Yes, LisaG.123, it sounds typical for many mopheads. Blooms usually occur at the end of the of the stems but some hydrangeas will actually have blooms elsewhere.

Lack of water or some lack of minerals might account for the lack of vigor and maybe reduced number of leaves. Try to maintain the soil mulched with 3-4" a little past the drip line and try to maintain soil moisture as evenly moist as you can (to prevent periods of dry soil, wet soil, dry soil again, etc). Anytime that the soil feels dry or almost dry when you insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4", you can water.

In Florida, hydrangeas will require about 50% more water than elsewhere so for example, a new shrub that would normally require 1 gallon of water per watering will require 1.5 gallons of water per watering. Also, since your soil contains little organic material, it is necessary to amend it with lots of compost or composted manure to provide enough minerals for the plant to thrive.

Unless they are potted, hydrangeas do not need much in terms of fertilizers and will not respond to the addition of lots of fertilizers like roses do. In places where the soil contains adequate amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and pottasium and other trace minerals (a soil test can tell you this; soil kits are also sold at nurseries), you can feed a new shrub about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of compost, composted manure, cottonseed mean in April and June. And if you forget to fertilize, nothing much should happen. But it is likely that your sandy soil needs slightly more than on average. A soil test would help a lot; take a sample to your Agric Extension Service or use one of those soil analysis kits.

On the other hand, make sure you do not go overboard with the fertilizer as too much nitrogen will result in no blooms (or few blooms) and lots of nice dark green leaves. This could be done by either using a fertilizer with a high nitrogen (N-P-K) Ratio or applying a fertilizer too often.

The size of blooms can vary to lack of water and with the very dry year that we are having, other shrubs like roses will limit the number of blooms and reduce the size of blooms. I have noticed how few and little roses I am getting this summer for example.

Pruning of hydrangeas is usually not necessary unless it starts overflowing its boundaries. Now would be a bad time to prune though. Flower buds for blooms that will open in Spring 2013 have developed and are invisible near the end of most stems so pruning now will get rid of blooms you will have next year. A non-reblooming mophead can be pruned safely after it blooms and before the end of June.

One thing you can do is deadhead. Spent flowers that have already turned brown could be deadheaded (cut the string that connects them to the stem).

If you need more information on hydrangeas, go to the link below.

New stems will originate from the base crown if the plant thinks it is necessary and if it has adequate supply of nutrients and water. I do not think I have checked every year but it would not surprise me to find no new growth on some years.

Luis

Here is a link that might be useful: Information on hydrangeas