Annual poppies looked real ugly for me! Not many grew to flower then barely lasted at all. Also the foliage was ugly.

Karen

Yanked up the ratibida, Mexican Hats, because they flopped. Also had some kind of really pretty yellow coreopsis but cut most of it down because it flopped.

I have enjoyed the self-seeded cosmos, larkspur, red spider zinnia, cleome, and marigolds. They did not grow as tall and were not floppy this year. Also I could easily yank them out if they were in the way.

Raves: foxglove, blue poppies, white plains penstemon, scarlet runner bean, jingle bells penstemon,lettuce, delphinium ballamosum, maltese cross.

disappointments - larkspur - did not grow from either direct sow or transplant. Dephinium exaltatum - nary a sprout.

On the fence - tomatoes (at least I have fruit this year, but not enough to make sauce from), minnasota midget cantalope (lots of flowers but no fruit yet).

Lois in PA

I will have to add
leaf lettuce and
kale and
spinache.
Cilantro
They bolted way too early.

Some of my petunia seeds did not even germiate.

I think I only got 1 plant from 2 jugs of peaches and cream verbena if that but I will have to wait until the bloom to see if I got that.

My delphiniums that came back this year died and early death and I have no clue why.

And I think my rudbeckia surpose to be cherokee sunrise even though the flowers are all yellow is starting to die since it was knocked over not sure why it was next to the delps.

Now my raves we have TONS of tomatos just waiting to ripen. The petunias are doing great the zinnias are fighting off the japanese beetles. The red spider zinnias are starting to grow on me since I planted them so close they do look fuller.

Paula

Raves: All the Alyssums, some of the peony type poppy, silene for the first time and loving it, Impatiens Balfori which is just stunning in a tall urn (I have to take a pic), shorter (and smaller) Zinnias - which are just starting to bloom and look great without and staking!

Disappointments: 10 week stocks (yeah right - still no blooms and it's got to be week 15 and the plants have no buds)

clown flower - have it in a barrel that is shaded on one side (where I put them cause they supposed can bloom in shade) and only the edge that gets almost full sun is blooming. Messy foliage.

Holly Hocks - just deer food this year. I do have one poor stalk that is trying to bloom with one leaf left on a 4' stalk - we'll see.

Floppy coreposis - my fault,planted in a too shaded area, must move in the fall if it is not dead by then.

Nancy

Prof, are you having a cool and rainy summer like much of the northeast? That may explain some disappointment. I've seen black and blue salvia be giant and gorgeous, but I'm sure it likes warm and sunny.

My raves:
Disco Red marigolds. They started blooming pretty fast (early June?) even with cool weather and part sun.

Hollyhocks, WS last year and kept in the fenced veggie areas. They look great! I really like the red-magenta ones, I wish I could have them in the red bed :(. I even have--gasp--some OUTSIDE the fenced area that the deer haven't hit since spring. Yay!

Dahlias: they're not blooming yet, but they're big and buds are forming. I'm impressed.

Salvia: I think it's sclarea, but the nearest tag says something else. WS last year. The two plants each have a huge panicle of white flowers and bracts. I love them. Of the dozen or so other salvia seedlings in that bed, all WS last year, only one other is blooming, so those others are disappointments. They were supposed to make my bulb bed look good, and it sure doesn't!

Other disappointments:

I got my acroclinum seedlings out early, and they still aren't flowering. They've had tiny buds for weeks.

My "crazy daisy" WS last year bloomed. It looks pretty sane to me. Ooh, the petals don't all lay perfectly flat, get out the straightjacket! These were collected (traded) seeds, and all 6 or so plants have the same type of flowers. Oh well, at least I didn't already have tall shastas!

The ornamental blue fescue WS last year. It just looked like tufts of...blue fescue. As in the lawn grass. No color variation, not an interesting mound. I ripped it all out so I had room to plant more seedlings.

Raves: Nierembergia Purple Robe. It started awful slow, but now it's covered in flowers. It's very delicate looking, both foliage and flowers. Doing great in a basket in part shade.

Nicotiana Silvestris (thank you, Token!) It smells wonderful, I love the look of it, with the flowers so slender. One I won't be without from now on.

Zinnia Scarlet Flame. Really, really scarlet red. Huge flowers, they seem to last for days on the plant and as a cut flower.

As for dissapointments, well, the Hollyhocks haven't done well at all this year. They bloomed early, small flowers, and they've had the worst case of rust ever. They were on their second year and I was expecting better performance.
And Calendula Radio. The first flush of flowers did have the quilled look, then they reverted to regular calendula petals, rather smallish flowers to boot.

Raves:

Salpiglossis 'Royale Chocolate'. It's actually a dark purple, with a redish tint, not an ugly brown at all.

