Over the course of 2009 and early 2010, I planted 22 azaleas. They were all small (3 gallon) but healthy. All were evergreen. We live on the edge of a mixed wood (mostly pine and oak) and the soil is naturally acidic everywhere I planted them.

I babied them for the first month at least (and the earlier-planted ones for much longer), watering when needed, giving them organic azalea fertilizer, etc.

Last year I went through three major surgeries and was unable to keep them watered throughout a very hot and dry summer.

One by one, their leaves fell off and they seemed to die.

Even though as evergreen azaleas, I know they weren't supposed to lose their leaves, I was hoping perhaps they just went dormant and would come back.

Well, as of today, mid-March, they show no signs of leafing out.

I'm assuming they're all dead, hm?

My nursery has a one-year guarantee, which applies to probably 16 of the plants, but I kind of hate to take them up on it not knowing for sure that they're dead. I only have a week to take advantage of the guarantee for most of them.

What would you do in this situation... assume they're dead and invoke the one-year guarantee? I feel somewhat guilty doing that, but I lost a lot of other plants during my surgeries and I can't afford to eat hundreds of dollars.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Julia