It could be it needs some sort of nutrient. Last year I had the same problem with my climbing nasturtiums, all fol*iage and no blooms. I spaded in aged poop from our equally aged pony, and a couple weeks later the vines were alive with orange and yellow blossoms.

I put in a climbing hydrangea last year and I've read/heard it's a notoriously slow starter - sometimes taking 5 years to bloom. Mine is on the shady side of the house, which means if/when it does bloom it won't be as profuse as if it got a bit more sun. So I've prepared myself for a very long wait. :-)
There is an old thread about it on the hydrangea forum....

Here is a link that might be useful: climbing hydrangea thread

At 3 years old it's just on a half-way to the glory :-)
You shouldn't expect any blooms till years #5-6-7 unless planted in a full sun.
Keep in mind that every replanting will move your clocks back for 2 years. At least.

I've had mine 3 years and moved it every year. [g] Guess I'm three years in the red...lol. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it where it is either. It is next to a post and rail fence and I'm convinced it's not going to climb it. I am debating putting up trellis panels. I wish I had a nice tall tree trunk to watch it climb.

Ha! I have mine next to a tall tree trunk and it tries to climb up. Unfortunately, the tree trunk is also a major squirrel thoroughfare and the squirrels keep knocking the hydrangea down - it's sort of like when your socks fall down and bunch up around your ankles. The hydrangea blooms though. I may try to lash the poor vine to the tree so the rodents can't budge it.

Claire

That's funny, Claire and really great description of what it looks like...lol. My DH was just looking at the squirrels chasing each other in circles all up and down the neighbor's Sliver Maple. They do that all the time. I can't see how anything could survive that.

Now, that's not a bad idea, DtD. I could definitely tie it to the posts to get it going. There is chicken wire backing the post and rail fen*ce, so maybe that will help.

I have a Maple, but the lower branches are barely high enough to walk under it. I wouldn't be able to see much of it, if I let it climb it.

Oh, btw, I see at Bluestone this year, they are now offering a variegated Climbing Hydrangea. It's very pretty and I really want it....lol.

Mine absolutely could not get started on a tree trunk. About year 3 we put a chicken wire collar about 4 feet up and now its going like mad up the tree. I'm trying to figure out if I can cut out the chicken wire in pieces, though what's the point?
Marie

This is year 8 for mine. It has climbed very far up a large tree and each year I say "this has GOT to be the year". And every year it doesn't bloom. BUT, I'm holding out hope because there is nothing like the site of a 30' tall climbing hydrangea in its full-blooming glory. And yes, already this spring I have looked at it and said "this IS the year it will bloom"!

Funny thing is I planted 3 teeny-tiny climbing hydrangea last spring in my backyard and 1 of them bloomed last year. Go figure!

thyme2dig,
'Funny thing is I planted 3 teeny-tiny climbing hydrangea last spring in my backyard and 1 of them bloomed last year. Go figure!'

Not a miracle at all.
If cutting was taken from mature wood i.e. 5 years old+, it may bloom in a year of planting because it blooms on off-shots of the mature woods. But, that's it, one year wonder, when you plant it clock had been set back to zero and in a next few years it will work on a development of a root system which has to support 30' tall plant.
BTW, it will bloom at earlier age if planted in full sun, but in a young years it will grow not as vigorously as if it would of be planted in a shade. Part-sun is a happy medium.

I hope this isn't the case for you but I have read that it can take up to ten years for this guy to bloom.

Mine is beautifull, full,healthy but.....lots of blossoms but they do not fully bloom.

Mine must be close to 10 years old and it had 3 or 4 blooms last year...the first blooms ever! This year it is finally full of blooms...but it was a long wait!