I think the reason they are called Endless Summer is that they bloom on both new wood and old wood. My experience is that you need to let the new growth grow but not to cut off the old growth until as many as possible of the old buds have grown foliage. Once there are no more old buds growing leaves (and, later, stems) then you can cut any remaining dead buds - and the dead stem section beyond it - off. Cutting the old stems off too early means you are likely going to cut off some live old buds and then have a shorter flower season.

Old growth that has not been winter protected right to the very tip of the branches will not flower. All latent flower buds are located at the very ends of branches...nowhere in between. That is a simple fact of life for ANY bigleaf hydrangea. New growth will do the same - flowers are formed only on the the branch tips.

You might want to research why this particular hydrangea is commonly referred to as "Endless Bummer"........ :-)

Thank you both for your expertise! Well, I’ll hold my excitement for now…at least I have the green growth early. Previously, I would have nothing until late in the season with the new growth.

I'm in a warmer climate than you, but I've had these for about 10 years and never, ever mess with them! I don't cover them for the winter, layer them with mulch, or anything like that, and they still come up and look great every year :-)

I read some of the "endless bummer" complaints, but I haven't had that experience at all. These are some of my favorite and most reliable plants!

Mine kinda look like yours right now, but I have every reason to believe that growth will continue along the old wood over the next few weeks.

I had them for about 10 years. Mn zn4b Endless bummer was my experience. I got a few blooms very very late in the season. They were advertised to bloom all summer hence the name "Endless" Summer. The longer I had them the later they bloomed. It got to be a race to see if they would bloom before the first hard freeze. I hope all your special care pays off for you.

Thank you both…Minnesota winters are brutal so if I can get anything to grow I‘m happy!

Probably more suited for North Carolina…

If it doesn't do well, shoot me a message and maybe we can trade... I have a ton of perennials and I try to focus on ones that are darn near indestructible, so I'm sure that I'd have some things you could use.

I know this is an old post but I am hoping someone reads this!

These comments are the first that I am hearing of old wood hydrangeas blooming only at the terminal buds. I am in 7a on the new england coast and everyone has endless summers and nearly everyone seems to prune theirs back quite short at the end of the season for aesthetic reasons. Aside from last year (where we had weird weather) the hydrangeas have been fine.

I am so worried now as I have just pruned the dead flowerheads off my hydrangeas… the flower stalks are all quite tall and filled with buds but now I am worried that I inadvertently snipped off the most important flowering bud! Would greatly appreciate any further insight and best practices about this!

I've never pruned mine like that, but I've pinched the dead heads off with no problem.

Worst case scenario, it will grow new stems from the roots and you'll just have Autumn blooms.

Susan-My growing area in Minnesota is very harsh so your location would be different. Here I have never seen growth on old wood. This year should be interesting, because in Minnesota where I live we are having record warmth and no snow. We are having 50 degree temps with rain today which is highly unusual. My hydrangeas normally would be buried under snow, and all they have are some leaves I applied in fall.

Climate change adding to the confusion with these hydrangeas! Let’s see what happens and I will report back when mine (hopefully) flower. I hope you will have some hydrangeas this year, Molly! I used to live in 5a in upstate NY where we had lots of snow and my Annabelles and Limelights always were spectacular up there as they both bloom on new wood. They might be interesting for you to try!