Seems like your Rhodos are suffering from water loss. Don't worry too much, usually the leaves return to normal in the spring (when temp lows are no colder than about 35 degrees fahrenheit). The leaves curl to prevent water loss, as water loss occurs through stomata on the underside of the leaves. If the leaves do not recover, its likely winter injury and must be pruned back. Rhododendrons really speak to you about the temperature. The colder the weather, the more severe the leaf curling is. Also, I see nothing wrong with your Boxwoods...

Wow. That's completely opposite to opinions I've received on another gardening board.

Let me share:

"IMHO these plants are too damaged to bother with. Get rid of them and plant something else."

"t looks as if there are 3 scenarios here, some frost damage, overwaterting, chlorosis (iron deficiency from over watering)"

"The first two look like the got hit by the frost, the boxwoods need food, I would recommend giving them a good feed and watch the rhododendrons you might end up having to prune them back to healthy wood."

"Looking at your bark mulch and the plants it looks like too much water and possible chlorosis."

I misidentified one of the plants as a Rhododendrum, but it's an azelea. I have 5 total. 2 boxwoods, 2 rhododendrum, & & 1 azelea.

Hi kelly, IMO, it's too early in the season to throw the baby out. None of your shrubs look kaput to me. The rhody looks like it might have some die-back, but, did you check around the rhody and azalea to see if a vole or chipmunk made a tunnel that would have let air in and dried out some roots? I've had that happen. The plants appear to be in a row and as long as you're sure no one sprayed anything poisonous near them that would have leached into the area,(like Round-Up) I'd wait till the weather really turns nice then make a decision to prune some of the rhody's dried stems. The azalea looks pretty normal - some azaleas change leaf color which adds to their beauty. The boxwood looks like mine does every year at this time and come the end of April, I'll zip off the yellowed parts with a hedge trimmer. Sometimes a bug makes a home for the winter in rolled boxwood leaves and after the bug develops, the leaf turns yellow. Again, if they were my shrubs, I wouldn't panic - they're all pretty tough shrubs.
Just took this picture of one of my boxwoods to relieve your mind. Not a pro, just my opinion and what I'd do if they were mine.

Typical Green Mtn. Boxwood look at this time of year in my yard - plant comes back every year.

kindly,
Jane

I doubt that frost would damage them since they are hardy in your area. But it's very possible that heavy snow loads could have caused damage to the leaf stems or even some of the smaller branches. It may not be visible but could be internal cracks or something similar. I do agree that it may also be combined with lack of water, because winter winds can dry the leaves and the plant can't replace it because moisture in the soil is frozen solid.

There is one other thing.....are they all planted in the same area? Is it by chance near a natural gas line? Why I ask is because several years ago, there was a small leak in the gas line to my house, and the shrubs above it were slowly dying. Once the gas company repaired it, everything recovered. Just a thought.

{{gwi:5901}}

Well, I do appreciate your thoughts!! I Does it matter that I only planted these last year? I too would think that a hard winter would take them a bit to spring back from and it's still really cold here. I'm relieved with your opinions and I like them better so I'll stick with y'alls advice. :)
I wasn't too concerned over the boxwoods. I thought they looked fine 'cept for that yellow part and I'm dying to snip that off. Thanks you thank thank you!

They are warranted for 1 year through the nursery where I purchased them.

P.S. No gas lines here. I wish we had one!! Oil heat sucks! Well it heats well, just friggin' expensive. :)

Kellycrash, no clue how anyone could think they were overwatered... for goodness sakes, winter just ended, the ground was frozen for how many months? 2? 3? I wish I had a comparison picture of my Rhodos a month ago to now. Granted I'm in 6b, so they recover earlier for me, but, they recovered! Frost and winter damage is a possibility, and you'll see in time, it is still a little early. Not for nothing, but whoever thinks that they are overwatered needs more experience with Rhodos. Your in MA, you have dry winter winds, its reality. Just a recommendation, some Wiltpruf (or any other anti-desiccant) will cure this leaf curling if you happen to find it displeasing to look at. Same goes for Azaleas, they're all one big family, basically the same plant to me. Hope this is helpful

Kellycrash -

The fact that they were planted last fall is important. Shrubs take some time to grow roots, and depending on how soon before the soil froze they were planted, they may have gone into the winter without enough roots to have uptaken enough water to keep them happy. One of the nice things about Rhodies is that they have dormant buds on the stems which will sprout if the branches above them have died. So I wouldn't give up on these plants. I'd leave them until rhodies in your area are putting out new leaves (after bloom) and then prune back branches that when the bark is scratched, there is no green in the under bark. You still appear to have a fair number of leaves that have survived. The boxwoods' damage also look like desiccation, but isn't as much as the rhododendrons.

I'd say that all your plants will look considerably better in a few months, but if not, you can always decide later on to replace them.

Don't know where you are, but some of what you showed looks like the browning on plants that many experienced after the storms of 2011 and especially those in 2012. Even miles from the coast here in CT, there are trees and shrubs that have browned from salt water carried far inland by high winds. I've included a link I found; though it mentions a product and service, the general information in it might help ease your mind.

In any case, don't give up on them yet. The advice given by others should be helpful. Plus, you can always prune back rhododendrons, azalea, and boxwood shrubs and they'll rebound.

Molie

Here is a link that might be useful: Salt water damage due to Hurricane Sandy

I planted them shrubs at the beginning of May 2012... All good advice. Thank you thank you!

I'm getting a little warning sign from the flat soaker hose running by one of the rhodies; when I plant new shrubs, I lay out a soaker in a circle about the size of the root ball - a couple of times around - to make sure that when the water is on, the plant gets a real soak. If you're relying on the soaker hose, you'd need to run it for several hours, checking every few hours, to be sure you deliver enough water to the root ball.

Nothing to be alarmed about, but it seems to me that under-watering could be an issue. That kind of stress would very likely start to show itself right about now.

I agree with DTD. These plants look to me as if they went into the winter without enough water. Shrubs, especially newly planted shrubs with limited root systems, need to have their cells full of water as we enter winter. When the landscape is frozen it's dry and winter winds will dry out new plants even further. If Mother Nature doesn't provide the proper moisture for new plantings then you should do it. Once plants are fully established and have more extensive root systems then they will winter over fine. Still it's a good practice to give them water in the fall.

Steve

Kelly, your boxwood has some "bronzing." Very common. Just clip it out and it will be fine. Hollytone will help box, azaleas and rhode's. Are these in a sheltered location? If not, wind probably dried them out. Give them some TLC, they're tougher than you think.

Yeah....nothing wrong with those boxwoods. Just give them a little food now and they will be fine. You could try some ironite....that will get them good and green.

Not sure about those azaleas. They can be very sensitive and fussy. Give them some azalea/rhody food.....and then wait for them to push some growth. Once it is clear which branches are truly dead, cut them off and then reassess. But don't do anything crazy now like ripping them out.