Chris, do you have any photos you can post in the first post, of the winter damage?
Here is some winter damage I had this year. It was from months of rain and no snow cover. Several other varieties had major problems with rot but have since pulled out of it and are growing nicely.
S. tectorum 'Triste' 12/31/2010 showing signs of beginning rot and here it is in June of 2011, fully recovered. It did sustain a large amount of damage before the rains finally stopped in May. Sorry I didn't get a photo of how bad the damage was by then. But they sure were quick to recover once drier weather arrived. : )
