I wonder what you’re seeing in your area, but April has had some victims. In April I saw clear signs of my Anise hyssop regrowing with new purple flowers. Then the snow and a few freezing nights came and my Anise hyssop is apparently as dead as a door nail. All new growth died, and all I have left are stalks. Also, my fancy Coreopsis, ‘Peach Sparkle’ and ‘Heaven’s Gate’, have also died, all six of them. If you have seen my One Good Photo from last year of our new stone patio, they were the glorious Coreopsis in shades of red/pink and yellow in that photo. But, they are all DEAD! My Callicarpa (Beautyberry) had me nervous, but it has finally put out growth. Most of the growth is from the roots, but a few of the branches are sprouting leaves at the lower sections. I am barely hardy for them, so I’m pleased they made it. My hydrangeas have always been a problem and I was not able to winter protect them last year, so I’m sure this will be the fourth or fifth year in a row with no blooms on them. I had another new variety of barely-hardy dianthus, ‘Georgia Peach Pie’, that looked fabulous going into April, and then after April one died and a second is barely hanging on with some new growth in only one portion. This dianthus is really beautiful, so I’ve purchased more and will be watching them for next year to see if they are worth the trouble. For a little bit I thought my patch of gooseneck loosestrife succumbed, but I believe it’s poking through now. It seems that its aggressive nature was curbed, though!

I thought we had some excellent snow cover for the cold snap in December, so I don’t know if it was really so cold that the snow wasn’t enough, or if April was bad enough to kill the plants as they awakened. Either way, I’m out some plants that I did not expect to have problems with.