Take a look around Lexington and Louisville landscapes this Spring and you’ll notice plants flowering almost a full month later than normal, and by the end of April several tree species had still not leafed out. People have come to expect Crape Myrtles and Laurels to occasionally not survive a winter, but many more plants than the usual suspects have taken severe winter damage or died completely.
Lexington and the surrounding areas are officially listed as USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6b with average winter low temperatures seldom below -5o F. But the winter of 2014-15 brought temperatures officially as cold as -18o F, with rural areas actually getting below -20o F. Temperatures that cold actually border the USDA Zone 4a range, a full 2 Zones colder than a typical winter in the Bluegrass.
The best course of action is patience. A plant that may look dead could still sprout from the roots or base of the trunk. The thumbnail test is a good way to check if a branch is still alive. Simply scratch the bark and if there is green beneath then the branch is still alive and awaiting warmer temperatures before sending out leaves. If branches are partially dead, cut them back to the green and living portions of the plant.
The included picture is of an Abelia ‘Rose Creek’ which is mostly evergreen in a typical Zone 6b winter. The plants completely defoliated this winter, and the portions not covered by snow pack during the coldest nights died while the buried portions survived.
