You should see buds in the next few weeks. Only the very earliest H. paniculatas are getting ready to bloom here.

Where are you?

I am located in Canada zone5. I have 7 small limelight plants (not tree) which i bought last month. 4 of them have budding right now (broccoli stage). They grow very quickly. I planted them in different locations in back and front yards. They receive 3 to 6 h of full sun daily (depends on their locations). The budding seems to be unrelated to sun exposure. I have one receives only 3h of full sun with many buds. on the other hand i have another limelight which receives 6h of full sun with no buds so far. I guess limelights are late bloomers.

I was surprised with numerous buddings on my other hydrangea paniculata for the last 2-3 weeks (mainly Bobo and Vanilla strawberry). Today , I have seen the first floral petals on Bobo

I am hopping for a full bloom in July -August.

Enjoy FADI but be aware that newly planted hydrangeas have been grown in greenhouses and their blooming times on their first summer may differ from the blooming times in future years. Not by a lot mind you, but maybe a "few" weeks. Make a note in a wall calendar and compare it with next year's blooms if you want to compare.

I have a LL tree. There might be a slight delay compared to the shrub.