Hi all, are the leaves otherwise healthy? Aside from transplant shock, it's also possibly the overapplication of miracle gro which contains chemical fertilizers which can be too much and cause root burns. If the leaves are healthy, there's nothing wrong with the plants. You would probably be seeing a natural thing with the flowers simply turning brown as in most dianthus around mid June. Consider too the many of these perennials (BTW - this is the right spelling), are started early in the process and therefore bloom earlier than what should be around this time of the year. In order for sellers to attract people to buy these plants, they would need them to bloom earlier. This is usually good for people who are not so familiar with plants and may not know what the blooms like.

Jan I have had nothing but trouble with my Azalea's. I bought 14 last year and this year, from a certain store that I told you about there are only two left. Now I keep all my dockets as they said they would replace them , too late now. Then a couple of months ago I was watching Gardening Australia and they had a segment on about Azalea's in Queensland and went on to say that here in Qld the azalea tends to wrap its roots around the pot,( probably kept in the shops too long) so to check before you buy them so they are not a mass of roots, then before you plant them pull them apart a bit. So I dug up the five that were left in the garden and he was right they were all root bound, it was just like pulling out a pot, the roots had not done anything in over a year, no wonder they were all dieing, so I pulled them apart and I have only two left, they will probably die too, but I bought another plant from a Sunday Market and I tipped it up and out and had a look at the roots they were Ok and it is coming along fine. Now there are two kinds of Azalea's and both dont like too much sun, one is just for the shade and the other will take a bit of both, but this is Queensland, they cannot withstand exposure and prefer broken sunlight, they need rich, acid, well drained moist soil. Mine are in a raised garden bed under the trees and only get a little morning sun in summer but more in winter when the sun is lower. The single ones are more hardy than the double ones. I would not plant in full Sun it is just too hot. Hopes this helps a little Now about your Natives I would not be watering them every day and dont fertilize unless you use a native type maybe once a year, I never fertilize my natives they should grow with out all this pampering Yes sadly I think you are killing them with kindness. MM.

I only used slow release native fertiliser at planting, same with all the other plants.

Yes, usually rot. You can just feel it and the color is very much telling too...but if unsure, take a branch and start cutting thinner slices from the bottom to see what the flesh looks like. If very soft, you may not be able to get clean cut. Use a blade, scissors or pruning shears will just squish it. If you find firm flesh, there is a chance that it could be rooted - few of the stems may have some viable parts. The longer, thicker stem on left seems to have yellow tip too -BUT very light color could be caused by plant being shaded too much for a while. I am assuming rot since the main stem was rotted, and being able to see only photos.