Or....it could be one of the newer 'reblooming' forms. They are not really rebloomers but have a bred in ability to bloom on both old growth and new (this season's). Often these varieties are recommended for colder zones as the old growth flower buds get killed off with winter chill, leaving only the new, lower growth to bloom.

I am in zone 4, the Montreal area.

is there anything I can do so that I will get blooms next year. The plant was here when we bought the house and I have been here 7 years. Every year I get just a few blooms.

Seems very likely your climate is too cold. Do you really want to protect the whole top every year? Because you'll have to do something like make a covered frame around it and fill it with insulating material. Or dig the shrub up and lay it down in a trench each fall, as might be done with modern hybrid rose bushes (Hybrid Teas etc.) in a winter climate they cannot survive in one piece otherwise.

Or you could try a few (more?) of these, see if there is a difference in performance from the kind you have already.

http://www.endlesssummerblooms.com

Endless Summer needs protection here to bloom reliably, so I doubt it will do better in Montreal. In my garden, when I get a few blooms at the bottom, it means that those branches were buried in snow when it got cold enough to kill branches that weren't insulated by the snow. If you do a search on this forum for "winter protection" there have been quite a few threads with information on it.

Alternatively, choose a hardier hydrangea to replace it. Hydrangea serrata 'Tuff Stuff' does well for me here and is blooming now on branches that sprouted this spring. It is a lace cap, not a full mophead bloom. Or look at Hydrangea paniculata varieties which are hardy to zone 3. They start somewhere in the greenish/white/cream range and slowly turn to pink over the course of a couple of months. Or Hydrangea arborescens such as Annabelle will do fine as far as hardiness, and like the H. paniculatas, the flower buds form in spring and so don't have to survive winter.

Well, this just started I now am getting buds on my pink hydrangea that you can see on my original post only had flowers on the bottom. Here is photos of the buds today august 17th.

Will they bloom this year

That is this year's growth that is now producing flower buds and yes, they will bloom soon. Provided you don't get any early frosts in the next few weeks :-))

gardengal ,

So is the problem still that I did not winter protect. Should I surround the leaves with chicken wire and fill with leaves and mulch this autumn. Will that be enough. I am in Zone 4, montreal, would beginning of October be too early. Do I strip all the leaves if they have not fallen off by then. and then put the dead leaves around.

Well, you managed to get both old growth flowers and new growth flowers without protection, so it's up to you :-) I have never lived in a cold winter zone and have never protected any hydrangea for winter, even those in containers but I would highly recommend it for anyone in a colder than zone 7 climate. Always better to be safer than sorry :-))

How about trying Inv Sp 11 (Annabelle)no winter protection blooms every year

Hyed,

That is a beautiful photo. I would like to try one time to protect it and see how much trouble it is and then maybe decide to pull it out and try something lovely like yours which will need no protection..

Lyban,I have had many ES (12) Winter pro by pushing branches to ground putting cardboard and stones to hold them down then covering with leaves.....had great success ....But when they get to 5x5, ' forget it ...too much work, I still have about 6 remaining and let Mother Nature call the shorts...the real problem is the Spring get good days and then bingo it drops to 20 and it's good bye this yr ...there are so many Great Hys that don't need Winter Pro

Look, fall is nearly here and the nurseries will soon be marking down their shrubs by at least 30%. Honestly, it is not worth the work or real estate to maybe get blooms when there are, as many of us know, beautiful hydrangeas that will bloom reliably every year.

Give it try if you must, undoubtably you'll learn something. Before you do that in December, buy a fully hardy one soon, plant it the 2nd week of September and enjoy it in June.

The easiest thing in your climate zone would be to put it into a pot and in its place plant a panicle hydrangea