I had a mum once that put on a lot of new spring growth and looked great. Then the temps plumented and we got a freak late spring ice, not just a frost, but a hard freeze. The mum never made a come back. I lost some iris that year too that had already made buds. They just didn't come back strong and some of them rotted and died. My lilacs got froze that year too. The early springs we have once in a while make me nervous.

@jvdubb.

Jennifer,

Have you cut back your winter-kill yet? My MM plants looked good once the snow melted, then they looked not so great in the uncovered cold, then they started to grow again but now they look rather sad again. Do you wait until most of the spring rains are over and the temps are consistently out of the frost range, or is now as good a time as any? The ones I had live last year weren't trimmed off until late May or early June, I think, but that wasn't by design...it's just when I got around to them. Those few plants are certainly behaving as perennials though, as this will be their third year here.

It is right around now that I cut off the old dead parts. I did several this weekend. There is a massively wide variation in how each one fared. Even ones right next to each other.

Thanks Jennifer!

I'm getting mighty tired of looking at them right now. Unless they're trimmed back they certainly won't provide a nice looking backdrop for things that should be flowering soon.