Hey, Kevin - not sure exactly where you are in IN but a couple of my hydrangeas were hit hard the past two winters. (Here's hoping for a mild one this year!) Some of them were killed all the way back to the ground but put up new growth from the roots. Neither of those two bloomed this year. Some varieties were affected, others weren't. I'm surprised that you got blooms so low on your shrubs. Have you fed them anything else to encourage the blooming? Are they mulched very thickly? I wouldn't fertilize this time of year as they're getting ready to go dormant. If you have compost, you could put about an inch-thick layer around them now and let them go for the year.
