to repeat some ... interior browning is normal.. no conifer holds its needles forever ... they are a full sun plant for prime growth.. yours appear shaded.. which will not hurt them.. other than reduce vigor to some extent ... i doubt they had mites ... i think your sales man made part of a boat payment ... otherwise ... and this is going to be hard for you ... THEY LOOK ABOUT NORMAL... you have rather large transplants.. that is not favored here ... they take longer to get 'established' ... and the shade issue may extend that .. and they are probably still working on that ... seriously .. that looks like a normal GG .. and its alive.. what more do you want ... seriously.. they grew 2 feet in a year.. 2 years after a large transplant.. and you are not happy about it???? what more can they do.. barbie you a burger and fetch a beer .. then what.. you will complain the beer was warm .... lol i suspect.. your only problem is your expectations of more ... GG NEVER live up to the hype that surrounds them .. they are not going to grow 3 to 5 or more feet per year .. IMHO good luck ken

*I have not had humid weather in my area so I don't think that's the problem. We're actually having drought conditions here and less humidity than normal. *I did re-pot the plant about 4 weeks ago. *I recently added a layer of composted manure over the top of the soil, then a thin layer of mulch over that. *I've been watering it with manure tea on occasion. *I don't under-water. If anything, I may overwater my fuchsia. *As far as sun exposure, I haven't changed the location of the plant from where it was 6 weeks ago (when it was doing great). I will check the sun exposure this weekend to make sure that location is not getting more sun now that summer is here. *I will spray with soap to see if that helps. I sure hope I can figure out what the problem is because this plant was so full and beautiful when I bought it and now it just looks sad, bare, and droopy.

If you want color all year you will need to plant shrubs as there are very few plants that bloom continuously so look for leaf coloration. To have bloom all season you will need to have a variety of plants not just a couple of varieties. Since you have lawn areas to be filled start looking for plants that will live for several years. Space them so that they can fill in the area. Then do under planting with annuals or other short lived plants. These will fill in the blank spaces why the other plants grow. Although you want info from a forum posters only post about plants that will grow in their area. They may not grow in yours not because of the silly zone thing but because they may have sand, clay, or bog conditions. What works for me does not work for a real plant person friend of mine that lives less than 5 miles away. Things to think about do you want just color or do you want scented flowers. Be aware that all flowers with the same name may not even smell. Do you have a preference in colors. Best of all what do you not like.

The plant at the top edge of the photo looks like it is struggling, too. Is that a Senecio? I'm not sure. Looks like they are all in a bark mulch or compost mix unless that is only a top dressing. The Kalanchoe and Portulacaria seem OK but the other two aren't happy. The soil mix probably needs to be less water retentive for those two plants. That might seem backwards however if a mix is too water retentive then the roots have problems and stop taking up moisture. Then the plant begins to look under watered even when the mix is kept moist.