Here are some guesses/possibilities...

hollyhocks - lots of variables with this one. Some are biennials and won't bloom until the second year. Also, if pruned after buds form late in the season, that can eliminate blooms the following year.

azaleas - highly likely to be a soil type/drainage issue. Rhododendrons (including azaleas) are pretty picky and are often hard to grow in typical yard soil. These are some of the most challenging plants to grow in challenging conditions. In less than optimal health, they become a magnet for pests and disease.

orange butterfly weed - generally carefree if not loved to death, but very sensitive to root damage. These often don't survive transplanting because of their sensitive taproot. They also don't like wet feet, so if you didn't have good drainage (loose soil can have poor drainage), that might also have been a problem.

lilacs - most are better suited for colder climates than found in most of Tennessee. Soil fertility might also have been an issue.

others - nothing specific sticks out in my mind with these (especially without more info).
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Another possibility, and one that I have trouble with, is voles. Those nasty little critters have taken out a good number of my plants. Do you ever seen indications of tunneling around any of your plants? Seems like every time lately that I've had a plant die, I dig it out only to find a tunnel or soft dirt where a tunnel has been. I'm planning to start trying cages around the rootballs of my perennials. Unfortunately, cages aren't a good thing for trees or shrubs.

One of my biggest frustrations is that I cannot seem to get the big beautiful tomatoes I used to be able to grow. I have lived in several places over the last 10 years and not had much success. Somwthing always seems to cause one sort of rot or fungus. What do I need to do to get those delicious homegrown tomatoes again???

Junebugntn, are tomatoes haven't been that great either the last few years. I have tried fertilizer and plenty of marigolds, I am going to try again this following year. Hopefully it will work cause I got some great heirloom tomato seeds!!

As for what I have a problem growing well flax is my biggest problem red or blue. I have tried to grow that little plant but no luck. I am going to try again this year with fingers crossed!!

Junebug, I covet other people's ability to grow tomatoes. Last year I tried just one plant purchased from Lowe's (german pink). I thought surely I could give one plant the attention it needs. No luck at all. All I can grow is tommy-toes (I think my dog could grow those!) LOL

Cottage girl - bless your heart! I can't imagine the frustration :( We all have those unique little microclimates and such, but to not be able to get cosmos and cleomes to bloom is just awful! Have you had your soil tested? Maybe there's too much nitrogen in comparison to other nutrients... sorry, this wasn't sposed to be a trouble-shooting post.

... but I guess I can't help it - Brandon I so sympathize with your critter problem! I've lost too many plants to those varmints as well. If you aren't opposed to using a chemical, Talprid worked for me. I made sure to place it in an active tunnel away from all edibles and Eureka! - no new tunnels for about 8 months.

I get tons of tomatoes, but they tend to crack.
I lost a dozen shasta daisy 'Crazy Daisy' seedlings for the second year in a row.
My hydrangea mariesii never blooms. I think it only blooms on second year wood:( But it's all pretty and variegated until it gets spots!
My baby's breath is always scrawny and poops out early.
I've gotten blue flax to germinate but never bloom.
And my blueberries...its just shameful. They'd be beautiful and full of fruit if I ever watered and fertilized em with acid, but I'm a lazy gardener.
Eggplant! What is the deal with this plant? The only thing these produce is FLEA BEETLES!!!
I grew lentils one year and that was quite interesting. They were these delicate little vines that suffered in the summer heat and finally withered before setting seed. Gotta do more research for next time.
I grew peanuts this year and out of a dozen plants I only got four or five when I pulled them up this fall.
Same with edamame - didn't get good harvest; maybe started the plants too late.
Wintergreen - killed this twice now:(
Selaginella - I've bought this at least three times, and my friend has shared hers with me so many times, just can't keep it alive.

Are you sure you had a vole problem? The reason I ask is because Talpirid is labeled for moles (which don't often bother plants), not voles. Also, vole tunnels are usually pretty hard to find unless you happen to see one at the site of a dead plant's former root zone site. The form of Talpirid I have read about mimics worms, which voles don't usually eat. I've never tried it, but if it does work on voles, I'd like to know how/why.

The best tomatoe I ever grew was one in Atlanta tucked into a corner next to the new house foundation. It received morning sun and grew like crazy. Never have had as many tomatoes. This past summer I planted several varieties in beds in the yard and an Early Girl next to the house. It grew very bushy and finally started producing many nice, med sized tomatoes late in the season and into the fall. It was the best of all the plants. I believe planting close to the newer concrete block foundations provides additional lime to the soil and benefites the tomatoes. Any comments? Isn't Lime good for tomatoes? Should I add it this next year?

I don't know about the lime, but I have heard about epson salt. If you have yellowing on the bottom parts of your tomato plants sprinkle some epson salt and it will help. Also it is suppose to be a natural fertilizer.

On the winter sowing forum we were also talking about tomatoes and one lady said that she used egg shells and coffee grinds around hers, and they were great. I knew egg shells helped keep away the slugs but I never thought about it as a fertilizer.

Jen...I feel your pain. I am going to attempt several of the things in your list. I had given up a few years ago - but I got new seeds at the fall swap and we are going to try again. I just don't get it - things that are supposed to be "easy" to grow...eh, not for me. Now give me something that is supposed to be hard to grow and it looks like a weed...LOL.

