What annuals will you not buy again?

I think it's a great idea, Sarahskeeper!

I'll rip out the solid dark green SPV whenever I spot it growing: boring! It climbed out of the pot, hit the ground and rooted. When you really don't want a plant you can be sure you'll never get all those tubers out and off to the dump. I wouldn't even take a chance on composting them!

What is SPV? sounds like something I need to know about! LOL

SPV = Sweet Potato Vine

Tabasco: I love the tri colored SPV's (sorry about the abbreviation) and the bright green and the black but not the plain dark green.

I agree about the tri-color, it is quite beautiful. Ace of Spades is an alternate to Blackie, and I find the form more pleasing. It has a larger leaf than Blackie, and is shaped just like the playing card symbol.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53070/

Thanks, Ivy, for the tip and the link. I'll definitely do Ace of Spades this year. Love the shape and depth of color. Thanks!

I grew Prince Zulu daisy from seed one year and had to pull it up; the plant was so incredibly ugly.

missgarney - I just googled it and from those pictures it appears so beautiful. What were yours like that made them so ugly to you? Just curious.

Pirl, it is true the flower is striking, but the rest of the plant was a sickly gray green color with a gummy sort of prickly surface and, at least under the conditions it found itself in my garden, it grew sort of over the ground looking like a dead snake. It probably did not like the conditions; maybe it was too wet for it, I think it might do better in hotter and drier places.

Another big disappointment for me one year was pink Nigella. I had so much enjoyed a lush crop of the classic blue N. damascens that I tried the pink, and they just never made a go of it.

My most disappointing annual was the "Poached Egg Plant" Limnanthes douglasii, pretty little white flowers with a yellow center. Listed as a sun lover. It wimped out in the first hot spell, was too fragile for me.
Andy P

I love the descriptions by missgarney and Andy of the flowers that didn't qualify for their gardens. I wish comments like these were published in the seed catalogs but then they'd never make much money and would soon be out of business. Thanks for the smiles.

The reason I like the Stokes Seeds catalog is that since they're selling to growers, they're pretty honest about what works and what doesn't. There seem to be a lot of varieties that are an "improvement" because they bloom in the paks, even though you're not supposed to buy them blooming. I'd love to hear their description of the Flambe petunias.

Andy P; after reading a description of Limnanthes douglasii (poached egg plant) in Christoper Lloyd's and Graham Rice's book " Garden Flowers from Seed", I ordered several packets of seed. You said it "wimped", but maybe you were expecting something from it that it can't give. After May-early June blooming, Lloyd allows it to set seed (June) and then clears away the remains and plants something else in the site for late summer blooming. Meantime he says the Limnanthes seedlings will appear and grow and bloom again a bit in autumn. Did you expect the first flowering to last all summer?

Miss G, Yes. Well at least 5 or 6 weeks.
They did appear to be very fragile, some never bloomed.
I had them in with some bedding Dahlias. Not crowded.
Andy P

Interesting thoughts about the Poached Egg Plant. I bought some seed from ValueSeeds.com just because they were featured as 'rare' and only 50 cents.

I am looking forward to having them make a nice border edger. But perhaps not the right application...?

They are worth a try, just plant a few as a test. Everyone has different growing conditions and they may be fine for you.
Andy P