Perennials: Are my butterfly bushes all dead?!?, 0 by mlm01

mlm01 wrote:
My Bbushes were new last year and all bloomed very well. I planted 3 in the ground and one in a pot.

Now they look like dead sticks with a little growth at the bottom. Is this supposed to happen? I just cut them down a whole lot and the stems are all dried out and dead.

I took this pic with my phone I hope you can make out the little leaves at the bottom. This one is a b. davidii that was about 3.5 feet tall and bloomed very well last year after I planted it.