I wouldn't panic yet! :-) Both my Asian (a Chinese one and a Japanese one) are still dormant. Their buds should start swelling in the next week or so if the weather warms up a bit. Mine booms on 'old wood' whereas yours will bloom on new growth. May is always an anxious month here - first waiting to see how many flowerbuds survived the winter, and then, once the flowers start developing in mid-May, keeping our fingers crossed for no late frosts! All yours needs to do is have some foliage buds survive to produce new growth this spring. Since I've not grown one of the native kinds, I don't know exactly when they start to 'wake up', but I think it's too early to be overly worried yet. Hopefully someone with local experience with 'Blue Moon' can give a more definitive answer.

"While it did grow a little, it never really took off."

This is perfectly normal for a woody plant. The first year it spends getting established and growing roots, so the growth isn't apparent. The second year it will grow some above ground, but I don't expect to see a lot of growth until year 3 on woody plants.

Here is some information from the Missouri Botanical Garden on this plant. (MOBOT is about the best source for plant info that I know.) Note their comments on size and pruning as well as the slow start this plant tends to have, as well as the comments on the ultimate plant size and need for a sturdy structure for it. You might want to add a heavier duty support now while it is still small.