my results are the same as you except Es Twist and shout no die back only Lady

In REd had no die back last year and is huge this year-Big Daddy looks also hurt by cold...

No snow cover so Bloomstuck is coming only from buds at soil level.

My Annabelle hydrangea is fine and first buds are showing. I see no growth on my three little lime hydrangeas, so I'm a little concerned but it may just be too early for them.

My little lime is looking great (it was previously in a container but I planted it out in early March). The tips might need to be trimmed but otherwise it fared well.

I also have a small 'Pee Wee' oakleaf that is starting to bud. This was moved in March as well so I'm happy to see life lol.

Cool.

I'm tempted to try Lady in Red, it might do better than T&S in certain conditions...

Remember to be patient out there with paniculatas. Their buds are still small but should be greening up soon. They can withstand most conditions down to zone 4. I trimmed my Quick Fire in September as to not interfere with this year's blooms, so we'll see how that goes.

Also, for plants like Macs that got shocked by winter (little or no growth), they might need to be placed in a pot for a season or two or moved to a shaded area because with little growth the crown can be baked by the sun. I normally have to move about 2-3 younger plants out of 70 total.

And some plants are just duds no matter what. Mariesii Variegata (Tricolor) is one of the worst. I've moved it several times and it won't survive winter at all. Last year I moved it directly in front of a glass sliding door that radiates so much heat that the snow there melts. And nothing, the previous year's stems just rot right off come thaw.

Lady In Red may not have the most spectacular bloom but boy is in hardy-absolutely no die back and I have 2 seedling that are now 3 years old cant wait to see what they do....

Mariesii Variegata does not produce bloomage that attracts me so I got it only for the leaves.

I didn't do any winter protection (except building up the mulch around the base a bit). It looks like all three of mine (2 Endless Revolutions, 1 Pistachio/ Horwack) died back to the ground, but are leafing up vigorously. I left the sad little stems just in case they do come back a bit, but I'm doubting it.

To be fair, all were extremely small plants, and we did have a couple of strong cold snaps after warmer weather. I'm not resigned to needing to winter protect yet (and, the option remains if I want to have spring blooms).

Annabelle and Oakleaf are both doing fine. Dooley is OK where I covered with leaves. Getting some growth from stems on bottom foot or so, so I expect some blooms. I think ES may have died. I replaced it anyway since it's too wimpy for my tastes.

Broccoli alert! Three Plants Nouveau Everlasting series plants are showing flower buds from the crown - Revolution, Ocean, and Opal! They could've been from last year's buds *right at* soil level, but it doesn't seem so. Additional plants showing at least one bud from the crown: Tuff Stuff and newb dwarf Hot Red. All of these are on shoots that are only 1-4" tall. The hard part at the moment is having to spray repellent every few days after rains to keep the deer away. By maturity I will expect a somewhat large flower - the current record holder for bloom size from a crown shoot is Peppermint at about 16" across. Can't wait for not only size but color of some of these new ones in my soil's varying pH's.

Yesterday, I divided my two 4-year old Annabelles for the first time, into four additional plants. Two went in new spots in a curved bed I cut out of a straight lawn edge, and the other two replaced ES BB and T&S which are showing no signs of life yet. Last year, the Annabelles became mature enough to send suckers out 12-18" from the main plant, where they quickly became 24" tall stems and bloomed. This year, the suckers all sent out at least 2-3 more shoots from their bases and were ready for division. So I carefully wedged a shovel and severed the main sucker root (1/2" in diameter - similar to a butterfly bush taproot) and packed them in small holes with moderately composted natural dirt.

I lost 3 endless summer hydrangeas. So bummed! They are in a raised bed by driveway but get a lot of winter wind from the southwest. I trimmed one down today and saw no green in the middle. I did put leaves around them, but given the temp here got to -10 (I'm in Jersey in zone 6b), I think without a cage and burlap, I will continue to have an issue. There is one that made it, it's actually a Nikko Blue that I grew from a cutting. Are endless summer more sensitive?

I think they are supposed to be hardy in Zones 4-5-6 if you believe the advertising. So it should work in Zone 6b but frankly, the last two winters have resulted in temperature ups and downs that made the stems not stay dormant and then they got killed with drying winds or the cold or both. That could impact any hydrangea that blooms on old wood.

I have an unnamed mophead that this year will not produce blooms because all growth is coming from the crown. (Revised on 5/3: one stem started the broccoli phase so I will have at least one bloom! Better than nothing, right?!?!) You may be in the same boat but, at least, ES should produce blooms from your new stems later on. My mophead does not rebloom so it will not produce blooms this year for sure. The other mopheads I have did just fine.

If you are trying to get early blooms like others in warmer locales, consider winter protection in case you get hit with a winter that is very bad or a winter with a lot of extreme temperature swings.

Luis

PS - An unusually large number of people in Zones 4-5 have complained of no bloomage from ES in this forum. I mean, compared to other rebloomers. I am not sure what to make of that but I thought I should mention it.

Two ES growers have told me to fertilize the heck out of them if you want good bloom. I heard it from the second one just today (I wasn't buying an ES from her), and it's someone whose knowledge I respect, so I'm going to try that this year.

I just uncovered mine last week, and I can see little "broccoli buds" at the top of some stems.

For those who do protect them overwinter what do you do? I may need to think about that for next winter. My limelights look fine but as I mentioned now 3 ES look dead. I do think it's just not a good place since they are exposed on all sides to wind being right on driveway edge. TIA

Most people surround the shrub with chicken wire that is taller than the plant, fill the inside with as many dried out leaves or organic material that you can find and then top it off with carton and rocks so the top remains in place thru all the winter winds. Extra leaves should be saved and more added in mid-winter as they settle. Do a find for "winter protection" in the forum for winter protection.You can put the chicken wire in the Fall and remove it in the Spring.

I use green plastic fencing (with the smaller openings -more like hardware cloth). I make circles around each shrub, and clip the circles closes with carabiners or wire. Then I stuff them with chopped leaves. I don't put anything on top of the leaves, and they stay in place all winter.

Those are all pretty good methods.

Another ES note... This might sound nuts, but using the "mound-layering" technique of progressively building up the soil above the original level of the crown (when you bought it) can ensure better survival and growth. What this basically means is that when planting the shrub, you want to make sure that you can only see canes protruding from the soil line, and NOT any wooden lumps or masses where the canes originated from (the crown). If you can see the "joint" where 3+ canes originated, bury it in soil!

Some hydrangea crowns will do fine exposed, and even set buds. ES seemingly does not, or at minimum has a hard time doing so.

So try this, even for the first time on any ES-series plant that's currently showing a large woody crown-mass at or above soil level, and you should get decent results come next spring!

This year in my yard there were one of each ES-series plant (minus Bloomstruck) that had partially exposed crowns and have gotten off to a *very* slow start (one or two canes, one or two buds). I was forced to relocated them to more sheltered areas and bury them deeper than before.

My Bloomstruck is all budded up no die back as is LIR and a large Edgy Orbits-at least I think it is Edgy Orbits bought as a rescue several years ago and has been outstanding!!!!