It didn't come back for me this year either, not a sign of it. A few of my hostas are starting as well, and four out of five clematis have come back. :)

I don't have Jack Frost but a relative of his, Looking Glass, has only just recently come up so maybe it is just a little slow. Our spring here has been very cold and a lot of plants have been slow to emerg. My hostas have only been up for about a week or two. I love the look of Jack Frost and he is one I hope to acquire soon; I keep watching to see if I can find him at a more reasonable price.

Well, I am not giving up yet but I have brushed the mulch aside and all I see are dead stems from last year. Marcia, good to hear that your clematis are doing well for the most part. I think I may have lost another large flowered one this year but the baby clematis with the bell flowers ( tangutia??) have all shown up. I am very surprised as a couple only had two little leaves on them all last year.

Mine came back and has done a great job of flowering. It was one of the first plants to come back. Mine is planted in full sun. Marg

I've tried three Jack Frost so far and none has survived the winter so I give up. Same thing with Jacob's Ladder, just can't seem to get them to make it over the winter. This year, a large flowered white clematis which would have been in its third year shows no sign of life and yet my Jackmani which is growing 3 feet away only top froze so that new growth is showing up 4' up the old stems.

I planted two last year and they are both making an appearance, slowly, like everything else this reluctant spring.

Kate

Stan, my Ville de Lyons was gorgeous last summer, and isn't showing up this year. Such a disappointment! :( That happened with Jackmanii the year before so i was almost prepared!

Hi
My Jack Frost came back this year, and is currently blooming. I've had it three years. I have it in a fairly shady spot with lots of snow cover.

My Jack Frost came up about 3 weeks ago - faster than my hostas which are just emerging. The Jack Frost has such pretty blue flowers.

Fern

I have a suspecion that Jack Frost does best in an area that doesn't warm up too quickly in spring. Mine was covered with snow well into spring, then it came up with the daffodils and tulips. The hostas, on the other hand, are just now showing their stuff.

Well, I guess I can kiss my Jack Frost good bye since my hostas are now popping up and I don't see any Brunnera. This is very disappointing as I thought they were hardy to my zone.

I just bought a Jack Frost Brunnera, at Lindenberg's this morning with my 10% discount from the Westman Gardeners, after seeing a friend's beautiful Jack Frost in full bloom this morning. She has hers planted about 1 foot away from the sunroom, on the north side of her house. Her hostas are only about 2" high on that side of the house. I guess I will see where I can plant it here in my yard.

Brenda

I've read very mixed reports about how hardy Jack is. I figure there's some plants out there which are more hardy than others. Instead of buying one, I arranged a trade with someone who has a very healthy one proven to be hardy in my area.

Before giving up on this beautiful cultivar try a trade for a division of a proven Jack Frost.

Well, I haven't given up on Jack Frost as I bought another couple plants. The interesting thing is that they look slightly different than the plants I had last year. The silver on the leaves isn't as shiny. I also bought two Mr. Morse plants. I plan to place them in slightly different location with more or less sun and see if I have better luck next year.

Technically, all Jack Frost plants should be EXACTLY the same, no matter who sells them or where they come from. That is the definition of a cultivar - they are vegetatively reproduce, not from seed that can give significant genetic variation. That said, mutations have been known to occur even with vegetative propagation, and suddenly there are two (or more) slightly different types of the same cultivar. A possibility with Jack Frost. However, my gut feeling is that this is not the case with JF. It has always exhibited temperamental hardiness, ever since it was first introduced. Also a gut feeling from my 25 years of growing marginally hardy perennials, winter wet can play a major role in winter survival, even if it is not an alpine or dryland plant. My best advice is do not water it going into the winter, as many may suggest for perennials in general.

I have two JF's and 2 Looking Glass Brunneras planted in different locations. The JF and LG planted with a northern exposure (very little sun) are both in full bloom. The other 2 planted in a west facing location (half sun, half shade) have not appeared.