Without snow to insulate, I think plants suffered. I have a circular bed where the lavender on the east died, as well as a young weigela. The lavender on the west side is fine. Looks like I also lot shasta daisies.

I looks like soapwort died in my part-sun bed. I don't see any calendula seedlings that usually spring up all over the place but I do have a lot of seedlings from an annual poppy.

I'm not even sure about what's missing. I think I'm also missing a dark red yarrow but it was near a Coronation Gold. I think the gold is still there. Only one lupine. There should be several.

A section of my part shade garden was dug up. I didn't realize that my husband had just left a hosta plant sitting there. I went to dig it up for a friend and realized it had never been replanted. Looks fine.

My 6-year-old lavender died, too... I thought it was just me! It had an eastern exposure as well; a few bits of green came back this spring but overall, just dead branches. I've been watching and waiting, but finally pulled it out today -- guess I'll just get a new one. I am missing some perennials too, but others are back in far greater numbers than I've ever seen (like the Joe Pye, the rudbeckia, the monarda...) My rugosas look fine and the ninebark is blooming its heart out, but some of the hydrangeas are not looking too happy. It's a curious mix; robust growth in some cases, complete obliteration in others. Nature works in mysterious ways...

Hmmmm. This is the first time I had a lavender plant actually survive the winter. Not just survive -it is flourishing. There must be 100 buds on it about to bloom.

I bought 2 plum crazy hibiscus last fall. Neither seem to have survived.

Finding lots of volunteer seedlings in lots of strange places. Someone mentioned that Irene was most likely responsible for scattering seeds far and wide. I now have a blue columbine front and center of my white garden. My blue columbine are on a garden at least 100' away.

Push gently around the base of suffering or dead plants. If the ground caves in when you push, you have voles tunneling in there, eating the plants' roots and killing them.

Pixie Lou, I have Plum Crazy and two other kinds of Hibiscus and they just started showing about a week ago and I'm a zone warmer than you. And the Plum Crazy came up after the others. So I'd give it some more time.

Ok prairiemoon. Gardening sure requires patience. It's like having a toddler.

And I just remembered that my Clematis Stoljwick Gold did not come back this year. Granted it never seemed happy living here . . .

nhbabs, I'll check for voles. Usually our cats and German Shepherd eat their hearts desire of voles until they're gone so I assume it's not a problem, but they just might be back. One of our big vole-catching cats died in the fall of 2010. Maybe 2011 was the year of the re-emerging vole and I'm seeing the results!

I'm glad I'm not crazy. ctlady, my lavender that did survive looks just like yours: Some new green shoots coming through nearer the base, but mostly dead wood.

All my rudbeckia hirtas are gone, but they aren't supposed to be especially hardy as I understand. I didn't expect all of them to die!

I'll tell you one thing that loved last winter is Jersualem Artochoke/Sunchoke seeds. I do love those tall yellow flowers in fall, but as far as breeding goes they have got to be the rabbit of the gardening world--seedlings everywhere! Just went to two fancy restaurants with high-falootin' food, and both served me a sunchoke something-or-other. I asked both chefs if I can eat immature sunchoke tubers. They didn't know, and the internet doesn't know. I think I could eat for a month on the sunchokes that have reseeded! Can't decide if I should weed now or weed in the fall when I can cook them.

Oh, Winter of Death, may ye never return!

Another very real possibility is that the warmer winter had some plants starting to break dormancy too early, and although there might not have been any visible evidence (i.e. green shoots, etc.) the plants may have started the growth sequence. Then, the colder weather came, and it could have caused them to succumb to cold that normally wouldn't bother them while fully dormant.

{{gwi:5901}}

I also lost lots of things that should have easily come through the winter and in fact came through the previous one with flying colors. My lupines have only one or two buds and the opening flowers are deformed. Rudbeckias are gone as are verbascum, blanket flower, feverfew & several others. Penstemon/beardtongue is barely an inch high in one or two beds altho' winter sown 'Mystica' is up & budded in other beds. Very few blooms on a few others. I'm with Bill on things breaking dormancy too soon in Jan/Feb only to be frozen when the cold weather hit with a vengeance in Mar/Apr. The dogwoods had almost 2/3 fewer blooms than in prior years and the mock orange isn't particularly heavy with flowers this year either.

Both my French and English lavender survived and should bloom this year. Things that did well: Shasta daisy, cushion spurge, perennial snapdragon, balloon flower, astilbe (albeit frost-nipped), lady's mantle and about half my columbine.

The mild winter was good for heating bills but it sure took a heavy toll in the garden.

I'M GLAD I'M NOT ALONE IN THIS WORLD!

Add lamb's ear to my list. Beautiful healthy patch looks like a 30-year-old male with early male pattern baldness. Too bad I can't figure out how to do a garden "comb over" for it. But, as I remember, those comb-overs never fooled anyone, so i guess it doesn't matter.

I do love daisies, and my shastas have also done well. I think my asclepias are fine, too, and they are late to break dormancy. That would support your theory, Bill. I'm not sure my Banana Cream shasta made it, though. I may have to cry now.

I did plant some ox-eye daisy here and there last year because I thought they would be like feverfew, popping up their sweet heads randomly through the garden. Over the winter my little ox-eye patches turned into huge thugs that are drowning out neighbors. Now I know why they are considered a "weed." I still like them, but clearly they're going to take a lot of attention to keep them well-behaved.

There is a very large patch of sunchoke seedlings out by the chicken coop. I'm sure the chicken shat them out over there. Those sunchokes could survive anything!

Boy, what a difference in distance. The dogwoods in town are astoundingly heavy with blossoms. This is near Concord NH.
Thanks, NHbabs, I never thought to check for voles.