After a hard winter, my ES produces new growth only at the base. In effect, it starts all over again. That's what happened this year. Only once--after an exceptionally mild winter--did green leaves emerge from the previous year's stems.

Your zone is somewhat warmer than mine, but I have the feeling you're not going to see anything from those stems this spring.

I find my chances of leafout on old, dried-looking stems to be less than 50% but not 0% so, for example, I am now playing the waiting game on some macs whose stems had some green and which I stopped cutting when I noticed the green. If they do not leaf out by the end of May, I will cut them. You are on a cooler zone so you may want to give them a few more weeks more if you want. I have had them leaf out in May and that is the only reason why I have not cut mine yet. Good luck!

I'm near you and have found the same thing with my ES hydrangeas. First time since I bought the house/garden 7 years ago that there has been virtually no surviving old wood. I'm planning to cut them back this weekend. Some of the branches are obviously brittle and I'll focus on cutting those. Some others are still a little flexible and those I will leave in case they leaf out.

here in Va same story with ES although I am seeing some buds-Bloomstruck and Lady In Red were not however hurt. and Twist and Shout partial die back but loaded with buds. Older varieties flattened excepted for Liacida and Vetchi and a lone Presioza...Left the older stems but a few leafed out and then died-cut them off.

Remarkably enough, my Prez was actually the only plant to have stems (and buds!) survive. There are at least two terminal buds and a handful of other old stems leafing out in the middle. It was not planted in any special location and was right next to both ES-BB and TnS, both of which got whacked. The Bloomstruck I just bought went right onto the northeast corner at the top of a hill - we'll see how it does!

Shame generic plants aren't widely marketed...

Remarkably enough, my Prez was actually the only plant to have stems (and buds!) survive. There are at least two terminal buds and a handful of other old stems leafing out in the middle. It was not planted in any special location and was right next to both ES-BB and TnS, both of which got whacked. The Bloomstruck I just bought went right onto the northeast corner at the top of a hill - we'll see how it does!

Shame generic plants aren't widely marketed...

Same thing here in NYC. I couldn't make much sense of it because winter didn't seem so harsh but all my hydrangea's have died to within 12 inches or so from the ground! This has never happened before even after much harsher winters. I haven't cut mine back yet because I noticed some of these stems with no growth are green just below the surface though many are not.

I was really looking forward to my ES show like I do every Spring. And when that didn't happen this year I thought I did something wrong and I came here for answers. I still have buds and they are leafing out slowly. I think what saved me was my laziness I didn't trim the dried flowers like I usually do. Now that I know it was the harsh winter I will wait them out and trim them later. At least Incrediball, Limelight and Vanilla Strawberry are looking great.

My hydrangeas old growth stems were decimated by the late snow and frost, too. My question is - should I cut them back now or will they try again next year? I don't want to cut them down if they will put forward new buds and growth next time around... I've never cut back my hydrangea before.

Join the club on cutting back. I'm in Atlanta and have cut almost all of my macrophyllas' old wood out (almost all of the bare wood was dead). You can cut it now or put it off for a few more weeks (or forever if you don't mind looking at bare stems).

About 2-3 weeks ago, I began to prune the dead looking stems in 1" increments and ran into green so I decided to leave them alone until the end of the month (next weekend). I hoped they would leaf out but nothing so far. They still have one weekend to go but I doubt they will make it. Yours may leaf out but it is starting to look and feel like a "no" everywhere!

I've been struggling with how to deal with my 15 year old hydrangea that also hasn't shown a bit of life beyond about 6-10 inches from the ground, and one - ONE bit of wood 2 feet up with a few leaves. I admit, I don't exactly know what type of hydrangea I have, other than it's one of the varieties that blooms on old wood. Every year, I trim off the dead blossoms, and watch new buds set on the old wood, and have always seen it come back to life beautifully the following spring. Last summer, I asked people here how I should go about moving this beautiful 4x5 plant so we could have a new walkway installed. I followed the advice that was posted, and it survived the move in Sept. beautifully. And then we had the winter from hell here on L.I. Temps far colder than any we've had for years, and now 90 percent of this poor hydrangea looks completely dead. My husband wants to cut it back, but I still want to hold off for a while longer. I'm hoping someone eventually answers the question someone posted earlier in the thread: If we leave things as they are, and don't cut it back, and nothing blooms this year, is there any chance at all that it might do better next year? Or should we just cut it back to where it actually has some life? I'm giving it a few more weeks just in case, but it's not looking good...

I'm also looking for the same answer. Is it better for the plant to lose all the bare branches, or should we leave them and just deal with odd looking plants this year, because those branches may recover next year? Or will cutting off all the bare branches force more growth up from the base, which will give you next years flowers anyway?

This is the first year my macrophyllas won't bloom. I think it was just too cold, for too long. I don't recall any late cold snaps- just prolonged periods of much colder than normal temps mid winter.

I just cut back my macs pretty hard yesterday. First time in years I've ever cut back so much. It left quite a couple of bare spots. At least the base is still alive...

