I'm not sure why that would happen, though I have not grown buttercup before. Buttercup is from the family c. maxima, which is more susceptable to borers than butternut. Butternut is in the c. moschata family. You mentioned purchasing plants. Why not get seeds during the winter and plant those? Squash is very easy to grow from seed. Just prepare your soil, so that it is weed free (or nearly so) and plant the seeds about 1" deep. It will take about a week for them to come up, but my guess is that squash planted from seed will grow as well or better than transplants, since there will be no transplant shock. Did you see pollinators on the flowers? I suspect you live in the Midwest. Some parts of the Midwest have been hard hit for pollinators. Below is a link to thread on hand pollination of squash. It's aimed at producing pure seed. But the technique would work for simply getting fruit. One could simply skip taping the flowers shut. George Tahlequah, OK Here is a link that might be useful: Hand pollination of Squash

I had great success with the gomphrena last year, and didn't do anything special. I was kind of surprised that my results were so dismal this year. Funny, in looking back at my records just now, the ones last year were sown in mid-February and did great. This year I sowed them in the first week of March, and got three seedlings. Hmm. Well, as every gardener says, there's always next year! :) Dee

Thanks so much for responding, both of you. I will never again post to Facebook, (only got on it when an dying 80 year old friend said to get on and see pictures), Please go to my other post Steve, at: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/namegal/msg0409485518719.html?13235 and click on the image link, it'll pop right up. Whatcha think I've got?, And thanks again.

I don't know why but there's something comforting about reading these entries, maybe it's knowing that I'm not alone in buttercup hell...in fact it seems that buttercup's roots link the world like some pestilential internet. Maybe that seems a tad dramatic and/or obsessive, but I am now entering my third year of buttercup battling and so far plant is defeating man without even trying. It all started innocently enough when my girlfriend confessed that she's always wanted guinea pigs, ever since she was nine and neglected her guinea pig Iggy and he died of a broken heart(or possibly of cold and hunger). Anyway I indulged her and built a hutch, and Myrtle and Arabella began their happy, uncomplicated existence in our yard. At first I was quite pleased as I hardly ever had to mow the lawn, but then one fateful day I looked out the back door and thought, whats that funny looking plant over there? Oh and over there...because folks, it turns out that not only is buttercup one invasive swine of a plant, grazing animals won't eat it! In fact it's poisonous to em...I've dug it up for hours on end, I've hit it with broadleaf spray, weedandfeed spray, even a nasty non-specific weedkiller but it always comes back and takes over the lawn grasses I plant. I'm gonna try the lime thing cos someone mentioned that to me as well, and if that doesn't work then I'm starting to think that my yard would look pretty good in concrete and that Myrtle and Arabella would make a nice Peruvian snack. So if anyone out there has any other ideas, don't hold back-you'll be slowing ugly suburban sprawl and saving some cute south american rodents(and maybe my sanity)...