My annuals are growing fine.

When did you plant your annuals? Which ones aren't growing? Did you raise them from seed sown in the ground, from seed sown in flats and then transplanted or from purchased transplants? Are the plants in the pots the same exact varieties as those in the ground and, if so, were they planted at the same time?

Dawn

Well, our spring bulbs put on a relatively quick, but beautiful show. We have about eight glads that still have flowers. Most of the Blazing Stars look kinda punky.

Annuals? Yeah, nothing worked the way I thought it should. Even the alyssums are acting odd. Alyssums are normally easy to grow. These are just...sitting there, not even looking like alyssum. The one volunteer cosmos from last year isn't as large as it should be by now, either. The few poppies we had looked pretty good, but they're going to seed and dying back, now.

I'm not having any trouble with anything grown from seed. With the rain this year....I have the opposite problem, everything grew on steroids! The plants I bought and put in the ground are still kinda just sitting there, but I consider that fairly normal. They are still settling in.

My poppies are done. I yanked them today and popped the seed heads back into the flower bed.

I was walking through the neighborhood tonight and all the chaste trees were putting on a show! They were just gorgeous.

My pentas and zinnias are not doing as good as usual. Some of the pentas in the ground look ok. Some of them just died. Usually very tall and branched. Not this year. The ones in the pots look much better. I know they do not like the cold much but thought they would recover by now.

It's been a mix for me. The volunteers have been spectacular. Lunaria, poppies, larkspur, batchelor buttons all about done, and Black Eyed Susan just getting started. The Iris didn't do well at all. The fancy ones in the garden got some kind of blight last year and this year is even worse. In addition, I dug them all up a couple years ago, dug in several bags of "topsoil" bought at WM only to have dozens of creeping blackberry brambles come up in that bed. I've never had the stuff before so I think the seeds were in the soil. So hardly any iris between the blight and the brambles. (The iris I scattered down in the woods are very healthy looking, but don't get enough sun to bloom well.) Daylilies are in same bed so also affected. Roses though were spectacular. Gladious are just now starting to send up stalks. I have one robust hollyhock plant that I was given last year and told "It should be a black. I dug it from under a black." It is not a black, but a lovely dark red. Just the other day I planted a 50 ft row of annuals where the peas came out. The soaker hose is still there and I will just leave it. I spent so little on water to get the peas, that I won't feel guilty watering flowers.

In the shade garden, the azaleas were mostly barely there except for two plants that were covered in blooms--out of 12. The hydrangea on the east side of the house under trees just doesn't get enough sun to bloom well. (The only years it ever bloomed well were 09 and 10 following the ice storm that took out lots of limbs. The trees have regrown now so they are densely shaded again.)
Earlier the daffs bloomed but not as well as in previous years. Only a couple thousand stems instead of the usual 3 or 4. They're just getting too crowded. The surprize lilies are too crowded too, but some always bloom. I should have a few hundred. The pot of Oriental lilies had lovely bloom stalks until the new cat I got decided that would be a good place for a nap. She broke a couple stalks completly off.

I have a few pots of annuals in the shade near the house. I overwintered single begonias in the greenhouse and they are full and lush. There is also one double that has done very well. A couple pots of impatiens are late because I waited for the overwintered pansies to fade before planting them.

The last couple summers have been so hard on summer blooming perrenials and annuals that I hope they get a break this year.

None were grown from seed. All transplants from the nursery. However, the nursery I bought my plants from this year didn't take much care of their plants, but I figured they'd be thriving by now.

It's been a month since I planted. My Hydrangea which I never grew very well but it always bloomed, is only six inches tall. lol. That's why I'm wondering if our cool Spring comes into play, cool ground soil, etc.

The potted plants are different than what's in the ground. My dwarf zinnias have all of two flowers each..Snapdragons are finally bushing out but not growing in height. Same with Lantana. I know that Lantana really doesn't get busy until July though.

I did plant three new Roses and they're growing pretty good. Except I think one has Thrips because each new bloom (only 2) are dying right before they open.

And the little grasshoppers! Oh my. Had to spray my Celosia yesterday. They're bushing out and blooming great but again, no height.

I think I may turn into a container gardener next year. ;)

Oh, the veggie garden is doing great. We've been eating from it already.

My hydrangeas took a severe hit last summer. My Endless Summer survived the best, but my two Nikkos are struggling. There was not only the drought, but apparently while I was on vacation, they got overlooked in the watering.

Try Wintersowing and see if you like it....or direct sow a few.

My hydrangeas took a severe hit last summer. My Endless Summer survived the best, but my two Nikkos are struggling. There was not only the drought, but apparently while I was on vacation, they got overlooked in the watering.

Try Wintersowing and see if you like it....or direct sow a few.

I suspect the problem with your flower plants is the poor care they got before you bought them. Flower plants like veggie plants, if stressed too much when young can be stalled for a long time or even permanently. If not that I would look to the soil. Yes, we had a cool spring, but that was over a month ago. By now well grown transplants should be growing well.

Mulberry, I tend to agree with you about planting poor plants in the first place.

I will never feel sorry for a little plant again and buy it. lol.

Here's a pic of my dwarf Zinnias. A couple of them are just now starting to grow.

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You might try deadheading them, fertilizing, watering, and mulching to throw them back into a vegetative state for a bit. They might recover and bloom better after that.

I was going to suggest mulching as well.

Ive had problems with a few purchased plants and only did rose moss from seed and it is thriving. The dianthus and the verbena i bought have struggled and look horrible. I am going to trim the verbena way back and feed it heavily and see what happens. If it kills it, who cares, it looks like crud anyway. I will say that i bought very few annuals this year because they all looked so poor in the stores.

Emma

Mulberry, I've done it all except mulching this batch. I usually mulch, but didn't bother with the Z's because it's such a small spot and easy to keep weed free and watered.

Emma, my rose moss came back in a totally different spot and is thriving also. So is my Dianthus but they're on the end of their first flush right now.

Although I do have a few flowers in containers, I think I'm going to try to get into container gardening next year with flowers only. Should only cost an arm and a leg to get started with the pots. :)

You can try and find some pots on clearance in a month or two and youd be surprised at what you can sometimes find at a dollar general store. Steer clear of terra cotta pots, unless you want to water twice a day.... Once you start doing containers for your porch and slide one here and there amongst the shrubbery, you will be hooked. Its a great way to add color.

Good luck!

Emma

Lisa, our chaste trees here in our neighborhood are in full bloom too and looking gorgeous.

Oakleyok, With plants that were put into the ground only a month ago, they may be stalled because of transplant shock or because they were root bound when you bough them. Or, if you have had a lot of rainfall since they were planted, it might be that excess moisture has clogged their root systems and interfered with nutrient uptake.

I agree with Dorothy that it has been warm enough long enough that the formerly cool weather shouldn't be affecting plants now.

Hopefully the plants will take off and grow better. Often, when zinnias bloom while they are still that small, they can stall for a while because they are putting their energy into flowering instead of vegetative growth. Deadheading them often gets them back on the right track.

Dawn