Most of mine also were killed to the ground. It got to zero here in Va which is very unusual. Some types did not die back but most did so next year is the time. Cut off the old stems ,they are lost and will not be back. The rebloomers are however beginning to show some buds from the ground

I also do not know the specific name of my plant (Hydrangea), but each year I always have new growth on the old branches. I usually give them a trim for shape and cleaning around the beginning of May, as I did this year. But, to my surprise, mine isn't budding either. I guess the winter was making it slower or something. I do have a lot of new growth from the base. So, I'm just going to wait and see what happens. I won't bother to cut anymore of the existing old branches because they may bud later, and even if they don't I can always cut them back later this year or the spring of next year. I didn't mulch before last winter. Had I done so, maybe it would be budding as usual. But it sounds as though everyone is basically in the same place.

Can you do the scratch test on ES? I have a strawberry vanilla one that I can scratch the stems and green shows. I am new to hydrangeas so it may not apply to all but if it does, that'd let you know if the stems survived winter or not.

I've had lots of dead stems that had some green on the inside. The only way to tell for certain if it's alive is if it leafs out.

I mainly only grow the white flower hydrangeas since they all bloom great every year. Macrophylla's are way too picky for me.

I thought it was just me and came here for answers. My daylilies are almost as tall. I won't be able to see the blooms this year due to daylilies covering them up.

logged in just to say mine are the same....all old wood with growth at the bottom only--no buds or leafing on the old wood.
I'm giving it a week and cutting them back....mine are older mature plants and I've NEVER seen them like this.
this winter on the east coast was harsher than you think.
I just hope my poor hydrangeas come back to their former glory with the new growth at the bottom....guessing they wont flower this year!

Same here kcaffyn. My non-ES Macs did not leaf out and are scheduled to get their dried out looking stems pruned on Sunday. These were not protected but they are older shrubs too (15+ years old).

In past years when the temperatures in the Fall come down just so and when the planets align properly, those old wood shrubs have produced blooms. I am not betting the farm on that of course!

:o)

Don't give up yet folks. This is one of my two ES's showing the most growth.

{{gwi:1000092}}

I also have an Annabelle that hasn't shown anything yet. I don't have much hope with it as it got completely defoliated by a 4 legged slug in Sept. I will give it till July before shovel pruning it and replacing it.

SCG

1. The scratch test works.

2. Stems that aren't producing any growth by now NEVER will. Get rid of them. Decomposing vegetation can damage the rest of the plant, and it attracts more bugs.

Well, good to see I'm in good company though I have mopheads (not sure if they're the same as Early Summer?) but I too have read to remove the dead petrified branches/buds as they'll rot... Such a bummer here in Boston that for whatever reason this Season, after having many rough Winters, that this happened to everybody! There was a lot of variation in temperatures is all I can think of... Killed me to one down so low today- 2 more to go tomorrow... Uggh, they were so mature and lovely!
I pruned per usual and even left ON my old growth this yr and put pine needles over the base- it helped "some" as I have a few tiny leafs coming in on old wood but only up to about my knees- otherwise they ALL look like big sparse wooden bushes! (front & back of house- shade & sun) so- I don't know if there will be any flowers? On the positive side for some reason my Lilacs are thriving! (go figure) Except my French one- that has only produced one bloom EVER (not this yr- last yr) and it's 8yrs old... I will try fertilizing and good bug protection to keep these "babies" healthy and plan this Fall to cover with burlap- though I've never done that in past years (10) but I do find the flowering varies depending on the amt of RAIN...(I think?) They are a tad temperamental apparently. Good luck to everyone! (just found this site- nice to learn new things)

Welcome to the forum, deacondog! Somehow it does help to find we're all in the same boat, doesn't it? Many on various forums reporting a variety of well-established plants' top growth killed to the ground even in zones 8 & 9. I'm with SouthCountryGuy, too - don't count 'em out yet. If you give up on the old stems (and for reasons already mentioned, this may be wise at an appropriate time), the root mass still likely to produce new growth in its own good time. Over the years, found many plants left for goners regrew over a year later. (Clematis are infamous for this.)

Though I'd grown hydrangeas in other gardens (when they were considered low-maintenance shrubs), overlooked adding them here till last year when the new rebloomers caught my attention. Experimenting, brought in a few mopheads, potted them up, half-plunged the pots in a mound of soil covered with oak leaves last Fall & forgot about them - until the ice & snow storms became monotonous. At that point, imposssible to pry the pots from the frozen ground. If I'd only known what the weather had in mind, they could have safely spent the harsh season in the garage or more thoroughly protected - our common lament. After the Spring freezes, the pots were unearthed & set atop the ground. Only Leuchtfeuer (Firelight, Beacon Light, Lighthouse) has shown any growth - halfhearted, but much appreciated.

Like hokierusty in Williamsburg, the temp didn't dip below 0 here, but the extended cold did more damage than short lows below that in previous years. In this on-again, off-again slow motion Spring - almost Summer! - the soil here still hasn't warmed consistently. Well-mulched soil has barely warmed at all. Hydrangeas sited in part shade likely still haven't gotten the grow message in their cooler morning sun spots. Rose growers are finding that pulling mulch away from the root zone for stunted plants has worked to warm the soil & stimulate growth. Tried this for other woody perennials with success this year - latest they've ever emerged by a month at minimum. The principle should apply to planted hydrangeas in conditions like mine, as well, shouldn't it?

For the potted hydrangeas, plan to move them to the blacktop driveway where they'll receive the heat sink effect from morning sun (still with afternoon shade) to see if additionally warming their soil will help awaken them.