Hello, craftlady07. It may be a macrophylla but it sure is hard to tell without seeing blooms. I agree with one thing you said though... very few hydrangeas stay that small so you may have to move it eventually if it gets too big.

It should bloom provided the flower buds are not damaged by the cold winds or cold temperatures of winter. That is another way of saying it should bloom if it is good in your zone. An Endless Summer type of macrophylla -for example- might survive and bloom. Just make sure it was well mulched (3-4" of any acidic mulch). If winter is dry and your soil does not freeze, water once every week or once every two weeks.

If you notice that new growth in Spring comes back from the crown every year and the plant does not bloom, that means it is too cold in your area and the shrub is planted out of zone. In those cases, you need to apply winter protection techniques to make sure you see blooms in Spring.

Luis

Next spring when the Weed Thing grows leaves and after the day time temps reach 80 degrees, buy one of those 50 cent foam rubber paint brushes and carefully paint the weed leaves with Round-Up shrub killer. The weed will die and your hydrangea will be OK.

You can also take cuttings in summer of your hydrangea, very easy to do. Then in a yr. you will have new plants to start with, dig up that older mother one, and also the weed. You also may be able to save the original plant.
Darlene

I had completely forgotten that I posed this, how fortunate!
We transplanted the hydrangea this past weekend. I only noted one small new leaf bud coming out, so I knew it breaking dormancy and had to moved sooner rather then later.
We were able to remove the wood weed thing, no idea what it was, but it's gone :) I did not cut back the stems from last year each stem appears to have a bud on top...could they be flower buds?

Here's where we moved it to. (it was behind the wheel barrow and the dog at the corner of the house next to the propane tank)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:993969}}

I forgot to add, I will be adding mulch in a few weeks, we just didn't get any yet. There is a forecast for rain (1/4" or more) every other day for the next week, I'll monitor the plant to be sure it doesn't dry out.