Is my hydrangea dead?

[Rosemaryandlavender1]

I planted this hydrangea I think it was last August when it had few small blooms. I haven't touched it since and the blooms have gone dry over winter and fallen off mostly themselves. I can see a few small green shoots but most of the shoots look brownish.

Is there still hope for it?

That looks fine and completely normal to me, they take a while to get going in the spring. They have brownish leaves to start with, and there's some green.

Here is a close up of what I mean by brown shoots

I'm seeing everyone buying the Lidl ones which are already in bloom with big green leaves and getting a little concerned with mine.

Oh that's reassuring then, thank you
Does anyone else want to share how their hydrangeas are looking currently?

Yep that's fine. I often try to leave the dead flower heads on as long as possible to protect new buds from frost but the wind has taken most of them off.

Mine look like yours - perfectly normal.

Mine look the same. Nothing wrong with yours.

I've left the heads on until the frosts have finished.

Thanks for the responses, I haven't pruned it but as I planted it late last year it only had very few small blooms which the wind blew away once winter set in.
I will keep an eye on them

They'll have been artificially sped up in a greenhouse or similar, so that they look more attractive in the shops.

Thats what they look like this time of year, it’s only just spring!
Once the weather is reliably frost free, so end of April-ish give it a dose of fertiliser and then every month till its in full flower. Keep well watered.
Next year, don’t be tempted to dead head the flowers till after the last frosts - they help protect the new shoots.

The Lidl ones will have come out of a greenhouse and will need to be houseplants until the weather is warmer, they’ve been “forced” into flower. If they’re left outside in the cold now it might not kill them, they're pretty tough but it’ll blacken the leaves and flowers.

Mine is looking properly manky and I need to cut the old flowers off.

Yours looks great, has new growth & will be covered in leaves before you know it.

Oops pic

Mine looks exactly like Robins

Also they're funny plants. I've had next to no blooms some years and an abundance in others. Last year was a great year. They like a lot of water, hence the name.

I was given a couple from Lidl for Mother’s Day a couple of years ago and made a rookie error of planting them out in my excitement - the frost turned them black and I thought I’d killed them but they are surprisingly tough. They were stunning last year and grew loads, so I am going to continue ignoring them and hope they do it again this year! They look exactly like yours at the moment though.

That looks normal. Keep the old flowers, brown bits on for a bit longer as they are protecting the new growth. Then after frosts have gone you can prune them off before it flowers in the summer. I usually leave the pruning until May time to make sure.

Here's mine and next door's. The half dead looking ones are just now and the other picture was taken in June so still not in flower.
Most plants you buy are forced in greenhouses to flower much too early.

And it's REALLY easy to grow new ones from cuttings OP. In the Summer, take a 4-6" cutting. Stick in some growth hormone and compost and away you go!