[MI-Roger]

Have other home gardeners found their Butterfly Bushes and English Ivy plants dead this Spring following our recent arctic winter? Is there any hope in allowing additional time for possible budding of these plants before firing up the chain saws?

[EricB515]

My butterfly bushes are coming up and doing just fine...I thought I was going to lose a few plants over the winter but I was wrong....hang in there...I they are very cold hardy and tough plants.

[MI-Roger]

Originally Posted by EricB515

My butterfly bushes are coming up and doing just fine...I thought I was going to lose a few plants over the winter but I was wrong....hang in there...I they are very cold hardy and tough plants.

Thanks. We are certain the Ivy is dead (stems break easily with only a tug) but maybe the Butterfly Bush will come back

[Luzette]

Give it some more time before you pull it out. It's a late spring this year.

[canudigit]

We and several others in our neighborhood lost a lot of small boxwood shrubs. I'm pretty sure they are a lost cause, because they have turned completely yellow.

I hope we NEVER see another winter like this one in my lifetime!

[Luzette]

Originally Posted by canudigit

We and several others in our neighborhood lost a lot of small boxwood shrubs. I'm pretty sure they are a lost cause, because they have turned completely yellow.

I hope we NEVER see another winter like this one in my lifetime!

I'll second that! I sure hope this winter will be nothing like what we've just been through. Right now I'm enjoying all the beautiful green that I'm seeing out my window. The daffodils are blooming so it's this gorgeous color contrast. It will just keep getting better as more flowers come. I got so tired of winter with nothing but all white all the time.

[canudigit]

For me, the snow and the cold temps are annoying after a while, but the worst is the bare trees and dead grass. I hate when everything looks dead, and I'm also really enjoying this gorgeous, green springtime weather!

Our winters, though, assuming that they're not going to be like this past one again anytime soon, would not be enough motivation to make me move to a sunbelt state, especially when the bare trees and dead grass extend all the way down into much of Georgia for at least 3 months of the year and they have way worse summer weather to contend with than we do, not to mention a huge influx of "grass is greener" people flocking there from the North and overburdening their infrastructure, water supply, etc.

Driving to Florida in February and seeing the throngs of people, insane traffic, and high crime rates was enough for me to really appreciate what we have here.

[atler8]

Hold off with pulling out the butterfly bushes until you have given the plants ample to time to see if they will generate new growth that might pop up to the surface from the roots. If that happens & new growth develops, you can later remove the dead material by trimming it away.

[Retroit]

I bet there are many people who are happy to see that they finally got rid of their English Ivy. That stuff can really take over.

I'm still waiting for leaves on my rose bushes. A lot of new growth from the base, but the existing branches have almost no new leaves. I'll have to start pruning pretty soon.

[Luzette]

Originally Posted by canudigit

For me, the snow and the cold temps are annoying after a while, but the worst is the bare trees and dead grass. I hate when everything looks dead, and I'm also really enjoying this gorgeous, green springtime weather!

Our winters, though, assuming that they're not going to be like this past one again anytime soon, would not be enough motivation to make me move to a sunbelt state, especially when the bare trees and dead grass extend all the way down into much of Georgia for at least 3 months of the year and they have way worse summer weather to contend with than we do, not to mention a huge influx of "grass is greener" people flocking there from the North and overburdening their infrastructure, water supply, etc.

Driving to Florida in February and seeing the throngs of people, insane traffic, and high crime rates was enough for me to really appreciate what we have here.

I agree with everything you've stated. Winters are very difficult for me. I'm a jogger so once there is so much snow and ice around I'm always grounded until spring. I realized this past winter that I have to get an exercise machine for the house this year so I can keep active while we're snow bound.

In spite of my strong dislike of winter I don't intend to leave Michigan. It's too beautiful here for most of the year. I love the Great Lakes and all our smaller lakes, rivers and streams. There is so much to love about Michigan that this state will always be home to me. No place is going to be perfect all the time.