Osteospermum 'African Sun'. They're kind of a creamy white with a hint of orange, and a brown center. Looks awesome with the Salpiglossis 'Royale Chocolate'

Portulaca 'Sundial Tangerine'. A nice bright, clear orange color. I grew 'Sundial Mango' last year, but it was more of a peachy pink than an orange.

Nicotiana 'Domino Lime Green' just opened up, but I love the pale, delicate color.

Disapointments:

Most of them have to do with colors not being what was advertised.

Petunia 'Aladdin Orange' which is actually dark pink

Linaria 'Flaming Passion' which is supposed to be red and yellow, but was more like fuscia and orange.

Snapdragon 'Rembrandt' was only about 6" tall, instead of 12" - 18", and the blooms were a washed out red and yellow, not the bright orange and yellow that was advertised.

Prof, I am with you on the broccoli! Last year, it never did form a head, so I ripped it out in late July. This year, I got huge plants, lots of catepillar damage, and one teeny head about the size of my fist. Just not productive enough for the amount of space it takes up.

Beets, spinach, and chard. Too much leaf miner damage.

Bonnie

rants -

purple prince zinnias - uck pink
Calendula Radio - no quills just plain old flat petals
bon bon cosmos - should be just bon as they all bloomed single rather than double

rave - fiesta hollyhocks -
golden margetit ( whatever )
and Jackpot

Ill start with raves:
You qualify for a rave this year if you made more than 1 flower:

Toms (as usual)
Foxglove
Nigella (but where are the pink ones)
Larkspur
Poppies, lots of blooms, want more RED ones next year
Rose Angel (Think its a type of silene)
Coral nymph Salvia
Happy to say Ive got Romaine lettuce this Year! YEAH!

Disappointments:
red salvia (where are they???)
Texas Bluebonnets (guess they dont like the soil)
Sweet Peas (prolly try again tho)
Blue Shrimp Plant is "shrimpier" than I expected
Sunflowers

On the Fence

laura Bush, you're not acting all the photos Ive seen yet...the expectations are a bit HIGH for this one, Ill admit

Catchfly Angel Rose
Viscaria oculata oculata Rose Angel

Here it is, I got it in a swap from somebody who didnt put their name on it, easily my fave this year!!

Whoever youa re, Thank YOU!

My raves are rudbeckias and the two foxgloves that are still blooming in the heat of summer. I didn't expect blooms and I already have seed pods forming.

My disappointments have got to be the butterfly bushes and dogwoods. The BBushes have not really grown much since planting out. Could be the lack of rain, but I expected larger plants by now. Only one looks like it will bloom any time soon. The dogwoods are slowly dying. They got a bad case of powdery mildew this spring from all the rain. Only 2 of 18 are still alive, barely. I'll try again this year, but will sow them in place and use a 2-liter "top" to protect them until they germinate. They really don't like to be transplanted.

Token my butterfly bushes are still very tiny too! I was expecting them to have grown a little.

I guess I am disappointed in them.

Also Doris Petunia's are a disappointment for me too!
If you want some red poppies I collected seed from the only ones that grew for me. they are red with a spot of purple at the stems.

Karen

Raving:
Safari Primrose Marigolds (new color for me)
- WOW! (Pic was after lots of rain; you should see it after several days of sun!!!)
She only took two years from small 2-3 fan clump to show off like this.

1/2-rave:
still waiting for full show: Aztec Sunset Zinnia
Agrostemma Ocean Pearl- nice size bloom, but definitely a filler-thing. Will need to move next year and not give it space of its own, cuz it's definitely just filler.
Cherry Brandy Rud- not in bloom here yet, but the honeymoon is over for me; I don't really care for it after all. It'll go in our local fall swap for someone else to enjoy.
Cerinthe Major- got a lovely clump this year, but probably won't put it in again. I'll put the seeds in the WS swap that's being organized.

Boo-Hiss:
H-Balls- no sprouts.

Oh, I forgot a rave, thanks for reminding me, columbus:
St John's chamomile, aka "orange marquerite"--(my term), WS last year.

My butterfly bushes grew slowly, but bloomed the 2nd year. You just got spoiled, token, and want all your perennials to bloom first year :)

Some of my buddleia will bloom this year. Just not all of them. :p

Mmqchdygg, love those nasturtiums! It's my third year to try nasturtiums, and have yet to see a single bloom, but this year is looking better than the previous two, so we'll see. Out of all the marigolds I have grown, Safari Primrose is definitely my favorite. I was going to plant some again this year, but a multicolored one I grew last year decided to self sow, so I didn't need anymore.

Bonnie

Just a followup to that posting above. Anyone who hasn't tried the dreamsicles...DO!!! Look at all the blooms...ABOVE THE FOLIAGE!!!

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Just a quick note about butterfly bushes. I grew a few from seed several years ago. They looked like sticks until I think year 3, and then they REALLY took off! One "stick" is now about 5 x 5 feet and full of blooms.

Leisa