IME, other than the oakleafs, fall coloring on most other hydrangeas is extremely variable - most just turn a sort of wimpy yellow color :-)) But a few are noted for developing into something a bit more interesting.........here's an earlier thread on fall color.

I have a feeling that the previous fall color thread fell apart partly because in many parts of the country (I've lived in the midwest and New England) Hydrangeas just don't develop color that's wonderful compared with something like a blueberry or spicebush or maple or even some of my rhododendrons. (Oak leafs being the greatest exception.) So I only had 1 photo of my QF with any color at all, and I take a lot of photos, particularly in the fall, and especially in that shrub bed. Perhaps in areas where other plants don't strut their fall colors quite so flamboyantly as in New England and the Great Lakes region, Hydrangeas are of more prominence in the fall. I also think that when it was posted, many folks still had green plants that hadn't begun to show autumn colors.

Here is H. macrophylla Twist and Shout just beginning to show turning foliage in early October.

And here it is a week later.

I didn't take any later photos of it, so I am not sure how well color will develop further. I've only had it for 2 years, and last year we had early snow, so it may not have had much chance to develop color. With your warmer fall, they might get more color, but I have my doubts about the color shown in the photo - it looks photoshopped to me.

Up North the blooms are gone before the end of the growing season hits but the leaves get some nice color.

Endless Summer Oct. 2014 Minneapolis suburb, MN

Very nice. So you are in my growing zone. How did that plant do for blooms this year (2015) and do you prune it back at the end of the season? Do you cover it with mulch at the end of the year?

Esox, I am also pretty much in your growing zone though not in your area. . . and Twist and Shout had flowers for me as it ended the season as pictured above. I don't prune back any H. macrophyllas until spring when I can see what was winter killed, and then I only prune back what is dead. If you prune it back at the end of the fall or in spring before bloom, you will be cutting off spring flowering buds. Can you just move yours farther from the steps so it doesn't need pruning for size? I don't cover over with mulch any of my H. macrophyllas, though they almost always get buried in snow. I get variable results based on how cold temperatures were before we had significant snow and the particular variety. Twist and Shout seems to not have any issues with die back here and blooms regardless. Both All Summer Beauty and Endless Summer usually are killed to the ground but then bloom later in the summer for me.

mnwsgal, that fall color is really nice. My ES doesn't ever turn color, but it's in more shade than is probably best for color development.

Well, I guess next fall I will leave my stalks alone until the following spring shows me if there will be any sprouts from them. I just hope I get some blooms this next year anyway.

Thanks for the help.

It has a moderate amount of blooms. At the time of the photo I think there were 5 blooms on the plant. Earlier blooms were a bit larger. This plant grows in full sun and has competition from maple roots. It is not quite as large as the one that grows in part sun in the back garden. That one has larger but fewer blooms.

In the fall I surround both ES hydrangeas with chicken wire then cover them with leaves. It seems to protect some of the buds as parts of the stems survive and don't need to be pruned all the way back in the spring. I add the leaves before we get a hard freeze.

Great, that is how I will handle things next fall.

Unless you have had really cold temperatures, you can still do it now. Here it hasn't been cold enough to kill off buds. If you no longer have leaves, shredded wood such as that sold in bales for pet bedding might work for you.

Yah, but I already pruned my stalks back to about 3" or so above the soil line.

I didn't really take any Fall pictures this year, but aside from TnS/LIR, there are some sleepers. A huge one appeared to be (Double Delights) Expression. The leaves turned bright magenta in late September and faded to a darker shade all the way until first freeze. Its color beat out any Oakleaf easily.

Here's a picture taken in September of a laceleaf called 'Weiderspink'. This is the flipside of the blue flowers.

Mike

Here's what they look like a month earlier.