Are azaleas supposed to look dead over winter

[PureBlackVoid]

I planted these a couple of years ago but can’t remember what they looked like last winter.

Have a couple like this, and couple with some leaves on them. I haven’t touched the garden in months so I’m about to start tidying the borders, not sure if I should get rid of the dead looking azaleas or leave them for now?

I just leave stuff and it grows back. My azaleas haven’t grown yet. There’s more bad weather on the way so I’m not tidying just yet, animals are still hibernating.

My azaleas are evergreen but I'm not sure they all are. I'd leave them a few weeks and if they don't show any signs of growth by late spring, then dig them up and discard. By late spring they should be in flower, or at least in bud, so that will tell you.

I wouldn't prune them now as that would cut off any potential buds.

Thanks I’ll leave them for now

With your thumb nail just scrape a stem. If its green below the bark all is good...

I’m not sure that’s an Azalea. It should keep branching from a point just above the ground, not have lots of unbranched stems coming up separately.

It looks quite dead, but I’d give it another month. The dead things in my greenhouse are sprouting, but not the ones outside yet.