It really depends on the species and microclimate.

Not much help, sorry.

If we're talking Mandevilla laxa... be patient. Looking dead when dormant is normal, nothing to worry about - of course it also looks dead when it's dead, which could be the case if it got really cold where you are. More likely it's fine and will get going when spring is well underway... it likes heat.

As for other plants... certain things are already growing (some Clematis, for example). Certain other plants don't make an appearance until July. So it really depends on the specific plant.

A friend had one covering a sunny wall in Bellevue for years that pretty much never bloomed. Lots of vine, little or no flowering. Another local specimen I did see with flowers was being grown in a pot and overwintered under glass.