Winter Damage

Your plant is an Aucuba, which is a wonderful broadleaf evergreen but borderline hardy in your area. With the winter we’ve just had, we’re seeing LOTS of shrub damage. Not only the cold, but the weight of the snow was very hard for the plants. It’s possible your shrub may re-leaf, but it also may not. We suggest you wait a few weeks to see if the old wood produces any new leaves. You can scratch the bark with your fingernail and if you see green underneath that will tell you the wood is still alive. If you don’t get any new foliage on the old wood, we advise that you cut back the bare branches to several inches above the ground. Hopefully the shape will still be good, but if it isn’t, you may want to replace the shrubs. We hope you don’t have to!