Flower buds are inside the stems, near the ends of the stems. The stems have regular flower buds plus, extra ones that you could call "back up" flower buds for use when something happens to the regular buds in the stem or to the end of the stem.

Ah, so the tips ARE crucial. Expose them to freezing temperature for a night and your efforts are for naught?! Wouldn't it safer to make little caps for them?

Luis is correct - the primary flower buds are formed at the terminal ends of branches or stems. But there are also primordial flower buds scattered up and down the stems that growers producing for the flowering plant market take advantage of by strategic pruning to produce very compact and floriferous plants for sale. If the terminal buds are damaged or removed, these should be stimulated into development.

"Expose them to freezing temperature for a night and your efforts are for naught?! "

I doubt it is that cut and dried :-) I do not protect my macs at all, never have. They are often exposed to freezing temps in winter, sometimes into the teens, and still produce abundant flowers from old growth each season. It is my theory that these flower buds are not developed or advanced enough to be seriously damaged by "normal" winter cold. I believe the greatest risk to the flower buds from cold occurs later in the season when the buds are more advanced or closer to being fully developed. Cold temps then, as the plant is starting to move out of dormancy - the late winter/early spring freeze - is when the serious bud damage occurs.

That late season freeze or period of intense cold is not something we experience in my location, ergo no damage to the flower buds!

That's my theory and I'm sticking with it!!

Same here. I spent a couple hours protecting my three macros. I'm in zone 6a and macros in my immediate area do not bloom if left unprotected. If I drive an hour and a half to Cape Code which is zone 7a, they bloom profusely there without protection. Being near the ocean creates a micro-climate which allows them to flourish.