hard frost or freeze???

as you note.. if the buds formed properly in fall ... but fail in spring.. something happened in winter .. or spring.. to make the tree abort them ...

the other option would be a mid winter thaw out of dormancy.. and the a harsh return of winter ...

it is very hard for us to guess.. what occurred between fall and now .. in your garden ... do you have any recollection of some extreme???

also.. the insult could have happened weeks ago .. and the damage.. just now.. showing ...

ken

One in picture isn't fully expressed either, chains should be straighter and more full of flowers.

Thank you. We have great swings in temperature, during every Winter. Depends if weather is from inland or from the nearby Atlantic, which stays rather warm until after Christmas.
Looks like I will have iffy results, and strike it just right some year. At least it is budding up for the second year in a row, after a good many years.