The 'many' plants were geraniums......and that brings up a question...."were they pelargoniums"? or "Cranesbills"...the hardy geraniums.

Pels are annuals....they are planted for show in the one season, then dug up in the fall and either kept going at a window or stored in a cool, dry, dark location for later use the next spring.
If you left them in the ground, then certainly ---they wont come back simply because they are not perennials.

If you planted cranebills, then there are any number of reasons why the plants might have succumbed to:
too much moisture from snow melt, rain, you watering them, freezes, freeze/thaw cycles that repeat maybe bringing about heaving.
Bugs, poor drainage, not enough sun....are just a few.