Any herbicide use in the area?

Failing that- years ago I had a Little Lamb that insisted n doing that for several years running despite excellent vigilance and care. I eventually shovel pruned it- never did determine what was wrong.

following because it's so interesting!

I’ve had this plant for about 5 years, it’s been beautiful until last year! Blooms came up then looked burnt! Now this year it is doing this! I don’t think it’s going to bloom again. I don’t know what to do. We live in western Kentucky.

I would ask your neighbor's -nicely- if they have applied an insecticide recently. If anyone has, it is possible that the shrub is reacting to the insecticide application that the winds spilled into your home. It would be best confirmed if more than one plant had this issue, not just the hydrangea but then again, some plants can tolerate damage from insecticides better than others and not show the same symptoms. If you cannot find anyone who admits using insecticides, you could prune off the affected stems all the way down, clean/disinfect the pruners and see if the plant replaces the affected stems with good/normal looking stems/leaves in Spring 2019. If this continues then shovel prune it.

Marcia, I think what you have is called "witches' brooms" and it's a sign of a serious infection by phytoplasmas spread by mites -- I don't remember the scientific details (what Gardengal said). The best way to deal with it is to remove the plant ASAP, sorry :(

More info here: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/diseases/witches-broom.aspx

I have never seen that and following too :)

Have discovered on my 3 yr old lime light hydrangea tree this year. Didn’t bloom at all last year.

Sounds like another case of asters yellow. It can have several symptom like yellowing, bronzing, stunting, lack of flowers, green flowers and witches brooms. It cannot be cured, so infected plants are best pulled up and discarded, especially if it happens two years in a row.

We removed ours!