Depends on if in fact they are just coming out of dormancy or if instead they have mostly lost the ability to grow due to some misfortune that has befallen them. You will have to judge this there where you can inspect the plants. Also you do need to get feedback from somebody (is there a customer service telephone number?) at the company, starting with what do the rest of them look like there where the company is located. As in are they all leafed out, or is their facility located in the Arctic?

Another possible factor is that you have bought material that came from a third party, after you placed your order. With McKay functioning as a middleman in this instance. With whoever boxed up your plants not having a frame of reference based on familiarity with stock being grown at McKay that would otherwise have tipped them off that something was haywire with these particular specimens.

Finally I have had problems a couple times myself with "twig" types of dogwoods not bouncing back successfully after bare rooting. One was bought bare rooted from a local retailer that had it displayed in sawdust, before the leafing out season. After planting it made a feeble effort at leafing out and then died. The other I have glaring at me right now, it is making a stronger effort but at the same time that it has oh so slowly enlarging leaves and even some still quite small flower clusters about half of the stems have started going black from the tips down. And same as with the previous plant when I saw the roots (this last one was purchased recently potted up by the retailer) they lacked a fresh and vigorous appearance. As though not kept from drying out during handling. Either that or a percentage of "twig" dogwoods actually don't do that well being bare rooted.

Speaking of which take the plastic off of yours and look to see if they were in fact finished in those pots or if instead they are recently bare rooted plants stuck into them this spring.

put seller on notice .. let us know what they say ..

plant them ... primer below ...

water properly thru fall ...

do not cut anything off ... while its trying to grow roots.. every leaf is an energy making machine ,,..leave as many as possible ...

they are stressed.. fert is not a response to stress ... just proper watering

they need to grow roots to get established ... i would not cut anything off for 2 years ...

be patient ... with both the plants.. and responses from the seller in its busiest season ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

The company left a voicemail and said to "give them a number of weeks to begin establishing themselves and they will end up leafing out a lot more."

Two of the plants have a mess of roots coming out of the bottom of the pots (first photo below). The third plant, which is the one with no leaves, has roots, but not as extensive as the other two (second photo).

I'll go ahead and plant them and not prune anything for a few years. Thanks so much for the info and advice! I was about to cut them back... I'm glad I posted here first. :)

In addition to establishing that they didn't send you recently potted bare rooted stock your observations and photos show that you have the opposite problem - they sent you old plants that have been in the same pots (and potting media) too long. The one in your last picture in particular is in quite a bad way - look at the contrast between its essentially leafless top and the top of the one in your previous picture. The one with roots coming out of the pot. I would definitely send McKay a report showing as you have done here that the last one in particular is not up to par, behaving as though it it not going to bounce back (consistent with the half dead looking top the roots don't look that great either). With again it being my experience as related above - in two instances anyway - that when "twig" dogwoods start off at time of purchase looking shall we say shocked things don't improve later.

Before you plant them, be sure you cut those girdling roots and separate them so they're not circling around the root ball. It might be easier if you soak them in a bucket of water first. Red twig dogwood like Bailey are pretty hard to kill. Last year I inadvertently grew a new bush from one of those red stems they sell around Christmas time as decorations and gave it to a friend to plant in her backyard.