Does anyone know what disease this bush might have? It is a Pee Gee Hydrangea I have had for more than 20 years. It has looked beautiful every other year, and I normally have to trim it a couple of times during the blooming season. It began leafing out this Spring and half of the bush looked normal and the other half looked like this. So I cut all of the branches back and then the entire thing ended up in this condition. Now the problem has spread to another hydrangea next to it.
I just saw this thread this morning and did some research. It is almost certainly a virus of some kind. The distortion is indicative of a virus. It could have come from sucking insects. The fact that your other hydrangea has the same condition also points to this cause.
I am sorry to tell you that there is no cure. Only prevention. You will probably have to remove and destroy the plant (don't compost it). If you have a number of hydrangeas close together it is critical that you remove the one next to it, or the virus will simply move down the entire row of plants.
I wish I had better news.
