The annual leafout process should be complete by mid-to-late June for you; early May for me in Texas. Any stems left standing with no growth at all can be cut to the ground. If the top end of the stem is dead but the rest has leafed out, feel free to prune about 1-2 inches above the topmost leaf. Any time that you feel uncertain or curious, select a stem, prune a 2' piece and look at the stem. If you see green then stop; otherwise prune again. The goal is to stop pruning when you get to some green or to the bottom of the stem.

These dead stems indicate that you probably experienced some winter damage. But the reduced flowering was probably due to the fall (or spring) pruning that you did.

Lacecap Hydrangeas always flower on old wood. Translated, 'old wood' means that they produce flower buds near the end of the stems starting in August. They hang on to the unopened flower buds through winter and flower in Spring from those same buds that it developed last fall. So, when you pruned the buds of your lacecap last spring or last fall, you cut off this years flowers. Oops!

Right now we are in July; it is ok to prune this month but discontinue pruning in August and do not prune in spring either. You can resume pruning again next year, anytime after the hydrangea has bloomed but before the month of August. And while talking about pruning, it is not necessary to prune hydrangeas every year (unless you need to control its size for some reason) like we do with other plants like roses. There is, however, a recommended pruning that you can do every 5-8 years to rejuvenate some hydrangeas. But that is another story.

You may also want to review some of the postings in the main Hydrangea Forum dealing with winter protection techniques if you continue having many of these dead stems every year. If you think this was just a one-year event then do nothing now but check what happens next year. THEEEEEN take appropriate action based on whether the problem re-occurs or not. For details on winter protection techniques used by others, go to the main Hydrangea Forum, scroll down to do a search.... type 'winter protection' and click the SEARCH Button.

The two basic methods work like this: (1) In the fall, put something like wire mesh a certain distance away from the plant and slightly taller than the stems of the plant. Fill it up with dead/dried leaves from the garden. They will act like an insulator and protect the stems from winter damage (snow, wind, temperatures). To work well, you have to pack the leaves and put the wire structure some distance away from the end of the stems. (2) In the fall, place a big cardboard on top of the dormant hydrangea and gently/slowly apply pressure to the stems until they are flat on the ground. Place some stones or heavy objects on top and then cover with about 12 inches of leaves. I cannot remember how they keep the wind from blowing the leaves but that is basically what others do.

I have included a link below with more information. Does all that help you or do you have other questions, keepcleankarma?
Luis