Try scratching the stems, to see if they are green inside, the best way to tell if something is alive.

Do as Lizziebee suggests, it could just be that the very cold north easterly winds that we've been having recently have killed off the new foliage, a lot of plants that had survived the winter, have been badly damaged by the wind, even though it wasn't as cold as winter, also these are not completely hardy, some can withstand minus 10 c, but not for long, Derek.

Hi Amy ..
Is it definitely frost damage ?

I'm fairly sure it is TT it's happened in winters past with the frost but never as severe as this year ,usually it get over it but i'm not so sure this time ! we have several other shrubs Viburnums etc. in a similar state sort of half brown and half green I think they will survive .. I guess it's a waiting game !

That doesn't look like frost damage to me, more like something vital has happened to the plant and it's died. Just looks too total an effect for frost damage.

Thanks I tried scratching the bark there does appear to be a tiny appearance of green under the bark , all the leaves and catkins fall to the ground when you touch the shrub ... .. I'm not giving up hope just yet !

Oh Worthy that doesn't sound good !

Garryas always look bad for a two or three weeks after flowering, but not usually this bad! If it's showing green, there's still hope, but don't give up on it until the end of July (if you can wait that long).
I had a bottlebrush that looked dead two years ago after that bad winter, and it was mid June before it showed any signs of life.

Thanks for that Andrew I'm willing to wait , My bottle brush I have about 5 grown from seed also looked dead for the last two years but strangely after cutting them dowm to the base have a lot of new growth this year , fingers crossed for them , what a strange year !!

Hi Amy ..
Has your Garrya been getting enough water to its roots ?
Might sound an odd question, but is something nearby taking most of the moisture ?

One occasion a few years ago, when my Garrya started looking sad, I realised just in time that it was thirsty ....

Thats a thought TT , there is a very large shrub next to it in fact there are several shrubs in that area , I had noticed how dry the soil was whenI've been digging in other areas of the garden ,you wouldn't think it after this winter would you ! I'll give it a good soaking ,thanks for the tip , I had wondered what condition your J.R was in because yours always looks so healthy !

Just a word of sympathy Amy. Its hard to lose a beautiful friend. Here's hoping it recovers!

Thanks Amy :o)
My JR is doing fine thanks, but I check quite often to make sure the soil around it isn't too dry ...

Thats kind of you Steragram I hope so to , I've given it loads of water today TT ... fingers crossed ...I'll let you know if it bucks up !!

Fingers crossed :o) x

Mine is suffering but not as bad as this. Think though after all the rain we had last year it might have been the shock of getting too wet. lol :O( I am hoping mine recovers hope yours does too.

I'm glad to hear yours isn't this bad Olive , we didn't have as much rain as other areas we had plenty of snow but the soil is still dry underneath , I hope yours recovers and is soon back to it's full healthy self :o)

Me too Amy thanks :O)

We couldn't stand looking at it any longer today we took it out replacing it with a Ribes ' White icicle ' :o(

I cannot do anything with mine Amy, a blackbird has built a huge nest in it and is sitting on eggs. lol everytime I go up the garden I get shouted at. She doesn't like being disturbed. lol :O) Hope your Ribes does well for you. I have a white one too think it was called 'Elkingtons white' not sure though, another plant without a label. lol :O)

Ah it's nice to have birds nesting in the garden Olive we have a couple that I know of but I'm sure there are more , your Ribes could well be Elkingtons white Dottydaisy ( Angela ) has one called that ... :o)