Help! Yoshino Cherry Tree

[Hmoske]

We planted a Yoshino Cherry tree last spring with the help of this forum and thought it went wonderfully. It bloomed last spring and had bright green leaves all year until fall. Now it is March (I am in zone 8b, Central Texas ) and still no blooms. We did not have much of a winter (I think it only froze 3 times) so I know it was not because of a harsh winter. I don't even see any shoots for blooms. All of our other trees are either completely covered with leaves or started to do so, including the red maples which usually take longer than the others to come out. Can I assume that the tree is dead? Or is there a way to tell? Should I still keep it in the ground for another few months to see if it pulls through? Also, is there anything I can to to try to save it?
Thanks so much in advance for your suggestions, I was really looking forward to watching this tree grow and become a part of our backyard.

[WildcatNurseryman]

Pick a few random limbs/twigs and scrape away some bark. If it is green directly under the bark it is alive if it is Black or dark brown- no luck. Also can check to see if the twigs are brittle. Sometimes when a tree/plant is highly stressed it will set heavy bloom. It is it's natural way of making sure it reproduces future generations. It kind of thinks, "Oh junk! I'm about to die and I need some kids to continue my species", so it puts it's remaining energy into flowers and fruit. Good luck! Hopefully it's just our screwed up weather patterns. PS Cherry Trees started blooming late last week in KY. Zone 6b here.