Don't panic yet. We've had a strange Spring. They need time to come out of dormancy. Don't do any trimming. Wait until late May. Then if there are no green buds or growth you can panic. I've had green buds on my hydrangeas and some have been killed by the late frosts we've had here in PA. Good luck and keep a close eye on them.

I see some little green leaves peeking out from the middle of the plant right at soil level. Either new growth or a very smart weed! Good luck - let us know if it finally woke up.

oops it was the first pic - not the second. I would still give it time - if you can't wait - then dig it up and check the base of the plant. If the roots look fine, then it should be ok.

They look just like mine do right now, and I am in zone 5. Be thankful that they aren't leafing out if you are still getting frosts since H. macrophyllas aren't tolerant of frosted leaves.

I probably shouldn't have planted it in the front of our house but that's where we get shade. Thanks, everyone!

If you plant something early-blooming and bright nearby that may distract from the twiggy look of the hydrangea until they get leaves. Or add an evergreen ground cover to give you something other than brown. I find that the hydrangeas' bare twigs aren't too obvious unless they are the only thing to look at.

What should I be looking for? Should there be buds? I don't really see anything happening.

The stems should leaf out by mid-to-late May at the latest. The plants' roots, if they are still alive, should produce new growth (meaning new stems) from the base/crown. If you do not get new growth by late May either, the shrub did not make it.

Whether anything is happening depends on several variables, including if your weather was cold enough to kill off the buds on the old stems, what the spring has been like (did you get a really cold snap after buds had begun swelling, which also will kill the buds, has the current weather been consistently warm, etc.) and how they are sited. I always hope that mine don't start opening up until the worst of the spring frosts have passed since I know that frost will damage leaves and buds. I just went out and checked a few of my hydrangeas. Two are sprouting from the base where they always sprout first, and two are showing no signs of life yet. They all have different exposures and are different varieties of macrophyllas (one is actually a serrata), so yours seem to be in line with expected for zone 5. After a particularly harsh winter, I occasionally don't see leaves until early to mid June, but after that they grow well.

Bluebells are another good low spring foliage option. Their bulbs multiply like gangbusters and they withstand frosts and bloom reliably.

What the Pro said is generally the bible. Most people don't get it and just whack all the stems.

In the meantime, a couple of tests you can do to "jump the gun" before Memorial Day are:

1. Lightly bend the buds down. If they fall right off or are soft and rotten, you can trim the stems down to the point where the buds *don't* behave like that.

2. Bend the stems with moderate force - if they bend right in half or break or de-bark very quickly (with no green underneath the bark), you can get rid of them

3. If a stem has no visible buds, it won't produce any at any point. Get rid of it (macrophylla and serrata (with caution) only).

Glad I checked before I posted! I had the same thing happen to all of my Hydrangeas save the Limelight and my Oak Leaf. I'll keep an eye on them to see if they come back.

I like the blue bell idea also. In zone 5-6 the 'Blue Billow', 'Annabelle', and oakleaf types all have green sprouting buds on most stalks. They were not affected by all the late frost we had. Some 'Nikko Blue' and 'Penny Mac' also have sprouts on their stalks. Still waiting on some other varieties to see what this season will produce.

Closest you can get is F&E (Forever & Ever) White Out. I had one of four in the ground and it's going to have several blooms after being killed back. There isn't really any other dwarf white on the market. F&E Peace gets slightly larger but blooms reliably on new growth with double flowers that later become tinted by pH.

Unless you want to get paniculatas...

Had I already mentioned 'Pia'? Not a white dwarf but rather a blue/pink dwarf. 'Pia' has done very well for us. The 'very young Pia is a market pack of cutting. The other pic is of just one 'Pia' plant. More flowers than leaves.