i took a lot of browning damage to many of my evergreen shrubs in my z5 ... just a tough winter ...

life is in the buds ... if they survived.. then the plant survives..

only time will tell if those buds start swelling and show life ...

i would wait until late spring.. before i go pruning out any dead stuff ... dead leaves usually fall off themselves ...

fertilizing a stressed plant.. will not help ... in case that is the next question .. lol ..

you should expect new leaves and flowers.. when the soil warms sufficiently to activate growth ... and that is left to the fates of mother nature ... just because you have the fever to go out and fix it .... i suggest that you wait to 'see what happens' ....

was this a new plant last year.. and did you fertilize it???? sometimes winter damage is a function of a plant not properly hardening off the fall before.. which MIGHT be caused by too much fert at the wrong time of year ....

good luck

ken

This has been the coldest winter we've seen in many years in northern New England. The deep snow protected the bottom of the pieris, but those parts exposed to the cold, wind and sun took a tremendous beating.

Unless there were flower buds below the snow line, there will not be any bloom this year. The red color is always on the new growth and it gradually changes to green over the summer.

You can wait until warmer weather arrives and see if any of the pieris above the snow shows signs of life, but the best course is probably going to be pruning back to live (green)wood. The new red growth will emerge from these points. Next year's flower buds will appear at the tips of the current season's growth in late summer.

Red leaved pieris are pretty marginal in Z5. Protecting them in fall with a burlap or some other kind of screen will help a lot to avoid dessication over the winter. So will WiltPruf in my experience.

Red leaved pieris are pretty marginal in Z5.

===>>> i was wondering why i did NOT grow them in my z5 ....

ken

It being a cultivar of Pieris japonica you will probably have more trouble later due to your climate. You might want to look for a copy of The Best of the Hardiest by J. Sabuco to see what broad-leaved evergreen shrubs (and other kinds) he discusses for places where it get to -15F.