Any disappointments this year?

18 years ago

I have to say, I've had several disappointments this summer. I know last year was freakish cool and damp, but I was really hoping for a lush garden again. Here's some of the ones I doubt I'll be doing again.

Immortelle. I admit, I got seduced by the picture. It's not bad; a tidy little grey-green plant. But the flowers, pink and white everlastings, are really small. And ... just not enough oomph to make it worth the space.

Penny Black nemophilia. Cute little almost black flowers rimmed with white. But again, the flowers were really small, and didn't seem to last very long. In a pinch I could say the low-growing foliage was interesting but... won't be growing this one again.

Agapanthus. Last summer my mother bought be a beautiful steel blue agapanthus, and I loved the tropical feel of it, even if the flowers didn't last terrihbly long. I carried over the plant inside this winter, and come spring when I saw the bare root plants on sale I bought about 10. Last years plant looked pretty sad when I brought it out, but it's plumped up nicely, and looks healthy. Still, it's almost August and there's no sign of a stalk. And the ones I bought this spring -- are only about 6" tall and I don't think they've grown a millimeter since May!

Delphinium. I love these so much, and I've had such beautiful ones I bought at the nursery, but they don't last year to year, and I simply can't grow these from seed. The ones I winter-sowed 2 years ago are only 6-8" tall! I'm going to have to stick to larkspur and chinese delphs.

Winter-hardy glads. I may have to wait on these and see. They were pretty enough, but they flowered for less than a week. It was during our 90+ temps, so maybe that did them in prematurely. I'm not ripping them out, but if they prove to not actually be winter-hardy and don't come up in the spring, I won't be too broken up about it.

Dwarf forget-me-nots. I started Victoria pink and blue, and I swear they've grown no bigger than they were when I potted them up for the swap back in May. If anyone here got them at the swap -- I hope they did much better for you!

There are so many things that have done well in the garden it seems ungrateful to focus on these, but I just wanted to share.

Anyone have plants that just didn't live up to your expectations this year?

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Comments (12)

mrgpag SW OH Z5/6
18 years ago
Big disappoint when we went on vacation in July for a week and returned to find our 10 foot carpinus japonica without a leaf. Week before it looked just fine. Don't know what happened to it and it's gone now.
storygardener
18 years ago
Alison...this is such a good question.

This may sound funny...but, that wonderous Rozanne Geranium that blooms all summer and fall is so, so big & wide that I've had to prune it. I didn't realized it would be so big & sprawling it's second year.

I waited 7 years for my climbing hydrangea to finally bloom...the plant is huge and I had three flowers. ONly a token jesture. I hope for more next year.

I lost two butterfly bushes. I was very sad to see these 8 year old plants go. Luckily, I had 2 year old seedling volunteer butterfly bush growing under my Japanese maple. So, I got to replace one.

I am disappointed (mad as can be) that a ground hog lives in my neighborhood. Mimi is my back yard neighbor. I heard rumbling from her potting area through the trees & I hollared hello. With no reply and went to see her. Well..the noise was that dern groundhug burrowing under her potting bench. When it saw me..it ran right past me and went under my deck!!! Some nerve!!

