Hmmm, I may wait a little bit longer just to be sure the stems aren't viable. Thank you so much for the response!

My paniculatas are just now stating to leaf out and the leaves are barely 1" long. Your leaves should be leafing out later than me assuming your winter has not been warmer than mine (we hit the 90s already). But I compared the size of your leaves in the pictures to the ones that my mopheads have out there now and they are similar. So while the shape of the bloom on the left looks panicle-like, your shrub may be a mophead whose decomposed bloom just happens to look now panicle-like. Hmm, difficult to say without being there and seeing the blooms. You may be better off waiting till you get blooms to decide what hydrangea you have.

But this may help in the meantime. The link below takes you to a page that talks about the types of hydrangeas and it may help you determine which type of hydrangea you have. It has lots of good pictures.

http://hydrangeashydrangeas.com/identify.html

"But I compared the size of your leaves in the pictures to the ones that
my mopheads have out there now and they are similar. So while the shape
of the bloom on the left looks panicle-like, your shrub may be a mophead
whose decomposed bloom just happens to look now panicle-like."

OP's photo is exactly how all my mopheads look right now.

My paniculatas barely have leaf buds.

OP- what zone are you in? If you add it to your profile so that it shows up we don't have to guess, and it really does influence many of the responses. I know where Charlotte is but have no clue what zone it is in.

Here's how to add your zone:

Go to Your Houzz in the upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.

You can add "Charlotte" there also.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.

Sorry, I should have provided better information. I'm in Zone 7b and now it should show on my profile.

I ended up not touching it and crossing my fingers. Below are photos taken today. I'm thinking I would probably be okay with cutting the bare stems now.

It is a H. macrophylla with mophead blooms. Enjoy! And yes, prune off those dead stems if you have not already.

Your soil is acidic, which is why the blooms are blue. The immature blooms look like they turn white-ish and then blue. They will stay blue for several weeks and, as they begin to fade, you will notice a plethora of color changes ending in brown. H. macrophylla develops flower buds for Spring on the previous July-August time frame so, in July-August, you will get invisible flower buds for Spring 2017. If, for some reason, you have to do any pruning of green stems, do it no later than the end of the June. And quit fertilizing by the end of June too.

Thank you so much! What kind of fertilizer should I apply?

In all honesty, rhondaka, that hydrangea looks pretty happy as is. I don't fertilize unless a plant appears to need it since adding the wrong kind can create issues, either with nutrient runoff into surface water or groundwater or with the plant pushing out extra foliage at the expense of flowers. I'd give it a good organic mulch such as shredded bark which will slowly release nutrients as it breaks down. If it starts looking peaked, give it a small amount (half what the packaging suggests) of fertilizer with a low N(first number) and higher P and K (second and third number). IME most hydrangeas need regular water, but not much fertilizer if you have reasonable soil. You can send a soil sample to your state Cooperative Extension to get it tested if you are concerned.

I just add 1/2 to 1 cup of organic compost, composted manure or cottonseed meal (whichever I happen to have) but when I have forgotten, I have not noticed a difference on the following year (in term of having blooms for example).