Dead branches on ceoanthus

That’s a good idea skippyO thanks.
I did have to prune them both quite hard after that really cold snap a couple of years ago when they both suffered frost damage, and they both recovered from that well. I’m guessing that some kind of fungal infection has got in through a pruning wound even though I’m very careful about cleaning tools between plants

Might be worth taking some cuttings from your healthier, unaffected ceanothus as a precaution although I believe they're considered tolerant of hard pruning.

I took cuttings in mid-July from a neighbour's highly floriferous variety that had poked a shoot through a gap in the fence. All three cuttings took, are now well rooted and I shall grow them on in pots for planting out next year.

It is lovely when in flower and the bees love it too. I have taken out the dead bits and will try to give it a less hacked-at look when the wind drops a bit over the weekend.
FoxieI had read that they are short lived so thank you for confirming that.
RosiesMaw2 thanks for the spelling. I had always just called them Californian Lilacs - shouldn’t try to be posh!!

I gather there is a pink variety but I think I’ll stick to the blue if a replacement is needed, the darker the better for preference.

I’ve never had any success with those, even though a house two doors down has quite a sizeable ceanothus an another further down the hill also has one.
Our soil is heavy clay. I’m watching this thread for help.

They are short lived. We have heavy clay soil and they do well with us until they decide to die. I'd just cut any dead bits off and enjoy it for a little longer then be prepared to replace it. I love the colour though,can be such an intense blue.

Do you mean ceanothus ?
I would just cut out the dead branches as you have done, tidy up the shape and see what happens next year.

Thank you both. I have clay soil here so either claggy or rock hard! It swallows compost much faster than I can produce it. I have a feeling the ceoanthus is suffering from the erratic water supply this year.
It was badly hit by frost a couple of years ago and had recovered from that. I’ll see how it goes over the Winter.

The other one, just a few feet away, is fine so fingers crossed. They are such magnets for bees when they are in flower.

They are reasonably short lived, often just a few years.
I prune mine after flowering and it has new growth from the bottom.

I had a magnificent Ceoanthus .
It produced such a profusion of blue flowers and dark green leaves - and then it died .
I know that they dislike a soggy ground and that was perhaps the explanation .