There is nothing in the promotional material on these plants that would indicate that they are repeat bloomers like Endless Summer. The big hype is that they are dwarfed or small growing plants (to 3'), yet feature full sized blooms. I'd expect winter protection in colder zones will be required in order to see any of these blooms, however.

My conversations with Spring Meadow Nursery indicate these are typical blooming macrophylla - bloom on old(last years growth) wood - and I'm advising all my customers to treat them accordingly

Thanks for the advice! That is all I needed to hear to confirm what I was thinking.

I'll have to stick to the hydrangeas that are proven to bloom without protection based on my gardening style.

Why would this be necessary? They are simply smaller, more compact forms of bigleaf hydrangea and these can be deadheaded or not. Deadheading really does nothing to contribute to the plant's ability to bloom in subsequent years, old growth bloomer or not.......and I have a garden full of undeadheaded macs to support this notion :-)

I think the Cityline series are valuable additions to spring/early summer containers. They're really different, attention-grabbing when in bloom.

Pinching the tips will get them to branch, and thus flower more, the following year, if done consistently the first year ie remove each bud/growing tip as it develops, until late summer. But that means they won't bloom the first year, it's not the same thing as dead-heading. They do require lots of water, so use a water-absorbing crystals if you're not good about watering pots.

How much winter protection would they need? Wrap in burlap, mound leaves over them, or winter in a cool greenhouse?
Pam

They're supposed to be hardy to zone 5, but they are early bloomers. That means after they bloom, they set buds, which have to make it all the way through summer, fall, winter, in order to bloom reliably. I don't have the answer, but I would try mounding leaves, or the winter greenhouse as Pam suggests. They sure are pretty aren't they? Prairie Girl