Hello

I need a bit more information before we can attempt to diagnosis the cause of death of your plant.  What were the symptoms of the Daphne plant before it died?  Did the leaves turn yellow (or another color) or just wilt and fall off.  What did the roots look like when you removed the dead plant from the soil?  Do you have any pictures of the diseased plant?  Is there good drainage where the plants are located?  If you could get back to me with a response, it will help me narrow down potential diseases and recommended treatments.  Thank you

Samantha

Hi Charles

Browning of the leaves could indicate a fungal or virus in the soil but if the other surrounding plants do not have any signs or browning of leaves it could just be that one plant had a different issue.  Before cutting the plant down completely, scratch the bark on the branches towards the tips and further down closer to the trunk and see if the underlying layer is brown or green.  If it is brown even down by the trunk, then most likely it will not recover and you would need to replace with a new one.  If the underlying layer is green though, you could wait it out and see if it puts out new growth (green indicates the plant is still alive and the brown leaves you are seeing could be from sun scald or a freeze issue which only affects the leaves and is temporary until new growth comes on.  If you notice other surrounding daphnes start to do the same thing it could be a root rot issue which will spread through the soil and affect the surrounding plants.  Here is more info on that.https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/daphne-root-rot

Hi Charles

That is promising that the underlying plant material is still green and I hope the Daphne plant returns to a healthier state for you.