Bareroot hydrangea

I purchased a bareroot peegee hydrangea a couple of months ago, but it hasn't put out any leaves yet, not even a leaf node (if that's what it's called). All of my other hydrangeas (purchased last summer) have started to put lots of leaf nodes as well as leaves. Does it take a while for bareroot ones to take off? Or is it time to bring it back to Lowes?

There is some green coloring behind the bark at the base of the hydrangea. Is this some sign of life? And are those roots extending out from the trunk? If so, do I need to cover it up with more soil? Sorry for all the questions. I would really appreciate your expertise. Thanks.

Took a picture of the green part of the plant. Looks more like a hairy monster than a hydrangea. . .LOL!

Assuming you've got a while left on Lowe's guarantee I'd probably give it a little time, maybe it's working on getting its roots happy and the top growth will come along later. But if the guarantee period is about to run out then I'd probably take it back and get a new one just to guarantee you have a good one.

Those do look like little roots trying to grow there, but I'm assuming when you planted it there was an obvious crown where the stem & most of the roots met? You don't want to bury that crown part too deeply, so I'd probably ignore the little extra roots, maybe at one point someone had the plant planted too deeply and it started to do that.

I have at least 6 more months left on the gaurantee. . .so I will wait. Thanks ecrane.

I've got one that is always the last thing in the yard to break dormancy. Have no idea why...every year I decide that this year, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's dead. And every year, it finally comes back. Your season is alot farther along than mine, but I'd give it more time. Like you said, it's Lowe's, so you can always return it up to a year.