It would appear that I have lost my Calycanthus. I was hoping that it would return from the ground up as others were saying the hydranges are doing, but so far, no such luck.

I'm thinking of cutting it back to the ground and just leaving it in place for a couple of years. (I did that to a double flowering pear that was smack dab in the middle of my flower bed - cut it back, sprayed with round-up and now, 4 years later, it is growing again and blooming beautifully!)

Might the Calycanthus also stage a comeback?

I can't decide if the oak leaf hydrangea is slowly, ever so slowly, putting out leaves....what's there does not feel dry and brittle, but soft and pliable so I'm assuming that the plant is still alive, just very, very slow this year.