Perhaps you will hear from someone who does landscaping. They will be able to give you a better idea about appropriate expectations. I am just a casual gardener. I am also cheap. I can't tell from your description whether you were poorly treated or not.

I thought the labor cost seemed low, so I can believe her approach about charging extra for the plants. I AM surprised about the knockoouts without blooms at this time. I sure wouldn't expect black spot on nursery plants.

Personally, I would be interested in layout (design)and viability rather than instant gratification. But here, you may have serious concerns, since the irrigation may be inappropriate and the plantings poorly done.

I see that you are a new poster. You didn't mention your location. Conditions can vary greatly in the Carolinas and planting methods could be greatly different. Those with more experience will want to know more about your region, etc. before they would feel comfortable judging the situation and giving advice.

Ok sure-I am in Charleston, SC.
I guess my biggest concern is the black spots all over the leaves on the rose bushes as well as the dying leaves. They look terrible and seem to look worse by the day. It hasnt rained since they were planted. It would seem to me that they came diseased since they were put in 3 days before I started to see the black spots. I want to give this person the benefit of the doubt but I feel very uncomfortable with what Im left with here.

Well, first thing you want to do is check the soil moisture daily and hand water as necessary..remembering that over watering is worse than underwatering.
Water the soil, not the plants..especially the roses and after you have trimmed off the leaves and collected up the dropped leaves from the soil (and disposed).

Go back to that high-end nursery and give them your complaint and get their advice. They are local and know how to establish plantings in your area.

Honestly, the prices you paid for plants and labor seem in line with costs here in Charlotte area. The dripline components seem high priced but small companies tend to do that. Usually, labor to plant is equal to the cost of the plant. That's been my experience over the past 50 years of gardening.
And, I have never been satisfied with the quality of labor provided from any commercial landscaper. I usually wind up pulling and repotting all the plant material and mulch (I hate mulch) and resetting them myself after loosening the soil better. The harder job of clearing out lawn areas to establish the beds has been done by the laborers and now you get to personalize the job.
As for that mexican petunia..don't worry. They are tremendously hardy. I've divided and root pruned the remains intending to move it ..never got around to doing it and with it half out of the ground it resettled in that position to bloom happily. They have alot of fibrous,cord-like roots and you can divide them anytime so long as it goes into a spot with lots of sun and decent drainage.

Those loropetalums are likely to get huge and know that you need to trim them at least once a year, if not twice in your area. They may broaden to overrun your beds so keep that in mind. I have the big ones, one on a trellis and a row of the fastigate form which I've decided is a hoax..just a regular form trimmed and trained to upright growth.
You can get control of your situation and personalize with some of your own labor but I wouldn't get too upset about the knockouts. They are easily replaced.

Take lots of photographs so you can work from those to visualize what you want in color and form. In the meantime, you can tuck in some large red geraniums in lieu of the knockouts for the instant gratification of color you seek. Just be sure to clear out the dropped,blackspotted leaves as you pull out the knockouts.

Come back and keep us informed with description or photos. We'd love to see what you've accomplished and I love to applaud others efforts to overcome a bad situation.
You can do it, we know you can and you don't have to do it all at once (in this heat). As I said, tuck in some heatloving annual/semi perennials to your zone like geraniums and enjoy the sparkle of color.

Hmm, bulbines..never heard of them before until you mentioned and I Googled. Looks a lot like the syserinchium I adore here that blooms blue but a small flower as compared to the volume of green plant leaves.
A joy to the gardener but unnoticed by passerby at the street or sidewalk.
Another punch of color(from leaves) is setcresea(sp) the royal purple leaved wandering jew tucked amidst your bulbines that bloom well above the foliage will be a purple punch of color below the yellow/orange/rust tones of the bulbines. When the bulbines stop blooming you still have the purple coarse foliage below and among the grassy foliage of the bulbines.
Like that idea? I gotta ton of 'em.

Dottie; I hope I misread your post. It sure sounded like you were suggesting that someone who just spent $225 for knockout roses, should just throw them out and spend half that again to get a season of color (well perhaps geraniums don't die in coastal SC?).

Not at all , chas. I recommended she pull and pot them up so she can give them specific attention during the heat of the summer and try to replant them in better weather.
Her knockouts are obviously stressed and have been trimmed or had fungus attack what leaves are left so transpiration is a problem that would benefit by lifting,potting and careful watering in a well ventilated area.
Generally, knockouts don't require such babying but unless you're home all day and can monitor for rain added to drip watering these babies can drown and root rot pretty easily.

Well, you picked a terrible time to install a bed. These plants are under tremendous strain right now with the heat and lack of rain. I might question wether the roses are knockouts, as they are supposed to be blackspot resistant. I might go out and lift one of the roses from it's hole. Check to see if the hole is twice as wide as the rootball of the plant. Check to see if the soil has been amended. Fill the hole with water and see if it drains empty with 24 hours.

From what you said about the time they were there, unless there was an army of them, I doubt they did proper soil prep.

And as someone suggested, go back to the nursery and express you concerns. But most of all, remember this lesson. Always get your agreement in writing. Be clear what you expect to get and how much you will pay.

Ask the landscaper if she got a guarantee on the plants. Even l-w-s gives a year guarantee. Maybe she will replace them with healthier ones. I too would be very upset with results. Be honest with the landscaper and keep your cool. He/she should be inclined to want to please you since you are future advertising. Hope it works out.
Linda_Jo

I agree with most of what's been said. It seems likely they were not planted as well as they could have been. At the same time it is a really bad time to be planting so extra water to establish may be necessary. The black spot on the roses might concern me as well since those don't tend to get it. But the lack of blooms really isn't a bad things. Plants use a lot of energy to bloom and although you don't get instant gratification it allows the plant to focus on the root system and growth which is better in the long run. I hope that turns out to be the case. The prices may be a tad high but they don't seem unreasonable really and you are paying labor as well. But it's hard to tell without someone coming to look and see if the job was done properly. Good luck I hope you end up happy with it

Austintatious Landscapes of Austin texas ripped me off for $290.00

Michael Bauer can not even mow a yard correctly, he runs all over your bushes and plants, weed whacks all of your flowers and leaves the grass all over the sidewalk. He takes your money and leaves town with it to "probably" go to Mexico to get more drugs to sell. He is a dishonest thug punk and needs to leave the Austin Tx area. He has a drug case in Travis County Criminal Court 12-13-13 c-1-cr-13-152334 selling marijuana charge 930am in CC5 PTR3C

He has multiple convictions and is an overall deadbeat.

Don't use him to sweep your sidewalk.

Without a receipt, you really have no legal recourse except to repair at your own expense.