Oops! Sorry, when I stated "Sutherland ninebark" above, I really meant Dart's Gold"! SORRY!

My ninebarks are extremely slow to get going this year, they are just starting to leaf out and like yours most growth is coming from the base. I think that sudden huge dump of snow last fall in the middle of warm weather may have affected them.

Personally I am not fond of bushes that leaf out so sparingly this late, and i am considering moving them to make room for roses, lol.

I think hardy is a pretty broad term when it comes to describing plants, to me it varies from 'won't die in zone 3 hardy' to 'no cane die back hardy.'

My spirea canes are also half dead although some of the ones around town look much better, and i have a red barberry which also lost half its canes.

My Diablo and Coppertina have been very hardy for me. Late to leaf out, but hardy. They are large shrubs at this point. My Dart's Gold is not doing too bad, but it is less hardy. It has a number of dead branches this year and looks kind of lopsided. My Amber Jubilee, though...I'm really having trouble with that one. It is in a different area of the yard, and it must get less protection or something. It has limped along for 2 years now and it is still this tiny little thing. I think it gets a bit smaller every year. I love the color, so I'm really trying to nurse it. I'm hoping that eventually it'll get adjusted or settled in and then it will do better. Hopefully that isn't just a pipe dream! My spirea died back a lot, too.

Maybe ninebark's don't like chinooks.

My experience has been much the same as weeper's. Dart's gold has never been a good performer for me. I've threatened it with removal over the years, but then some years it does okay and I like the gold foliage. Because of it's lack of apparent hardiness, I was reluctant to try the newer varieties. But my sister has had a Diabolo for years and it is beautiful so I took the plunge. I purchased a Centerglow to replace the cistena cherry that always had major die-back. It has done great even though I dug it up and moved it last year. I also got a Coppertina (can't find the tag, but I think that's it) It is also doing really well. All the ninebarks in my yard have reliable snow cover. No chinooks here! Also the Centerglow is in the front yard where it is at the mercy of the cold winter winds, but I have trained my DH to deposit the snow from the driveway into my island bed. So it's pretty well protected.
It's been a funny spring. I've lost perennials that had seemed really hardy, yet the shrubs are all looking fine.

Diabolo is fully hardy in Calgary.

Coppertina I am convinced is not fully hardy here. I always have dieback on it. Many of the recent purple ninebarks are related to Coppertina so I'm not surprised they don't too well here.

I have a giant Dart's Gold as well. Gets a little bit of dieback but it grows so fast it doesn't matter.

My Coppertina never amounted to much, died back right to the ground, were always infested with aphids, scraggly, pitiful looking things and got the shovel last year - replaced them with Western Sand cherry.

Oh boy, now I am really tempted to shovel prune these ninebarks... LOL!

After pruning off the dead branches, my Coppertina is now this pathetic little thing that is smaller than many of my perennials now! LOL! Oh well, the leaf colours are lovely though...

I don't like the look of Diablo as I am not keen on the very dark leaves and so I don't think that I am going to get one to replace my Coppertina. If I am going to replace the Coppertina, it will have to be something that I really love.

So what could be replacement shrubs for Coppertina and Dart's Gold ninebarks please? I am wondering if Golden Mock Orange would be a good one?

I looked a False Spirea Sem but I think that may just get too invasive....

Now, how about Tiger Sumac? Would that get too big, I wonder?

Funny, my Dart's Gold is threatening to take over my front flower bed...it has always been fully hardy for me with little winter dieback. I tried growing a dark leafed ninebark (Diablo?), which died. I never gave Sambucus a try because I read that they weren't reliably hardy for here (zone 2), Costco had some lovely dark Sambucus this year...maybe I should give it a go.

How about Pink Beauty Potentilla? Or a Weigela?

False Spirea was the go to garden shrub in the NWT(aside from caragana) - could outlast any brutal, northern winter and poor soil conditions with flying colours, but yes, it does sucker and had to be kept in check or it would take over.

I only have one ninebark, Amber Jubilee and it has come through 2 winters with minimal die back. It's against the street and open to northwest winds but gets snow around it. Other than water the first year it's on it's own.

Donna, I also wondered about Weigela's but I thought that they would be even less hardy? Their foliage is very lovely, especially those ones with the dark red wine coloured foliage! What is people's experience with Weigela's here in zone 3 Canada please?

Sillanorth, if False Spirea was not that invasive, I would have gone for it already... sigh!

Wayne, how big is your Amber Jubilee? It has some amazing, lovely foliage! Between Amber Jubilee, Coppertina and Center Glow, I am wondering which one is the hardiest please?

It's 2.5' and hasn't started to grow yet this year, it's leafed out though. I've had a few frosts that have really messed with plant growth, it's like their not sure that they should start to grow again.

Amber Jubilee on the left and Bailey Compact Dwarf American Cranberry on the right, I had killed one of these buy trying to reposition it just before the heat of summer.

Thanks so much, Wayne! I just did a search and found that Amber Jubilee us listed as zone 2 and it's a seedling selection of Diablo and Dart's Gold...Perhaps that is why it is hardier than the other newer ninebarks?

BTW, how's everyone's experience with ninebark Summer Wine please?

Hmm..I wonder what is wrong with my Amber Jubilee, then? It has one twig growing that is about 6 inches tall, and that is it! In its 2nd year!

I dug up an Endless Summer hydrangea that was not growing very vigorously this spring, the roots were compressed into a small square from not being repotted soon enough and was further root bound when I purchased it. I don't think that variety is that hardy here any way.

Maybe I should dig mine up and check. I'm sure I would have teased the roots out, but I wouldn't have dug in to check if it was root bound further in. I've thought about digging it up to check, but I'm a little afraid it might kick the bucket with the heat we have coming. Maybe I should wait until fall?

Ostrich, I'm in zone 2b and my two weigelas (Red Prince and Polka) are fully hardy.

Thanks, Donna! I am impressed!! I wonder how those weigelas with dark leaves like Wine & Roses do in our cold climate? Are they as hardy as your Red Prince and Polka, I wonder?

Haven't grown the dark leaved one yet, but the Polka overwintered in its nursery pot on my deck. I ran out of time planting it that year - couldn't believe when it started budding out the next Spring.

I've been pretty careless with all my ninebarks (two 'diablo' and one unknown cultivar), and I've never had dieback (in Peace River). I think that this might be a problem with Calgary's erratic freeze-and-thaw cycles more than an outright hardiness problem.

I think that you got it, davidcalgary29pr! This chinook business is only good for humans but not for plants!! LOL!

I was still hoping that ninebark would be hardier than others for these chinooks but it turns out that even things like my paniculata hydrangeas would tolerate these chinooks better than these supposedly super hardy ninebarks!!! Ouch...

Thanks, VStapes! Your combination of Summer Wine and that artemisia (what's it called? Is it Valerie Finnis?) is truly STUNNING!

I must think of Summer Wine then, if this Coppertina does not work out.... sigh!

Oh, BTW, I tried to grow that Artemisia Valerie Finnis last year but it did not survive our winter.... I must find another spot and try again! It is really stunning. I LOVE IT! Thanks.

Thanks so much! Yes that is Valerie Finnis. I can't kill it. It spread like crazy in another bed and I dug it all out, but because I did like it I planted those two clumps in tomato rounds to see if they could be contained. So far so good!

Oh my gosh! I gotta get me some VF tout de suite!!! LOL