I would say you just have to wait until Spring to decide if it really is dead. Most plants look awful awful after the frostiest few weeks I can remember at this time of the year Dalery.

Our alpinas and montanas look dreadful at the moment but I am quite confident that they will be back to full vigour next spring.

C. montana will look completely dead during most winters - you'll know whether it is or not when we get to spring - late spring if its still very cold in March.

thank you very much to everyone I am now looking forward to spring to see her alive again once again thank you

If you want to put your mind at rest, you could always cut through one stem and see if the inside is green (alive) or brown (dead). If it's brown, trim down a little further in case it has just died back a bit. Make sure it's only a side shoot!!!

Not sure its worth it, Volunteer - if its been very cold, any smaller stems may be completely dead, but that doesn't necessarily mean new growth won't appear off the mainstem.

Yes, but Dalery may be one of those impatient gardeners (nothing wrong with that!) who needs/wants to know NOW!

Yea I know - I'm like that myself - but I learned over the years because sometimes, you're even more concerned after you've done something like that, yet the plant's not actually dead at all...

And in any case they can and will shoot from below ground, so even if the stems are sere the plant may not be dead.

I know what you mean, could have cried this morning, the first time I've been able to get down to the bottom of the garden due to the deep snow, two beautiful pittospurum that must both be over 7ft tall and survived completely unscathed last winter, both have been planted for over 8 years, the leaves are completely black :-(, what do you think the chances are of these coming back?

Owdboggy, great word - 'sere'. That's the first time I've seen it used here. Must try to use specific (and sometimes obscure words). It keeps the language alive. Worthy

what does sere mean in this context as it has a meaning in ecology?

Dry!

Good plan, worthy, let's all use the less common (these days) words when we can.
Simbad, its a wait and see I'm afraid - I think more trouble has been caused to plants this year because of the sudden, early appearance of arctic cold - at least last year we had the normal, slow drift into it by December, but this year, it got cold real quick, even while my nerines were still in flower - got up one morning and the flowers were frozen stiff. You may find they're still alive by late Spring, showing new shoots either from the base or along the branches, so do nothing now, and worry about it later. There's nowt you can do now anyway.

Words like floccinaucinihilipilification you mean? But then I make nothing of that!
I would say that pruning anything in this weather would be a mistake. The open wound would be less likely to heal when the sap is not rising, except on those plants which bleed to death when damaged in Spring.

Thanks Owd. Not heard sere used in that context before. But I like it. Not heard flocc.... since a Ken Dodd show in the late 60's. hehe. I found it valueless too :o)

Thanks Bamboo, I'll keep my fingers crossed, think there'll be a lot of losses this year, a couple of my phormiums are looking pretty bad too, but hopefully they'll regrow next year, they're not completely brown.

No, I don't mean words like that owdboggy, lol! Sere I've used for years meaning dry, but when was the last time you heard someone use it out loud in conversation? The last time I said evocative, I had to explain to 3 people what it meant... it's all very sad.

Perhaps the meaning would have stuck if you had said Evostick instead?

Wouldn't have made much sense though, would it, lol