Tomatoes...well, they are getting harder to find and I am not sure why it works - but coffee cans - the big metal ones. Take the top and bottom off - and use them to put in the ground and plant your tomato inside, deeper than the original rootball to encourage deep roots. We did this when I was a little girl and I still do it now. Also - make friends with your local farmers that have livestock...nothing replaces nature's fertilizer in the tomato world - I double dig my tomato beds and then add compost when planting. And for heaven's sake - don't forget to feed them!

Also - did you know that tomatoes do not like heat over 95 degrees? And that their red color is harder for them to reach when the temps are above 85? So - when the heat is getting unruly - don't forget to shade your tomatoes a little - I use a patio umbrella in a stand that I just move around the garden when I need a little more shade here or a little less there...

Got a small garden that you need to take advantage of every square inch - like me? Then try intergardening - plant beans with your tomatoes (I let them grow on the cages together) - they will add nitrogen to the dirt - that your tomotoes will love. Also add some basil in that crowd - it helps to repel lots of pests. Oh - and I add a layer of black plastic to the dirt to help keep in the moisture and keep out the weeds.

Brandon - the pom that I got from you is doing wonderfully! I decided not to plant it last fall - it was getting too chilly here and being a small tree - I decided it would winter over with the rest of my tree nursery. I can't wait until spring gets here so I can take it back outside.

Heather - thank you again for all of the great info at the fall swap - and the great seeds. I am so excited about getting all of them started. And I am already looking forward to the spring swap...I have been making some garden art. :D

Tiffany,
I planted about twenty poms after the fall swap in a very unprotected area. I guess this winter is putting them through a pretty thorough test, since it got so cold so early this year. I hope they all survive. My 'Wonderful' has been in the ground for a few years now and doesn't seem to be the slightest bit damaged by winters, so far. Is your "tree nursery" in a greenhouse or what? Hopefully your pom is getting at least enough cold to keep it dormant. I don't remember which cultivar you got or if we knew how hardy it was supposed to be.

Brandon...my garage makes an ideal place to winter over trees...there are a huge amount of brugs and a couple of plumarias out there keeping my poms company. It gets cold enough to keep everything dormant without the worry of a really cold, wet winter like we have had the past few years.

I can hardly wait for spring!!! They should all be beautiful this year!

Great discussion topic... Makes me feel less bad about my place. After all, I have a traditional no-name lilac which blooms quite tolerably in spite of being squeezed in between some other bushes. My hill is actually chilly , windy and shady, so the lilac likes it. My background makes me want to grow edibles though. This does not work. Vegetables that grow like weeds in normal gardens - radishes, squash, carrots, potatoes, dill, - it it a good thing nobody ever sees what becomes of them here. Tomatoes and peppers succeed occasionally, with much care. Yes, I have been searching constantly for varieties that will agree to grow and fruit here. I am quite depressed about it.

I had a lilac for many years that never bloomed. Read about putting wood ashes around it, did that and it has bloomed ever since. That thing was just about to get pulled up, ashes saved it's life. Hollyhocks I gave up on them and they grow everwhere around here. Tomatoes, when I was young, grew from spring to frost, now it takes two or three crops to make it until frost. Fungus is a big problem, and you need to spray, spray and spray for that, at least in my area.

Hardy gardenias. I have seen them all over west Knoxville, but have killed at least 2.

MUSA BASJOO(Hardy Nanners)

I have no trouble growing hardy bananas here in middle TN, but my question is this. I've read that other Tennesseans have gotten their musas to reach 12-18 feet and even flower or sprout bananas. How is this at all possible, even with proper fertalizing, soil conditions, and watering. No hardy banana plant can survive a Tennessee winter without being cut back and winterized, as we reach single digits multiple times in winter. So, if they have to be cut down every season, how can they ever reach mature height here?

Thank you.

Todd

Todd,

Next time you are in Knoxville, check out the Musa basjoo at the UT Gardens. The thing is at least 20' tall and isn't all that old. Each of the larger pseudostems is probably 18" in diameter. It had lots of baby bananas last year and doesn't receive any special care.

Even the one at my farm, that's just a few years old, was probably 7' tall last summer. It receives no protection whatsoever. They grow quickly and are very hardy. I don't know how likely it is be able to get mature fruit from one though.

I do know that people grow them that high in this zone. I guess what i'm wondering is, do (for example) the musas at UT reach that height during a single growing season? As in, would they cut them back in winter, and the musas have to start growing all over again from near the ground?

UT Gardens cuts theirs pretty high (probably about 3' from the ground). I cut mine much lower, but my plants are also much smaller/younger. I don't know if there is really any advantage in leaving the larger/older plants as high as 3'. I've got a feeling (mostly guessing) 1.5' would work just as well.

I would say the Dwarf Banana was one of my most disappointing failures. I let it get too wet in its basement dormancy & the corm got rotted. Once that happens, unless you're a banana tree expert, you might as well give up. I got 2 Musa babies from a good gardening friend at the Fall MTPS though. I have kept them indoors all Winter & hope to try and keep them alive for many more years to come! =)

Oh yea, some carnivorous plants are about impossible to start from seed too. Had a few failures with those. Don't remember the type off-hand.

- Steve

I've given up on hardy oleander, at least on a consistent basis. My opinion is that you need consistent lows at 15 or higher for long-term success.