Do you mean leaf buds or flower buds? It's much too early for this plant to be producing flowers but it should be starting to leaf out nicely. All sorts of variables will influence exactly when this happens, climate and current temperatures being the primary factor, but if the buds are present and green, it should happen soon as George said :-) And you can cut off the old the flowers if you wish. Many gardeners treat this activity as a routine grooming process on various hydrangeas each season. Often they won't fall off on their own and will looky messy if not removed.

jclay your hydrangeas are beautiful! I imagine you are both right, I need to use some compost. Luis, I had another hydrangea that someone gave me as a gift. It was pink, I planted it and it took 10 years for that one to bloom again. Now it's growing slowly but has lots of blooms. So perhaps my yard needs a major work-over! I am in zone 7a. Last winter had a couple of 20 degree days but not that many, and I don't remember any hard frosts in the spring. I don't believe deer are eating the blooms, the plant really looks great, other than no blooms, and I have never seen any buds. This shrub gets full sun from about 8am to 4 pm. I haven't tested my soil, but I am pretty sure I added absolutely nothing when I planted it. As a matter of fact, a few years after planting, I had to add more top soil because the roots were starting to show. That was about 6 years ago. I live in northern virginia, so I believe our soil is fairly acidic. Thanks so much for your help! Can anyone tell me how to add a pic to my post?

Propagation is relatively easy. I prepared cuttings early summer last year and by Sept. I had several rooted plants. Here's what you need to do. "Cuttings should generally consist of the current or past seasonÂs growth. Avoid material with flower buds if possible. Remove any flowers and flower buds when preparing cuttings so the cuttingÂs energy can be used in producing new roots rather than flowers. Take cuttings from healthy, disease-free plants, preferably from the upper part of the plant. Take cuttings from the young branches. Early morning is the best time to take cuttings. Early morning is the best time to take cuttings, because the plant is fully turgid. While terminal parts of the stem are best, a long shoot can be divided into several cuttings. Cuttings are generally 4 to 6 inches long. Use a sharp, thin-bladed pocket knife or sharp pruning shears. If necessary, dip the cutting tool in rubbing alcohol or a mixture of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water to prevent transmitting diseases from infected plant parts to healthy ones. Remove the leaves from the lower one-third to one-half of the cutting. Treating cuttings with rooting hormones. Be sure to tap the cuttings to remove excess hormone when root hormone is in powdered form. Use a soilless mix for your rooting medium. No topsoil, no garden soil. Materials commonly used are coarse sand, a mixture of one part peat and one part perlite (by volume), or one part peat and one part sand (by volume). Insert the cuttings (vertically)one-third to one-half their length into the medium. Make sure the buds are pointed up. Space cuttings just far enough apart to allow all leaves to receive sunlight. Water again after inserting the cuttings if the containers or frames are 3 or more inches in depth. Cover the cuttings with plastic and place in indirect light. Avoid direct sun. Keep the medium moist until the cuttings have rooted. Rooting will be improved if the cuttings are misted on a regular basis. Once rooted, they may be left in the rooting structure until spring. Newly rooted cuttings should not be transplanted directly into the landscape. Instead, transplant them into containers or into a bed. Growing them to a larger size before transplanting to a permanent location will increase the chances for survival." Hope this procedure is clear.

Study this plan slowly before you proceed. Rapid growth usually involves using nitrogen rich fertilizers, that is, fertilizers whose NPK Ratio has a large N Component compared to the PK Components. It also requires a "hungry" plant, like roses, that quickly react to fertilizer applications. Hydrangeas are not heavy feeders like roses. But applying this type of fertilizer can keep your plant in growth mode when it should be going dormant in the Fall. And if caught in growth mode by early frosts, the plant could be damaged. Have you considered instead starting with a large shrub to begin? You could look for a plant nursery that sells large/tall hydrangeas. This would require directly calling the plant nurseries (or contacting a local landscaping company) because I do not recall seeing information about especially large/tall shrubs for sale in nursery websites.