Maybe its the word 'force' that perplexes me since I think of bulbs blooming 'before their time.' Could you tell us why you want to force their leaves?. If you've untangled the roots as best you can to allieviate girdling, prepared the planting hole properly, water appropriately and still have nearly 2 months in the growing season left, it seems to me the plant will do what it is programmed to do to survive. If you want leaves to promote root growth, that makes sense. I long ago gave up expecting mid and late season plant purchases, especially on sale, to look good the season I buy.

The plant is probably going to be in shock from transplanting into your garden and from poor care so I would not try to do anything "special" other than let it recover and produce a good root system. Let it decide where to generate new leaves from (you can use pinching next year so "fill" any areas you want to tweak)). It will leaf out at its own pace. Keep it well mulched and keep the soil as evenly moist as you can thru the Fall.

Next Spring, if you see any stems that have not leafed out by the middle or end of May, prune those low to the ground.

I would not add slow-release fertilizers either since the pots usually have these round fertilizer pellets but, if you do not see any pellets then I would add 1/2 the recommended amount of whatever chemical fertilizer you have since it is not early in the growing season. A weak fertilizer like liquid seaweed or liquid fish or coffee grounds would be ok but stop by month end or so so they go dormant at the proper time and do not get zapped by early cold weather.

It would be ok to amend the soil if you need to acidify the soil. In Spring 2016, you can give them organic compost, composted manure, cottonseed meal or a chemical fertilizer with a 10-10-10 NPK Ratio (or something close to that). One application will usually suffice for the whole growing season.

Marie Tulin, you are right to be concerned with the word "force". I was just referring to the possibility of tricking nature to do what I want. Yes, the plant will do what it knows to be the best for its survival in its natural setting but potting up plants, moving them, etc all the stuff we do to them are not natural to them. I just want to know, generally speaking, will these plants leaf back out below the tips? Or is this it for the year for them? I know that with some shrubs you can still get them to leaf out once conditions favorable to them are provided.

No more confusion!!! The plants received TOO MUCH water, which made the leaves fall off.

They will not reproduce eaves on existing stems. You could cut the existing stems way back and they would reset with new branches in a "Y" fashion from where you cut, but it is a little late in the season to do this with anything but well-established paniculatas (5+ years).

You will have to just wait until next year for the plant to leaf out again. That's the way it is, and there's nothing else you can do.

Once you plant a paniculata, you should not need to water it more than a little 2-3 times per week for about a month. And if there's frequent rain, do NOT water it at all. Mine are getting yellow and dropping leaves just from 15" of rain in a month. If you overwater, you will have an unsightly plant!

I think Luis' and my post say the same thing. You suspected as much but were hoping otherwise! I completely understand.

Sure most things we do in the garden aren't like potting up tulips in the fall in potting soil, putting them in the basement and bringing them out in February. That is really tricking nature.

My gardens would like s.... if I let nature take its course for an unlimited time. It takes its course anyway and that's what the weeding, pruning, moving, watering and shovel pruning is all about.

In two years those paniculatas will be stunning. You got a bargain and that's the sweetener that will make the skinny orphans even more appreciated. I have a yard full of $5 and $10 specials- named viburnums, trees, hydrangeas- that look great. But they sure didn't look like much the first season they were planted. Of course they were so small I planted them too close and now I have a huge replanting project on my hands.

Yep, suspected as much but was hoping otherwise. Funny enough I just picked up a H, Paniculata "Pinkachu" which is a new cultivar and is very nicely grown, tall, fully leafed for $3 on sale!

Like you I always get tons of bargains - I have an entire row (55 feet) of Hydrangea Annabelle's that I got for $2 each years ago, pretty good size. They look wonderful!