Acer Chances after Awful Winter

My acers from B&Q were reduced to clear and I never knew why. When I potted them, the leaves all went crispy and fell off. My internet searches suggested verticillium wilt or something like that, but I have fed and mulched in Feb and I’m starting to see buds.
Does this look like it might come back?

I’m new to trees so have no idea how they would evolve over the year.

Attached another picture of a plant looking sorry for itself. What’s the best process here?

Thanks

 

If the leaves went crispy and fell off it likely means that it's in the wrong position.
In their native environment they grow in dappled shade at the edge of woodland which is ideal for them.
Dry cold winds will also turn the leaves crispy.
When you plant it bear the above in mind.

I have an acer with VW but can see no obvious sign of it in the photos.
With VW you'll see isolated clumps of leaves that die completely whilst other leaves on the same branch appear uninfected.
A sure sign is black bruise-like marks on branches.
Yours may be a red variety with dark branches, so wouldn't be easy to spot. The red leaved varieties can take more sun usually than the green leaves ones.

The cordyline (probably) looks dead to me, but you can wait to see if any new growth appears from the centre or right at the base of the plant.

 

When did you buy the acers? They are deciduous so the leaves naturally fall in the autumn. The buds look healthy to me. Other times of the year, crispy/falling leaves are more likely to be from too much wind or sun than any disease.
Those light grey stubs at the ends of some of the branches are dieback, probably due to being pruned too far above the buds, so you can trim those off if you like.

 

Diy store plants usually get over or under watered and acers don't like it to dry, which might have been the reason for dried up leaves (if it wasnt one of the others mentioned above).

Cordylines aren't completely hardy and the more colour in the leaves, the less hardy they are. The normal green variety can generally cope with quite cold conditions but the reds don't like anything below about -5c and are normally less hardy when small. It could be cold or sometimes wet but if the central stem is still hard then it will probably come back. If the stem is squishy then it's on its way out and I would cut it off, hopefully into a harder part of stem. If the whole thing is squishy then it definitely won't regrow but mature specimens can resprout from the trunk.