This is not a political post.

I think my burning bush is dead!! I did not transplant it or mess with it or anything. Last year it was fine and flourishing, and burning. This year I haven’t even got a leaf bud, and it’s already June. Everything else around it is growing happily and well, even stuff I did transplant. Any thoughts? Should I just pull it out? Should I worry that I have gnomes in my garden?

You can try the snap test - dead bushes dry out, their twigs will snap with a little bending - live ones will have some bend ability.

I do not know the life expectancy of a burning bush... perhaps it has surpassed its expected life time?

I will try that, thanks David. I don't know how long it's been there, it was there when we moved in two years ago, but who knows. It looked perfectly healthy last year, though, that's the weird thing.