My Always Afternoon daylily went nuts, tons of flowers, lots of seed pods, etc. Unfortunately it is ugly and I am digging it up and trading it away! LOL Must be my soil, because others say theirs are beautiful! My Annabelle Hydrangea did VERY well for only it's second season.
Other than that, I have had a few disappointments this year, I suppose due to the extreme heat and near drought conditions here! But my herbs are loving this heat!

Linda

I don't know Linda, I agree with you on 'Always Afternoon', I think the color is muddy looking- sometimes you can forgive an ugly plant if it is a real workhorse though. I bet those herbs are loving the heat too- our melons are loving it and growing like crazy. I wish I were as big a fan.

I planted a Luna Blush hibiscus last August and didn't know if it would come back due to lack of snow cover. It is Zone 5 hardy. I have tried Turn of the Century about 8 years ago that came back twice after winter. Well Luna came back and is 3.5' and perfectly rounded and budding beautifully. No insect damage since they all went for the roses this year. So I just bought another one in red. If they do good next year I will be buying many more. Their foliage and just looks great all summer. No pinching, staking, or fungus problems. I love this plant.

Lychnis Chalcedonia-really tall plants-was only 1ft last year when I planted it-now it's about 4ft high and reblooming.

Charisma tea rose (zone 6??). Bought last year in the Menards $2 rose pile. Came back without this spring without doing the "Minnesota Tip" (I covered it in a little hay-but that was it), and it blooms in part shade. A great little rose.

Limelight Hydrangea. Beatiful color, and not droopy like my annabelles (although I am quite happy with them too).

Sweet Dreams Coreopsis-beatiful color, long blooming period, and it pairs well with my hardy hibiscus "Kopper King"

Brunnera macrophylla 'Variegata'-Beautiful, big heart-shaped leaves, bright variegation, and great little light blue forget-me-not like flowers in the spring.

Varigated Japanese Fleeceflower (Fallopia japonica ÂVariegataÂ) - Filled out nicely, branches have a nice layered effect, and it really lights up a shady part of my backyard

I had a purple columbine that I put in a washtub with some other misc stuff and it shot up with the fullest foliage and bloomed magnificently.
I was also not expecting too much from phlox David-second spring and it's not as tall as I expected yet, but I totaly love the full pretty flower heads
My hemerocallis "Big Kiss" was a tremendous delight-I guess in terms of blossoms, in the 3rd year it lept.
gypsophila repens was lovely(creeping pink babies breath. I wasnt really expecting much, but it really pleased me this year. think I'll pamper it a bit more than I have.
I was also surprised by a white perennial geranium that I got from a lady in Alaska. I didnt expect it to spread out and sprawl as much as it did. I love it
Oh and I had the nicest surprise. I traded for a confederate violet, and I thought that I had lost it. I found a couple of tiny ones in an entirely new location. I was so thrilled to find it. Hope it continues to come back.

The winter sown plants!
So many of them- sow easy!
I never really expected it to work! But it really worked well... maybe even too well!
And Hibiscus Sabdarifa- Whew- I love the color and structure of it's deep red maple leaf like foliage- And the blossoms of the Salpiglosses/ Painted Tongue flower- just incredable with their stained glass effect!
So many joys to behold - all season long!
Julie

When we lost our elm tree this spring and my front garden went from mostly shade to 100% sun all day long, I quickly moved everything to the back gardens, enlarged the bed, amended the soil, and then -- wanting instant gratification after so many years of having mainly shade-tolerant plants -- stuffed the space with cannas, dahlias, tithonia, annual butterfly weed, cleome, crocosmia, etc. Now it's a huge jungle and definitely surpasses all my expectations, especially considering how little planning went into it. My only frustration is not being able to take a decent photo of it, partly because it's so big and in the sun constantly.

Thanks to everyone who responded, I am having fun looking up the plants you mentioned and I really need to try that winter sowing too.
Crocosmia: I love that colorful garden that you have going there. What a lovely backdrop your "painted lady" makes behind it. Do I spot a porch swing? Since my house has three porches(sorry no decks 100 years ago) I am a big fan of them.

Just got back from 2 weeks in France - OMG! My popcorn is reaching the ROOF of my garage!

That's a bit over expectation...yes siree!

-Marie

I remember the post ( I think I started it..) I think I was talking about black beauty lillies and kiss me over the garden gate? I've been away from the board for awhile this summer due to some unexpected life occurrences.. My garden has been on it's own for the most part the last month or so..

My black beauties are on the wane but my kiss me is going strong.
The unexpected things that have surpassed expectations are the shirley poppies I planted from seed &asked about on this forum (especially a ruffly double one called angel's choir) And a nicotiana called cranberry island that is really amazing almost 5ft tall and beautiful clouds of pink and white flowers.

Also, Nettie I posted photos of my gardens awhile ago, I can post them again or send you the link if you didn't see it.

My only slight disappointment from something I was pretty excited about is from the Nasturtium "milkmaid" I planted from seed all along the border of my front garden. It was called white and cream in the catalog and really is pale yellow to yellow.

Heather

Primula saxatalis and Polemonium pulcherrimum, both started from seed last year....stellar peformers. Others seed started that put on a better than expected show are Veronica pinnata, Veronica porphyriana, Scutellaria baicalensis.

Like the performance of these too....Persicaria polymorpha, Acinos alpinus and Erodium chrysanthum.

Almost forgot...Ligularia japonica. The third year and it leaped right over the top of my expectations.

Jan

I was thrilled with my new white perennial geranium - very mannerly, keeping its place and standing up straight to form a nice 15 - 18" clump. Unfortunately, it wasn't marked with the name when I bought it.
jan

My daylily "Mauna Loa". A wonderful person gave me a bunch of their divisions, and its first summer here in MN it had several big, beautiful blooms.

Also, my mother's bleeding heart plant has grown large and, even though I rigidly dislike pink, it's just too cool to look at!