Hi whimsicalgardener. I wish I had some advice for you, I'd love to see it! I have two regular Hydrangeas that came with blooms on them but since then all the blooms have gone kaput and none have replaced them. I'm hoping they're waiting for some cooler weather.

I'm sure someone will come along and give you an answer soon. Oh, and by the way, mine love the shade, if that makes any difference. Maybe try some Bloom Booster. That's what I'm getting ready to put on my Passion Flower that hasn't bloomed yet.

Take care,
Dee

The only Climbing hydrangeas or vining hydrangea kin that grow in MD bloom in May. Mine took 4-5 years to put out the first blooms. If your plant is correctly sited, I would leave it alone. It needs a chance to develop new roots and an opportunity to grow toward sun. My favorite grew on the chimney that was in the northeast corner, the shadiest spot in the yard and the place where the snow melted last. I transplanted another which was poorly cited (too much sun) when I lived in MD; I waited until it was completely dormant - just before Xmas. Of course I had to cut it back. Then it just sat there for another 2 years in a lump doing nothing. Finally progress, but be prepared for a major setback if you do transplant. What is your hydrangea climbing on?

Julia, my climbing hydrangea is trained up the trunks of what was once a hemlock, and is under the canopy of a maple tree. It is located on the west side of the property, but heavily shaded by the next door neighbors. It gets some morning and mid day sun at its base.

Do you think that I should wait another year or two to see if it blooms, or bite the bullet and transplant?

I have a piece of a hydranga...it's a long stick with the leaves an a blossom at the end...I love it and i want it to live...how do i plant this??

Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea Anomala Petiolaris) is slow to establish, a fact that is only sometimes mentioned by plant sellers, and often one is told that it's slow for a year or two. I bought 2 of these from a CT nursery for planting in Zone 6 in Pennsylvania. These 2 never grew and eventually died. I bought a 3rd one and planted it alongside the trunk of a newly planted tree (a thornless honeylocust). It is in mottled shade all summer and lived but did nothing for about 3 or 4 years. There is also plentiful shade for it from other trees in its vicinity including a large Norway Maple, an enormous century old Spruce tree with the environs being generally quite shady with some sun later in the day on the lower portion of the plant. Eventually the plant's rockets lit and it is now (35 years later) embracing the tree's main and higher secondary trunks to a height of at least 35 feet, and the extension of lateral small branches makes this column of climbing hydrangea branches/blooms/leaves have a diameter of about 4 ft. The spring leaves are glossy brilliant green and the column of blooms in late spring is composed of lace-like ivory/white flower panicles ranging from shallow horizontal domes to short cone-like clusters with a very pleasant fragrance. It took a long time but we never miss enjoying it in bloom as well as its somewhat exfoliating ruddy bark in winter. Autumn leaves are yellow. It is a glorious plant and we let the deer nibble the lower branches a few inches back in winter. I think that the earlier failures we experienced with this species of hydrangea may have been due to too much sunlight for the plant where we chose to plant them. The other essential element per our experience is patience.

Best regards, Bob in PA May 26, 2018