Sounds like hydrangea leaf curlers but it would help if you can post a picture of the damage and the bugs. You can squish those leaf curlers or throw them in the trash. Once "protected" when they curl the leaves, they are a pain to get rid of. Annabelle hydrangeas for some reason get them a lot in some parts of the country.

http://www.heidihorticulture.com/2012/06/annabelle-hydrangea-leaftier-moth.html Hi Lyban I have this problem every year the only way to peal open the leaves and squish the worm..have fun ...

I get these every year--ugh. There is nothing you can apply to kill them since they are protected by the rolled up leaves. Just pinch off the affected leaves and throw them out in the trash. I couldn't deal with having to squish them all! For me (Massachusetts) the leaf-rollers are at their height in May and early June; they're mostly gone by now. If you're in Canada as your avatar implies, then you're probably a few weeks behind me and they are peaking now. I hear that if you ignore them they will get worse in subsequent years, so I do suggest trying to stay on top of the problem. The good news is that the flowers don't seem to be affected at all, and I have dozens of buds getting ready to open.

In future years, apply some Bt several weeks (2-4) before the time when you detected the problem this year.

Luis, thanks for this suggestion; I always thought it was impossible and didn't realize this might work. I guess you have to hit the brief window between when leaves begin to open and the caterpillars get going (it is almost simultaneous for me). Do you think multiple applications would be necessary? Going to put it on my 2018 calendar now!

I just went out and removed and/or squished all the ones I could find in various stages. I missed a few (already pupated), but the fewer the better! I found some of them had packed a flower for lunch, but like lalala, still lots of flower buds ready to bloom.

luis, do you spray it on or inject it into the plant? I'm only familiar with it in terms of squash vine borers, for which it is suggested that it be injected into the stems.

lalala, from what I understand it's light sensitive, and it only kills larvae that eat it, so you might need a couple doses in order to get various batches of eggs hatching at different times.

I spray Bt before they arrive so do it next year, 2-4 weeks before the date when you noticed them this year. It is not useful or effective at this stage... ;0( repeat per label directions. Repeat in future years until "they" do not return.

Great, thanks. I have two Annabelles and was considering planting more but didn't want to deal with more spring leaf-picking. This gives me some hope that I can eradicate them!

What is Bt?

Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is an organic bacterium often used as a pesticide... sprayed as a preventative, when new growth emerges.

I've been faithfully battling these guys on my one and only annabelle for years, going out day after day. The plant is huge - wide and tall, but even though I removed every possible bug this spring/summer I have just a hand full of blooms on an otherwise healthy gigantic plant. Anyone else as severely affected as I am in terms of blooms. The plant is in just as much sun and shade as it has been for a long time and these bugs are the only thing I can imagine that is changing the blooming. It used to be totally covered with blooms each year.

Mary, I've been fighting them every year..as mention earlier, I open the pod and squish the worm/bug... I think that picking the pod off you are losing flowers and some of my Annabelles& incrediballs I might open 50 or more pods.. next Spring I'll try Bt early ...this incrediball I open probably 75 or more

over a few weeks it's gets 6+ hrs of Sun

Interesting the Incredibal has the same problem. I sure hope it doesn't affect the paniculatas, as I'm just starting to get into them. You only pulled off 75 total on the worst plant? I likely pulled off 75 hydrangea perogies most days for several weeks on my one and only affected plant - one Annabelle. That's why I don't usually open them and try to find and squish the little worms because it would be too time consuming. It does make sense that the ones that I remove the terminal bud along with the worm could be unable to produce a flower though and the few are the ones I opened. I swear I didn't have one solitary green bud that was not coming up perogies again and again for weeks.