They are quite hardy for zone 7 and I have one of these plant for last 4 years that survived all winters in northern Virginia. My g.frost proof is in same condition as yours. Yes, it is due to extreme winter this year as you said. Don't trim anything at this time, the dried leaves will fall off and next month when temp go up it will start growing.

Thanks for the note. It gives me a lot of relief. I have a follow-up question on fertilization. When we planted these, we added some Osmocote pellets 1 inch below the soil. Do I need to fertilize each growing season? When is the best time to fertilize? Also am I just supposed to remove the mulch and spread the Osmocote or some other way? Sorry I am a novice gardener (or if there is any word to describe a stage even prior to that lol).

I don't pay much attention to it, once in spring I add acid loving fertilizer and nothing else after that. I spread the fertilizer 1inch deep into soil below much.

Thanks - I searched on Amazon - is this a good one?

http://www.amazon.com/FoxFarm-FX14065-Happy-Loving-Fertilizer/dp/B002JLGGXI

foxfarm fertlizer looks good to me but I have never used. I use general cheap miracle gro acid loving fertilizer from wal mart for these plants.