I think any kind of anomaly that happens during the early stages of bud formation may cause this. It could be a genetic mutation, the weather conditions, some kind of insect infestation or a result of a chemical spray at the time when the buds are just beginning to form on the new growth. They're probably not even visible as buds yet. Sometimes the bloom will open and be perfectly normal but sideways. Other times the bud will produce a malformed bloom. I usually let them bloom to see what they look like out of curiosity. If you have a lot of them think back and see if you can figure out what was going on between 4 and 6 weeks ago that may have caused it.

Phyl, If I remember, you had cold and rainy weather for a long time early this season -- longer than we had. Cosmos are day length sensitive. Since you stated you planted these from seed, they won't begin blooming until August. They only way to trick cosmos into blooming sooner is to start them in seed trays, and plant out the plugs. This is what we do; and, actually they just started blooming about 10 days ago. Zinnia foliage is one of the favorites of the Japanese Beetles. They love the zinnias -- second only to the dahlias. Our zinnias are planted about 8" apart. It doesn't sound like yours are planted too close. And, we always give them a shot of fertilizer high in nitrogen. We have to be careful on the timing of the fertilizer because it can cause weak necks on the flowers; however, it greens up the plant and gives the plant the length we need. The Chrysanthemum carinatum I hate to tell you; but, DH plowed that under. The flowers were getting eaten all the time -- never any harvestable stems. And, lots of little bugs setting up housekeeping in all the plants. So, buh bye to the Chrysanthemum carinatum; and, hello to Copperhead. Anyway, if you have buds, you just need to give them some time. Zinnias and Cosmos are technically a late season crop.

Thanks for the compliments and, um, "sympathy" (smile). It's good to hear other GW friends admit to being crazy, Katie, and I happen to think it's a good kind of crazy. I mean, truly insane gardeners like us don't need to come inside when it starts raining either (like today). I'm glad (and surprised) that daffodils do well in the desert, though come to think of it a lot of bulbs evolved in high deserts in Turkey and such. You might try the low botanical tulips that are the size and timing of crocus, as they like it dry. You're right, Sharon, by this point I can just dig and replace the bulbs by now to plant the rest of the roses, but for me it doesn't really help fall planting. I just dig where I know not enough bulbs will survive, and again in the fall, if I dig up a bulb to plant another one I just replace it and move on. Carol, it sounds like we have a new convert to bulbs and roses, and Canada should be a good place to mingle those, as JJPeace can testify. Cadiarose, I do appreciate the work of keeping up with both obsessions, and I agree that if I had to choose I'd pick the roses. However, self-sustaining bulbs like crocus or daffodils don't really take any work once planted, and they can be at the back of the bed so you can forget about them once the roses start. Just a thought to maintain the insanity a little longer (smile).\ Cynthia

Here is mine last Spring. It is about 15 years old, and obviously we have not pruned it (except so that we can still walk around it) for several years. I plan to take it down by about 50% in a few days - it really has gotten TOO BIG! IT is 9-10 feet tall right now. My DH built it a support out of plumbing pipes, which is hiding under the rose - you can see a bit of it peeking out of the bottom. We are in North SF Bay Area in CA - it certainly likes it here! Jackie