I could really tell for many of them that they were dead at the end of the summer. Columbine, for example, does not usually disappear (foliage) for me like bleeding heart does.

For me it was the summer heat that did them in.

I don't even see spring bulbs coming up yet! Not even forsythia!

I've lost several daylilies, most were planted in the fall but a couple were well established & looked good last year. My delphiniums that have come back every year for several years now seem to be gone. On the other hand, I see early growth on a Black & Blue salvia that is supposed to be annual in my zone, and a couple of bulbs that are for zone 8. I think the daylilies got eaten by voles, although I thought they liked lilies, & my lilies are just fine.

Since the snow has just melted in my yard, I've been leaning down to see what's coming up. My foxglove look fine, but my shrubs took a terrible beating. The massive amounts of snow with some ice layered in between did in roses, hydrangeas, rhodies and anything else that was bendable. We had a leak (bad), and had to shovel off the roof twice. All that snow and ice that got thrown down onto the beds also did damage. Ice pruning, I call it.The lavender at the end of the driveway -- Sniff sniff. I always select plants that can thrive in the cold hardiness of my zone, so I don't usually have as much dismay come April. But this winter was a bad one.

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb

Really, plant for zone 7A this year... Gradual global warming is real.

Fortunately, I didn't put in too many new plants last year, so I didn't lose many. But the year before was bad so I know what you mean.

I lost some things that I planted in late fall and it may have been too late to put them in. I had a pot of Erodium Bishop's Form that I bought at Lowes, a cute, short, groundcover that is definitely dead. After doing some recent research, I'm finding that it may not be hardy in zone 6 - why do they sell it here then??? I also planted two Standard Dwarf Bearded Irises that have not come back and the rhizomes look mushy and dead. I'm still looking for a dwarf Gaillardia - Arizona Red, to show some green growth. Last year, another dwarf Gaillardia, Arizona Sun, that I thought had died took a while to green up. I had two plants of Issac House Hybrids Scabiosa that were two years old, and they seem dead. I also have two Fama Blue that are already growing, so the lavender IH Hybrids may have not made it through the winter, which is odd since they made it through last winter just fine. Every spring is an adventure to see what came through the winter.

Linda