Those are macrophylas except the last one (with the white panicles), which is a paniculata. Some macrophylas bloom on both old and new wood, but other ones only bloom on old wood. It might be that you macrophylas aren't blooming because the old wood dies each winter, and a different cultivar would do better, or you could try to protect them over the winter. Conversely, the paniculata blooms on new wood only (and they are hardy to zone 3), so they will bloom nearly regardless of the winter.

I don't know much about fertilizing hydrangeas, but I think their leaves are pretty high in nitrogen, and I've heard them called "self-fertilizing."

Several miles outside Boston, very similar climate to yours. I have a couple of macs, Lady in Red and Blue Billow, and they bloom only 1 year out of 2 or 3. They are a small portion of my collection and are so gorgeous when they do bloom that I let them stay. They aren't taking up much space.

however, the danged leaves melt in the afternoon sun. Their licenses to live will expire when I get tired of providing extra water.

Marie, do you have insomnia, too?! Thank you all for the posts. I will be deciding what to do. I don't think I'll have time this fall to dig them out. Since they've died every other year and they look like a giant's broomstick with all the dead branches sticking up out of the centers, I will try shearing them all right to the ground for this winter. The next summer would be just like every other--no blooms--but at least they wouldn't be choked by old growth. I could try to protect them the next winter and see if magic happens and I get blooms. If I do, it would be worth it to try to protect them each year (burlap?) and save both the great effort and expense of digging out old ones and replanting new ones. Just thinking about makes my back rebel.

I was cleaning out all the old stems on some of these hydrangeas. I decided to shear some all the way to the ground (the ones with the most deadwood choking them out) and protect others for the winter. Next year I'll compare the results. I found this at the base of one of them:

So at least some of these completely underperforming hydrangeas are supposed to be 'Annabelle,' which is supposed to be an amazingly dependable performer. She's hardy to zone 3. Why would Annabelle do so poorly? I am sure it is something about my garden, but what? Sun cannot be the issue. What else? Does she just need a good shearing, which she just got? I'm flummoxed, and ready to have some big white flower balls!

More moisture in spring?

I do absolutely nothing to my Annabelles and they spread and bloom like crazy. However, they get extra watering when I turn on the sprinkler for some of the other plants in that vicinity.

Annabelle does need some sun to bloom well--not a lot of sun, but some sun. I don't know if she would bloom in total shade, for instance.

Kate

None of your photos appear to show Annabelle, which is H. arborescens. All the photos except the last (H. paniculata) are H. macrophylla.

I don't know what happened to the Annabelle that the tag was attached to, but I doubt that your weather or rodents killed it. Mine in a spot sheltered from western sun is a plant that I basically have to beat back every year since it suckers quite prolifically. It has survived late frosts, being eaten down to nubs by rodents under the snow in a year we had 100+" of snow, and being walked on under the snow when we had to rake the roof. It gets pruned hard in spring following hard winters, and otherwise gets ignored, though it did get watered occasionally the first couple of seasons. It blooms well every year, regardless of all that, so you should feel comfortable about adding one to the garden if you are so inclined.

I typically cut out dead wood on my H. macrophyllas with hand pruners, taking those stems to the ground. It looks to me like yours might be small enough to winter protect, either with some type of upended bucket, perhaps after wrapping the plants in horticultural fleece/spun bond row cover or surrounding with chicken wire and filling with leaves. There are a bunch of threads on winter protection for big-leafed hydrangeas on this forum.

I agree with NHBabs. The label does not appear to be for any of the shrubs in the pictures. The Annabelle leaves are slightly different and the blooms are more round. Unless there is a shrub in the garden that was not in the pictures or was mislabeled, already died or was transplanted elsewhere.. ;o))

in the pic of the leaves (not the shrubs) the leaves on the right look like Annabelles..thinner..not as pretty as the ones on the left..Annabelles won't have the pretty fall color of the macrophyllas..any of your shrubs go from green to yellow?..but even in shade my Annabelles bloom (but some not a lot)..the shrub pics are macrophyllas..can you take a pic of the shrub the leaves on the right came from?..

I’ve cut back several already, but it seems that the heart-shaped leaf on the right has only been found on one bush right where the tag was. That shrub was not included in the above photos as a whole. I only took a pic of its leaves in the first photo. Just next door to it, maybe 1.5 feet away, were the violet leaves I included in another post, and they’re not heart-shaped. If I really do have an ‘Annabelle,’ it should be blooming its head off every year! It’s also possible that the nursery sold a misID’ed hydrangea to the previous owners. The leaves from the heart-shaped bush do not have any extraordinary color. They are just yellow.

I must have taken immature leaves as my samples for the first photo, too. The bushes with leaves on the left are much bigger than the heart-shaped ones, hence their macrophylla “big leaf” type making sense!

I’m adding the photo of the violet leaves just because they really are beautifully vibrant! Other bushes have violet tinges, but this is the only one that is in-your-face violet!

I believe that you have an arborescens hydrangea..I have 3 different cultivars - Annabelle, Incrediball and White Dome..over 30 in total ( forget the exact number) and to be honest I'm not sure of their locations..pic#1..in front..this one doesn't flop..has a slight fragrance..attracts bees..I think it's White Dome..pic#2..also in front..these will flop..the blooms are bigger (might have taken this pic early summer & it's hard to see much difference at this point) I think these are Annabelles..pic#3..in back..these could be Annabelles too..I've had some floppy stems on these after heavy rain..pic#4..in back..Annabelles?..I have a tag for Incrediball but I'm not sure where they are lol..I bought every arborescens that I saw - that was on sale - for a few years!..they tolerate my shade..before I read any comments I thought those leaves on the right came from an arborescens..I'm familiar with them lol..

My apologies. I can see that the leaves on the right in the top photo look like arborescens. I skipped over the photo since I prefer looking at the leaves in context. I am puzzled as to why the arborescens hasn't bloomed for you.