....Beverly
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Hi Glen, I tried starting them inside in pots like you do.....when they are small.....and I almost gave up too. Then a friend was moving away and she gave me tons of dahlias.....yellows like the one I posted and purples.....they are not dinner plate but the roots were HUGE.....so there was no way to start them indoors in pots....and yes I did divide them and they were still toooooo big. She said.....oh just stick em in the ground in April or early May and they will grow.....you can't hurt them......So that is what I have been doing with them every since. I prefer the dinner plates......and yes I plant them and treat them all the same way. Once I quite trying to baby them a long..they have done much better. Yes I take them right out of storage...which is my basement....and plant them right in the ground. In a nice year...they may even get planted in Mid April. Usually when I take them out of storage they have already started to grow.....I just bury that new growth and everything. The tubers are planted a good 6 inches deep.....so no I don't mulch or do anything....They just start growing when they are ready...it usually takes quite a while before you will see the growth above the ground. By then there isn't any frost. Oh I put bone meal in the planting hole and turkey trot if I have some..... I have found that the dinner plate tubers don't get as tall as those other smaller flowering ones. I've had a white dinner plate for a few years....it produces huge flowers....It got planted behind a yellow this year and its a bit shorter....so the flowers are slow to open....but it is opening....Last year I added a red one.....the flowers weren't quite as big...and each one only had a flower or two.....this year there are several flowers...and much larger. The Lavender ruffles dinner plate..that I planted this year was the first to bloom....that flower is now finished and two more are open on it......Yes I think it is well worth the effort to grow the dinner plates here......I was hooked as soon as I got the first 12 inch+ across flower. I have to say I was very leary of planting them out that early the first year and was concerned about frost and such.....but I planted at the risk of losing them....and to my surprise...found she was right and it worked much better. I have never lost one from planting to early. I will have to look up 'color spectacle' LOL! Sierra
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PixieLou, it's always a learning experience. My spinach was a dud this year. Planted only one week later than last year (which was a fantastic year) but a bust. Heard cold, wet spring affected others too in our area, even the market gardeners. I have a partly sunny space on the east side of our house, actually, some of it extends to the driveway so it also has a southern exposure ... but shade from a maple tree part of the day. I planted cherry tomatoes there this year expecting them to not do as well because of less sun and they are scrawny. We'll probably have plenty of cherry tomatoes, which are beginning to ripen, but not the huge harvests of previous years. This is the same bed that was originally my herb garden but I moved to herbs to a new bed next to my kitchen porch. They are doing astoundingly well in that location. Maybe that original bed gets evenn less sun than I thought. What are the sun conditions for your beds? Maybe those perennials need more sun? I used to try to grow sun loving perennials in part sunny conditions and it was really a waste of time and money. I can see where some parts of my garden need additional organic matter (the old herb bed) and a hurried lasagna style bed needs more manure/dirt. I see evidence of blossom end rot so a sure sign those particular tomato plants aren't getting enough nutrients. OTH the good news is that germination was better in pots (herb seeds) when I moved them away from a hot southern spot against the house (further reflection from white house) to the porch steps that get some of that maple tree shade part of the day. I am disappointed in my potting soil. The big plastic pots that are doing better have composted horse manure in the bottom, potting soil on top. The potting soil dries out quickly and seems to have too much peat moss in it. My vegetable beds which get the great composted horse manure are black, soft and full of earthworms. Not so, my flower beds. The herbs don't seem to mind. I'd say the poorer soil seems sandier, finer particles which probably don't hold water very well. Good luck to everyone. Striped cucumber beetles have made winter squash a bust this year and I'm only now just getting my first cucumbers for a second try. So even my great vegetable garden soil isn't enough.
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What kind of soil are you using? Settling is somewhat normal. When it rains and when you water, the soil will compact a bit over time. Last year I had 1/3 each of peat moss, vermiculite and compost in my beds and it settled a little bit. The soil stayed loose and workable. This year I made new, larger beds and used a cheaper combination of only topsoil and compost...and it compacted a lot. I spent a lot of time out there with a hoe, breaking up the lumps and amended the soil heavily (along with a big dose of vermiculite) before planting the next round of crops. I'd have to ask a ton of questions to help you determine why your chard didn't grow. There is great info on these forms you can find with a search. My best suggestion for you is to get in touch with someone at your county's extension office so you can get information that is more specific to where you live. Here is a link that might be useful: Link that will help you find your local extension office
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alison
Original Author
18 years ago
Hmmm... I've been told groundhogs make a rather nice, slow-cooked pot roast....
michigoose
18 years ago
So far...I've only lost stuff I didn't get watered...I did go hog wild at the Springhill sale, and several of the 3/99cents had one die out of the bunch, but how can you fault a 33 cent loss? And...the tree peony I had doubts about when I bought it from them bare root is GROWING! YEEHAW....

I guess the biggest scare is the thought that the person who was buying my house was going to bulldoze it all right away...but this deal is now in question.....but...I now have a garden in CT which is supposed to be on a house for sale with a green fish pond and so many weeds it will take several days to get it straightened out....

oh yeah....and the fact that I can't do everything at once. That's a huge disappointment.....

