What conditions of sun, pH, and moisture are they planted in? In my zone, one would be hard-pressed to kill an Annabelle other than with dryness. I've roughly ripped root suckers out, stuck them in a bag with a bit of moist soil, and replanted several days later without any adverse effects. Mine are not early sprouters, and if there is still a chance of frost in your area, you will be grateful that they haven't sprouted yet since their leaves are not at all frost tolerant. Even if the top growth is killed by a late freeze, they should resprout from the roots.

I live in a colder climate than you..mine also look "dead"..I bet yours are fine..it's still early..in case you don't know an Annabelle is an arborescens hydrangea and not a "repeat bloomer" macrophylla..

Thanks for all the responses. I did the fingernail scratch test on one and happily saw some green on the stem. The other is dry as bone. I'll leave that one be and see if by some miracle it comes up from the roots for me later this spring, but I'm not holding my breath.

If by chance your one that scratches dry doesn't return, they sucker fairly vigorously in my garden, and it's easy in early fall to detach a sucker and place it where your other one bit the dust. Regardless, as Luis said, don't let them dry out as they don't like that.

I usually wait until mid to late May to decide whether or not to prune to the ground stems that have not leafed out. Some of the stems "with green" leaf out and others that show green do not. Go figure. I assume it must be due to winter issues where the sap freezes and breakes the "internal" parts of the stems... so they look green for a while and then they dry out. Good luck with your plants.