help with frozen plants

I'm a fairly new gardner living in Portland. It seems that my carefully chosen plants have died over the freeze - I have 2 kinds of Australian Mint Bush, and they appear to be dead. Should I leave them alone, or should I just cut them down and hope that the roots will re-generate a new bush? Is there a time to cut that would be optimal? thanks

Let them be until Spring, due to the possibility of more cold temps this Winter. Many plants will top-kill & resprout from roots. Any pruning done now will further expose the plant to dieback from freezing.
I am trying not to look at a few things that appear to be beyond help. You might want to try mulching over & around anything in question, in order to protect the live roots.

I concur with Katye. Here is a site that might be useful.

http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/herbs/Prostanthera_rotundifolia.html

The snow we had this year did lots of damage to leaves, but what snow also does is act as an insulation for roots. A hard dry freeze, or freezing rain, is more damaging. Good luck.

Z

Thanks for the Rainyside link, Michael. I knew I had read about Prostanthera being hardier than Zone 9, but had opted to not find out through personal experience!
Instead, I will learn firsthand about Melianthus & Drimys.
Mulchpdx - please let us know how it fared in the Spring. Always good information to share!

Funny I was about to ask the same Q. on my A. mint bush.
Thanks Katey

Heres a pic I took today. Have I lost it?

Tills, I really think you'll be able to assess the condition of your A. Mint bush better by March.
I don't normally cover my shrubs, but I would if it was a borderline plant. I wish I had covered the Daphnes - very black leaves with scores of chartreuse flower buds!
And I won't let my Phormiums get chilled again!
Wonder how Gordon's Melianthus & other plants fared - he's been busy lately...