Cut out the dead parts only. Then give them some azalea or other "acid-loving" fertilizer (different than "regular" fertilizer, because azaleas love acid conditions) and don't let them dry out too much this coming year, and they ought to start recovering.

You see lack of blooming, from where the buds were killed LAST YEAR. You see dead branches, which were killed LAST YEAR. Those dead branches are going to stay dead, no matter how long you withhold fertilizer.

The cause of stress has passed. The conditions so far this year are good. Now those plants need to be encouraged to regrow what they've lost.

Incidentally and mostly unrelated -- I've got a bunch of azaleas that have been in one gallon pots for **two years** now. They are blooming their butts off. I'm very impressed with them! I do plan on putting them in bigger pots some time this spring -- then they get to go live in Lebanon!

Unstressed shrubs would not have stems that appear half dead. On a healthy shrub, the previously damaged areas would be sealed off and the dead area would be obviously differentiated from the normal, healthy tissue.

Like probably most people on here, I have very little experience with how fast shrubs recover from stress after periods like last year. I am only relaying the information that I have heard from a number of people in the horticultural field who I hear advising against fertilizing trees and shrubs even now. Many arborists are predicting losses through at least next year that will mainly be due to the stress received from last year. With last year's freeze and the prolonged drought spanning most of last year, it would be a surprise if the shrubs weren't stressed. If you disagree with this, that's up to you, but the advise I've heard from nursery owners and educators makes sense to me.

Fertilizer is usually recommended for trees or shrubs if 1.) a soil test indicates a nutrient deficiency or 2.) the tree or shrub is healthy and growth rates in excess of normal growth rates are desired for some reason. I don't see either of these being the case in this situation. If I wanted to give these shrubs a boost, I'd add some compost and forget about the fertilizer.

P.S. ..... The Azalea Society of America states:
In general, azaleas in the landscape require little or no fertilizer. Having humus (decomposed organic matter) in the soil and maintaining an organic mulch around azaleas are more important than applying chemical fertilizers, and much safer. Decomposition of the mulch normally provides the nutrients needed for the good health of the azaleas. Applying chemical fertilizers without knowledge of any deficiencies in your soil may not help much, and may actually harm your azaleas. As a very general rule, more azaleas are killed by kindness than by neglect.