so is it like making a shield of mulch around the plant base ? Wondering if you could share any picture that depicts it.... Do I need to protect the buds in some way ?

If you are in zone 8 in Dallas (and I think you are) then no winter protection is required. Unless you get some strange winter weather event and the temperature is expected to drop into the teens for any length of time

I am going to clarify that a little as I want to stress that normally no protection is necessary buuuuuut... we do have to protect sometimes. Our weather is such that dormancy can be commonly broken by long (many days or weeks) high temperatures that precede a crash into the low 20s or teens.

Most of the time, this scenario unfolds in January-February but, it has occurred in December a few times. Last year for example, we hit lows of 13F and 15F two days in a row in January. I could not protect all the hydrangeas so some of the macrophyllas who only bloom on old wood did not bloom this year, while oakleafs bloomed just fine. Another time, several years ago, we got stuck in the 50-70s (for highs) in November and then dropped into real cold sub 10F weather in December and stayed cold for 4 or 5 days... No macrophylla blooms that year.

This temperature mess occurs when the Jet Stream drops significantly south thru the middle of the country before the hydrangeas have hardened off or after they break dormancy. So, yes, it is not necessary to winter protect -most of the time- buuuut you still have to be ready to protect as soon as these wild drops are announced.

I sometimes prep by just putting stakes and or putting stakes and chicken wire only. Then if something is announced, I fill in the cage with mulch. Otherwise, I pull the unused stakes in March.

On average, I would get no macrophylla blooms once every 4-5 years before resorting to use winter protection.

Thank you gardengal and luis! I will get stakes, chicken wire and mulch just in case I have to use it. I am in Frisco, TX and we had couple of days of 20-30s here. I am quite new to gardening and all.... haven’t had luck with hydrangea last year in pot but just can’t resist these gorgeous plants.... I am just crazy for flowering plants and would love to have a garden filled with blooms

We have had some cold back on the 14th or thereabouts. Not sure how cold you got since you are way up north of Dallas. Addison got to the mid 20s or thereabouts. For new blooms this time of the year (Fall), check out camellia sasanquas.

I just winter protected mine yesterday. Stakes, wrapped in burlap and filled with hay. I had a night last week that went down in the low 20s. Hopefully it didn't do damage.

I am knocking on wood to give you luck! I tried using hay once. It was messy... after protecting the shrubs, I had hay inside the car and on the trunk. Took a while to clean the inside of the car of all the little pieces of hay. Then "the hydrangeas" that I protected near the front door would bring some hay inside the house now and then (the wind or people walking would actually bring the hay inside). I then decided to try using mulch the next time.

Can I use wet leaves as mulch in the cages or must they be dry?

Kitasei,

Leaves are fine as long as they are mulched/crushed up a bit. Makes no difference if they are wet or dry. They are going to get wet from rain/snow anyways.

In fact, if you stuff the wire frames/cages with dry leaves, they will just compact and collapse once wet and you might find the protection they offer is greatly reduced if the top half of the plant is exposed :-) So be sure to shred or chop them up finely if dry or just stuff fully if wet. It is pretty much inevitable they will get wet anyway.

I would not keep them wet on a regular basis or that might "attract" fungal issues though. If they just get wet due to rain or ice then that is ok.

Luis,

You got me thinking. We've been having a lot of rain in the New England region this fall. It's been raining multiple times a week every week since early October. I just winter protected mine 2 weeks ago with a mixture of hay and oak leaves. I'm willing to bet the hay/leaves mixture at the bottom has not dried out due to the frequent rainstorms. Should I be concerned?

I would not be concerned if these are normal rain totals. If it has a cardboard on top, the cardboard would get wet but water would not penetrate too deep... assuming it did not pour down big time. If you topped with something made of plastic then it would not penetrate down at all. Ditto for the humidity at the bottom... I would not worry unless you are really getting a lot of rain. Some prior posters have gotten fungal issues but, if you have not had this issue before and it is not raining cats and dogs, I would not be concerned.

So this is my first season with Hydrangeas and first season ever winter protecting a shrub. The amount of rain we are getting is way above normal for us (my opinion). Our rivers, lakes and ponds appear to be way above the normal crest level.

I know how you feel. We got 27" in Sept and October. You may want to put a plastic top. The spores already in the environment are the causes of fungal issues so be ready to react if you see signs of powdery mildew, etc. next year. If you have not had this issue before though, it may not happen. Just be ready if it does.