Most of those likely are not dead. My Weigela haven't leafed out either and neither have my Hydrangeas nor Japanese Maples.

It isn't spring here yet.....

Depending on which passionflower and which jasmine, they may not be fully hardy here.

Portland has a mild climate also, as far as it goes. But plants in pots are about 20 degrees F. less hardy than the same items in the ground. The newest roots out near the pot walls are the first to go, with the old woody roots nearer the center somewhat more hardy. Knock things out of the pots and look at the outside roots to get an idea what condition each plant is in.

All of my plants are in the ground. We've been in Portland almost 7 years ;-). We bought our house about 4 years ago. The dates I've named are the "in the garden" planting dates.

I do have leaf buds on some things and not on others... I know bloom times are different, it's confusing that some still look so dead. My other Hydrangeas have leaf buds, but they are in slightly more sheltered areas.

The Passion Flower is a Blue Crown Passiflora Caerulea.

ellen- I would also encourage you to wait it out until May to decide if things are dead. I had a passion flower that lasted a long time, many years, but winter of 2007 did it in. I was out looking at my fig that only ripens the small figs left from the previous year and for the first time in maybe 10 years it looks like all the little figs are dead. I don't remember really low temperatures either, I'll have to find a record of temps this winter and see if I missed some.

If the plants didn't make it just look for some that are hardier to replace them. A few good sales are coming up, like the Hardy Plant Society April 11-12, and in Vancouver the Master Gardener's Sale Mother's Day weekend. Also the Clark County Home and Garden Idea Fair in Vancouver is free admission, April 24-26,

http://www.clarkpublicutilities.com/community/hgif/index_html

Or arrange a plant swap for the area with the Gardenweb folks.

Like they say in the MLM field, "Some will, some won't, who's next?". BTW, blueberries do excellently here and some are very attractive, even evergreen- replace some of those "ornamentals" with something yummy.:-P

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Plant Society sale

Ellen, I think it's too early to be counting things as lost. Give it another couple of months to be certain enough to begin yanking.

My deutzia is showing slight swelling of buds, my weigela is not but I'm not worried about it (w. looymansii, hardy to Z5).

Long established hydrangea paniculata has no signs of emerging from dormancy yet, but it's normally later than this, no concern there either.

Magnolia wilsonii in large container is biding its time too. Buds at stem tips don't feel dry, empty or dead to the touch, haven't done a scratch test of bark. Variegated Japanese maple might be showing the slightest of swellings at branch tips on close inspection, but remember I'm near enough to the ocean to see fog over the beach most days, maritime influence.

The only things I'm ready to declare a winter casualty are the geraniums (zonal) on my semi protected porch. I've watered them a couple of times late winter but I do think they are quite dead.

Passionflowers are often the last to emerge. I have one which sometimes doesn't make an appearance until early June. There are so many penstemons that it is hard to know what you should expect. Several of mine sometimes suffer a hard die back but generally resprout from the roots. But it is still too early to tell. jwww

The large-flowered bedding type penstemons tend to be markedly less hardy than the small rock garden types that may be native to high altitudes.

I don't know squat about passifloras so can't help you there.

Which Jasmine?

Even if some of the tops are dead. The root systems may be okay. I've got some broadleaf evergreens planted last year that look like hell, and I'm itching to cut off the black looking areas, but I'm going to wait until it's clear what's going to try again, and what's given up the ghost.