Allison, don't give up on the agapanthus. My bareroot ones didn't bloom the first year...they don't like a lot of messing around and I think they have to get to a certain size before they bloom. Hang on and treat them nice and they may produce for you next year.

I'm also glad to hear about your experience with they nymophilia...I wanted to try these and so I am glad to hear your appraisal.

Oh yeah....poker primrose...they look so neat inthe pictures...but they are TINY. I think the whole poker is about half the size of my pinkie and about 1 1/2" long.....sort of disappointing, but it may redeem itself.
bakemom_gw
18 years ago
Opposite problem with Rozanne, the darned thing is doing nothing for me. There have been discussions about its sprawling in Perennials, but that has not been my experience. crapo.

Then, paper moon scabiosa was so wonderful for me last year. I sent seeds everywhere and winter sowed them again. Not only were they not perennial, but the winter sowed ones rotted. I had to BUY seed and those are doing darn near nothing. I have sowed my last seed and those aren't germinating. WHAT THE HECK?

That pennie black did nothing for me last year. But folks keep raving about it, so try try again i suppose.
gardengirl_17
18 years ago
Sambucus racemosa 'sutherland's gold'. I have coveted this plant in many gardens and bought one this spring even though I didn't know where I would put it. Being a gold leaved plant, I knew part shade would be best, but I don't have much of that. It didn't stop me and I bought it anyway believing what I've heard about its ability to take more sun. I planted it in full sun, under what will someday be shade from an Oak and a dogwood. Surprise - surprise, it's really struggling. If it lives through the winter I'll be shocked! I'm already thinking of what to replace it with.

Six Hills giant catmint. This is the second summer and it looks absolutely no different than 'Walkers Low'. I'm bringing it to the plant swap because I think I've got plenty of catmint already.

Alabama Sunset honeysuckle. How the #)(#&%P(#*%& do you grow this plant and have it look good? I bought it for the hummingbirds and they like it o.k. but it's so gangly and it doesn't seem to twine around anything. I have to weave it through the wire and then it just sticks out in a really weird way. I'm not at all fond of this plant and it may be on the endangered list in my yard. If anyone has an idea how to make this plant look good, I'd love to hear it! :)
alison
Original Author
18 years ago
I forgot St. John's Wort.

None of the packages I saw were labelled as to what type of Hypericum they were, so I took a chance. I was hoping to get the kind I had in my herb garden at work; a big, sturdy bush with gorgeous yellow pompoms. Instead I got what seemed like an evergreen groundcover. That spread. And spread. And.... I ripped it all out before it got too far!

Won;t plant that again unless I know is the perforatum.
granny57
18 years ago
Disappointments in my gardens??Just one!!!
WEEDS!!!!
alison
Original Author
18 years ago
Michigoose -- what do you do with your agapanthus over winter? I'm pretty sure mine won't survive over winter outside. I'd be willing to nurse these thru another winter if I thought I'd get anything next year!
roadtrip
18 years ago
I'd have to say the "dissapointment" of the year was the process of taking down a dying tree in the front yard. I have been putting the yard back together ever since, but it's taken me until now just to get a little ahead. Weeds have been pretty bad too with all the heat.

The whole ordeal could have been a little better had I been more prepared. Having a tree cut down is nooooo thing to take lightly. Good thing is that I have only one more tree on the property that might have to come down in my lifetime, so that's a definate plus!

Still looking for homes for some of the plants that were around the tree, so the fall will be a busy time for me to try and get ready for next year. Hopefully I can actually take the time to enjoy the garden next year.

Shannon
lmariesteve
18 years ago
Biggest disappointment was in the veggie garden. Borers got into my squash and cucumbers. Something ate up my green beans. Next year- chemicals!
User
18 years ago
my biggest one is my foxgloves! I planted 2 last yr. and they never came up this year! So bummed! But to make up for them, I bought a hot pink rose bush! Just love it!!

Any disappointments this year?

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mrgpag SW OH Z5/6

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