Garden shrubs dead, after five years!

I am a new gardener and a complete novice. About seven years ago I moved into a new property and was REALLY keen to plant a nice border of shrubs ( I love shrubs!). They did so well for five years and last year, the snow almost got them. I cut them down to almost nothing and they flourished again last summer. However, this winter has killed them off. So much so, that when I pulled at one of them the other day, the whole thing came out of the ground!

My garden is only small (about 10m by 5m). The border that I planted gets the full sun in the summer, from about 11am, right through until about 5pm. Having spent the last couple of days looking at this now 'deadwood' I am thinking that it will all have to come up (gutted!). Before I rush out and buy any more shrubs, I was hoping for some advice from more experienced gardeners as to what I should be planting. Basically, it is avery sunny spot and I love shrubs, particularly ones that will flower or have some colour in the autumn/winter, as well as those that will look good in summer. Any suggestions? I have my shrub spotters guide book at the ready!

I am not sure what the soil is (sorry). The shrubs that I had in place I can't even remeber what they were called. One has very fragrant flowers which trun into red berries and the other two dead ones had very fragrant purple flowers (not typical flower shape) a bit like buddlea type shaped flowers, but smaller. I am sure that my descriptions are completely useless! I will truy and upload a photo from my album!

Thank you, in advance, for any suggestions. I am a keen wildlfe/animal person, so any shrubs that could attract insects would be great! (I already have a buddlea...)

 

Sorry to hear you've lost your shrubs Markymark. Last winter in particular did put pay to a lot of peoples established shrubs. I've heard of Hebe (possibly one that you had),palms and cordylines being especially effected.

 

I pulled one up this weekend as it had definitely died...I did notice that one has got slightly small shoots appearing near the main trunk so will risk leaving it. Only time will tell I suppose...thank you for your comments. Much appreciated.