Where are you? These set their spring blooms the previous season, so they are dependent on decent winter weather or protection. If it is particularly cold or if it gets warm enough to start the buds getting ready to open but then gets cold again, it may kill the buds so there won't be bloom unless they also are able to set buds on new wood like ES. You can do a search on this forum for winter protection if you are interested in the detail which range from insulation to potting them up and storing in an unheated building that stays a bit warmer than outdoors.

Or you can plant Hydrangea arborescens (like Annabelle) or Hydrangea paniculata (like Limelight) cultivars which are hardier and set the bloom buds in spring, so the winter weather can't effect them.

Thanks I am in 8a coastal SC. I believed the same thing about maybe it got cold early and now I'm only growing on new wood.. but my old and new plants both had a bloom, one on new wood and one on old wood. That's was the extent of my blooming so far but I did have a couple blooms, just not on every plant on nothung much at all. I have other plants in the same bed so I know the soil isn't that bad, I don't get it. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow if that helps

Join the club, bsmith0023. I got hit with the same problem down here as well. My winter weather was nice (meaning mild) for a while. I think that made the shrubs break dormancy. And then the temperatures tanked well down into the 20s resulting in no or poor bloomage... unless the plants' locations protected them a little. Of the ones in a northern exposure, only the oakleaf hydrangeas produced bloomage. Of the ones protected by the house from north winds, I got either normal or spotty blooms.

I asked a relative of mine who lives in Columbia about her weather and she said January 8th is when she had a very cold spell. She does not have hydrangeas but up there, she has seen some mopheads that look all green (meaning no blooms).

Of the rebloomers like Pistachio, it had just a few (3) blooms but I will take whatever I can. Waiting to see now if I get any more blooms from it or what. Summer is just too hot to see any bloomage on new wood but, maybe in the Fall, when temps come down. Good luck.

Do not put any more fertilizer after the end of July"-ish" so the plants will go dormant when they are supposed to. Otherwise early frosts can zap the flower buds too. Slow release fertilizers usually last around 3 months +-.

Information only: down here, hydrangeas develop invisible flower buds for Spring 2018 in July. You may get your flower buds in July-August since you are north of me and coastal. But just be aware that July-August is when they do that and that the exact date is a moving target from year to year.

So today I noticed one if my ES has a couple of odd looking blooms but look at the picture, is it because they are new blooms or does this help anyone understand why I can't get good blooms this year. Foliage looks great at least! Ha

Looks like immature blooms (recently opened white instead of pink or blue). With some sun exposure they may "fix" themselves but not guaranted. Some new shrubs just do that before they get established. But I am assuming no mineral deficiencies in the soil. You can prune the dead wood by now. Some "old" blooms in neutral soil, pH 7.0, can do that too.

Here is another plant too that I just noticed in the same area. It has a little punk on the edges and one bloom is very small with more pink. They seem to be now producing some blooms but they are weak and wilted. We have had nonstop rain and very little sun so it's not like heat I'd thr isdue. All my neighbors are blooming and my other areas of hydrangeas are great. I have daylilies, hostas, crepe myrtle and lily turf that are all blooming great. This is the only plant not giving blooms. I planted these hydrangeas last year and they had great blooms and great color.

"I planted these hydrangeas last year and they had great blooms and great color.".

Last year you were seeing the results of growing under nursery conditions. It is now growing roots into your soil and dealing with new growing conditions. IME it takes a couple of years for shrubs to live up to their potential into a given garden spot. Shrubs don't provide instant gratification. They look fine to me for second year plants that got nailed by bad winter weather. In a couple more years you can decide if these will fill your wishes or whether you want to choose a different plant.

Don't get too concerned at recently planted shrubs producing weird blooms. Give them a few years to become established and theeeen you can panic if the problem continues. I just returned from a nursery with a few ES hydrangeas. Most had blue blooms but the pots always included a few blooms that were all white or a mix of white & yellow or white & blue. Even tiny small rose bushes tend to produce weird blooms as well.

Some of my blooms are now turning an off white color with traces of pink more intense than yours. Those blooms are old and eventually turn brown. The ones on the picture shown above look like they are old and turning green/pink shades. In the case of ES, you can deadhead those blooms and see if the plant produces new blooms before the plant shuts down for the year.

I've been very scared to do this on hydrangeas because everyone says you can mess up next year blooming. Is there any better reference on how to do it properly ?

Cut the thin stem that attaches the bloom to the woody stem. You only mess up next year's blooming if you cut off the branch or a big chunk of it, usually somewhat later in the season.

Ok thanks for that. I'll take a look tomorrow and let you know if I have any questions.

Back to original issue, how exactly did this happen? I understand weather but come fall/winter, what am I looking for to determine whether I should take action to help my plants.. and what do I do in this case to help them from damage and this happening again ?

Here is a website with almost all you need to know, including deadheading (not the same as pruning): click on the link, scroll down to Method 1 and scroll down to REMOVING OLD BLOOMS

http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/pruning.html

Heruga, you have great looking hydrangeas! I never wanted to cover mine in the spring because they are in my front yard right next to the road and will be a bad eyesore for anyone driving by. Are there any recomendations on product to use that just cover each plant at a time and not so bad to the eye for me, maybe something neutral color too? If this is what I have to do, then I have to do it, but Id like help on making it as nice looking as possible.

Thanks. Well you can also put a cage or chicken wire around the hydrangea and stuff it with leaves in it but I don't know if that'll make it look any better. The best thing you can do if you really hate the tarp or cage is to cover them overnight and take them off in the morning. Less people drive at night and it's dark too so it won't be noticeable. And nighttime is when temperatures really get the coldest too. And mostly damages related to the cold happens overnight

so you take it off every morning ? or do you leave it on all winter ? I was hoping there was some garden tarp of some sort that looked better that I could leave on until spring.

No not in the dead of the winter. The only time I covered it with a tarp was when the hydrangeas were waking up from dormancy and its buds were starting to come out(around beginning march to beginning april) and when the cold weather suddenly came(below freezing temps). Thats when they are the most vulnerable to cold damage. Not sure about your zone but in my area late winter/early spring colds often suddenly come. And thats what kills off the buds and preventing them from flowering. And you don't even have to protect it if temperatures don't go below freezing. I'm saying protect IF sudden cold temperatures come. And I only suggested you to take off the tarp in the morning because you said many people pass by where the hydrangeas are.

So to make it clear: protect the hydrangeas with either tarp of chicken wire stuffed with leaves ONLY when below freezing temperatures suddenly come when the hydrangeas have started to bud and keep the tarp on overnight and take it off in the morning so people won't see it.

Awesome. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this ritual every day for a couple months! That helped a lot, thank you