Gracie,

The way I've heard that old saying all my life is 'the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap' and that describes the typical growth of many perennial plants.

In the first year, they adjust to being planted (that's the sleeping stage). In the second year, they make mostly root growth (that's the creeping stage). In the third year they begin to show more topgrowth and to spread really well. (That's the crawling or leaping stage.)

You cannot compare your plants to anyone else's because there are so many variables involved....soil fertility, soil quality in terms of texture, i.e. plants grow faster in sandy loam, for example, than in rocky soil or clay soil, and shade. Shade can vary from full shade where no sunlight reaches the plant to partial shade where a plant gets some direct sun during the day and shade the rest of the day and dappled shade, where a plant gets sunlight filtered through tree leaves. So, your friend's plants likely are not getting precisely the identical amount of light your plants are, and there likely are differences in soil texture and fertility and soil moisture levels. Any and all of those factors would affect the rate at which the plants are growing.

As long as your plants are healthy, they'll grow at the right rate for them and that's all you can ask of them.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn, I feel better now! I had a feeling it might be the soil and sun differences. She lives in an older home in OKC where they do not have as much clay as we do in Edmond. You are always so helpful!