So the flower buds that are forming this year are not visible this year? That's good to know. I guess I'll be stocking up on cardboard. That's a good idea about the mulch. I'll do that.

Do you think mulch would provide the same insulation as leaves would?

I get better results with mulch than with leaves. You can use leaves but you have to pressure pack the leaves down, real hard, as opposed to just lightly placing the leaves where they may fall. Feel free to add more material in mid winter if you observe settling..

The flower buds are inside the stems so they are not visible now. When they open in Spring, they will look like little broccoli heads.

Ok good to know. Any type of mulch better than the other?

Anything but rocks. I use hardwood, cypress or pine needles, whichever is available or cheaper.

I’m trying this method too this year. Planning to get huge pieces of cardboard from an appliance store. How about weighting them with bags of shredded leaves? There will be pockets of air underneath Is that ok?

When should we do this?

In my mild winter climate, I do regular winter protecting (not the cardboard method) only when there is news of temps crashing from the 50-70Fs to the low 20s, the teens or less. I also water deeply the night before. That usually means winter protecting sometime late, in December thru February. In colder climates, you can do the cardboard method while the stems are still pliable and "bendable" (without breaking) in the Fall.

I am not sure how well weighing with bags of leaves will work as I have not read posts about the results anywhere. Maybe protect with mulch and use the bags to hold the cardboard as if they were rocks. But just make sure winter winds will not blow them away (that would be my concern) in cold places.

My only suggestion regarding protecting with leaves would be to pack the leaves down reeeal tight and, once you think you are done, pack even more leaves. Just putting leaves with your hand into a plastic bag and the sealing it, for example, will not help mulch. That probably leaves too many air pockets. That is why I starting using mulch now a days. ;o)) I tried using hay but it blew all over and into the house due to the location of some plants. It seemed to winter protect when using large quantities but in my case, I ended bringing some inside the house during winter and got tired of that.

Please post how you ended protecting, how cold it got and the results for you.

Don't prune anything!!!! Next years flower buds are inside the ends of the stem (invisible). If you prune down too far you could be cutting off next years buds. If you can, avoid pruning at all costs at this point.

For winterizing, I'm a huge fan of hay/straw. The only downside is it's a pain to clean up. The benefit is hay gets into every nook and cranny which results in little to no air pockets inside the cage. I usually get mine from local farms. The bales i got this year are HUGE. When it's standing up, it's about up to my chest and i'm 5' 11". They charged me 11 bucks for one. I got two which should be PLENTY. If you live near a farm, it wouldn't hurt to stop in and ask if they would sell you some hay.

If you want to stick with leaves, If you pick up leaves off the ground and toss them in as is, i'm afraid you're going to have LOT's of air pockets which will do nothing as far as protecting the shrub. What you need to do with leaves is crush/mulch them down so they are very small pieces. Once the leaves are crushed down, you should have less air in the cage. Keep an eye on it over the winter since it will settle over time and you might have to add more.