They should be able to come back. That happened to my dad's weigela (my chokeberries too) and now, a couple of years later, it's big.

If you are positive the rabbits can't enter your yard then you should be fine. Otherwise, I would consider caging any plants you are worried about. Also, you may want to cage the weigela and spirea for the next winter or two until they get big enough. Then the rabbits seem to leave them alone or a little bit of nibbling doesn't do much damage. They seem to eat the smaller, less woody stems. There are also sprays, but don't know how well they work.

They got mine too- and only one of a matching pair of Korean lilacs- all of my pussy willows- sand cherries- on the larger june berries- they just ate all of the bark off of the main trunks- The bunnies were horrid this year- and I was too slow to protect them with the wire mesh cages I had made....
I have found that it will take a few years for the bushes to come back after being chewed back so far- It is an awful way to learn a lesson- or re-learn it in my case....
I hope yours wll do fine and grow back fast!!!

I started using Blood Meal last spring to keep the rabbits out of my flower and veggie garden and it works great! I just put it in the grass around the bed and it keeps the bunnies away.

I use lots of chicken wire and such.... I've used one of the fox urine based sprays, but it stinks and I felt like I could still smell it on myself 3-4 showers later so I only sprayed it one time. An outdoor dog would do the trick, I suspect, but mine are both indoor puppies.

Thank you all so much for replying. They nibbled on most everything that I have, as if taste testing to see which they liked best, and it seemed to be the weigelas they preferred the most. I hate the idea of having to cage everything but I may just have to resort to that till everything gets mature, and especially the ones that are now just a stub sticking up. Should I feed them as usual with my other plants, or should I wait till I see "real growth?

Thanks Jel for the heads up on the fox urine, I was thinking of that, but I really don't want my garden to smell like that! Or me for that matter.

We built this home 3 years ago, and never had any real problem with rabbits till this winter. I think it is because the entire area around us used to be very rural, forest and farmland, so the bunnies had their fill without attacking the gardens. But this last summer and fall it was all mowed down to build more homes, so all that wildlife had to go somewhere, and I seem to be it, as most of my neighbors have done very little in the way of landscaping, just grass and a few trees. LUCKY ME!!!!

Jodi

The rabbits ate my wine and roses down to a few bare branches last winter (2019). But this spring it came back very bushy, though not many flowers. This fall I will enclose the plant in chicken wire, which has saved the second planting of my garden, they got the first round.🐰