When did you prune it? And if you didn't, something or someone else did.

QF branches must not be touched after late Fall. Stick to that rule and you'll get hundreds of blooms on a mature plant. :)

If the soil is clayish and does not drain well and you have not pruned there could be drainage issues that made the plant zap some of the flower buds. Root rot, etc.

also take a look to see if a deer or another animal ate the buds. Deer love hydrangea buds, and every year I lose some blooms to deer (some years a lot, others not so much. And yes, I do spray deer repellent.

The dappled shade could be an issue too. And Quick Fire isn't guaranteed to get hundreds of blooms if you don't prune it...and least not in this zone. I have several, and it dappled shade they bloom sparsely. Even in more sun (but not full sun) part of a plant will get blooms, and part won't. And they haven't been pruned by me or anyone/thing else.

I have a neighbor who has four or five in full sun, southern exposure. Last year he had sporadic blooms (with zero pruning) and this year they're loaded with blooms. I asked him if he fertilized or did anything different, and he said no. His are new in the last few years so could be setting in.

vdilillo, I should have added directions if you want to add zone and location info to your profile so that it automatically posts with your name each time you post.

Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.

If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures, zone 8 in the Pacific northwest is different from zone 8 TX or zone 8 on the SE US coast.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.