I had a couple things not come back up this year. One was Hesperaloe parviflora, which is supposed to be hardy. It was growing like a fiend last summer; does anybody know why it might not have come back? Usually winter drainage is an issue, but in this case, it wouldn't be because it was growing in a bed with unusually great drainage.
I also didn't have Black and Blue Salvia return, even though we had a Zone 6 winter.
I also lost a Euphorbia called 'Rudolph', but upon further reading, they are iffy at two years old.
My Agastache didn't come back, not even the little one, 'Apricot Sprite', I think it was. Once again, winter drainage shouldn't have been an issue.
All in all, there were a lot of things I grew from seed which were doinging really well, but they appear not to have returned. Disappointing!
Suzy
What didn't come back this year and should have?
I don't think 'Black and Blue' is supposed to be hardy in your area even if you have a zone 6 winter, I've generally seen it listed as zone 7 (PF lists it as 7b). For the Hesperaloe and the Agastache, I know you said you've got good drainage, but they really prefer to be in areas with less than 30 inches of rain per year, although they can handle up to 40-ish if you have perfect drainage. Sounds like you may have the drainage part right, but looking at the rainfall map, you're right about at 40 inches per year, and then any supplemental watering you give your garden gets added on top of that. So they're probably getting a bit more water than they can really tolerate, and you combine that with being towards the low end of their hardiness range, and they may tend to be shorter-lived than they would be in a drier and/or warmer climate. Some winters they may make it but others they may not.
Sorry to hear about your no shows. My disappointments this year are the Gas plant I wintered sowed that still hasn't shown any signs of life, blanket flower and a climbing hydrangea that didn't handle the drought last year very well. There were several ferns and heucheras from a coop last year that also didn't come back but I was expecting some loss from them.
Good thing we have winter sowing to help fill the gaps!
Joanne
Suzy, I lost my Black and Blue Salvia also. I'm zone 6, and my source had said it would live to zone 7. I brought it inside last winter, but what a mess! Dropping all those leaves and then it got white flies ... first time I'd gotten those. So I left it out last winter.
I also lost one of my favorite daylilies, Zephyrs Song. I divided it for a friend last year ... a mistake I guess. I hope her's lives so I can get it back.
I planted about 10 of the Agastache 'Apricot Sprite' last summer I'd winter sowed. I believe I have one or 2 of them coming back. They are in a 'windy' area and the soil can get water logged at times in spring, so I wasn't holding my breath. I did really like their delicate color.
The HELENIUM seed you send me is doing well. I've ended up with about 10 plants. :o)
toofew
My "chocolate" white snakeroot...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/38299/
I really loved this thing..and there is no sign of it this spring...
I did however, have three painted ferns I thought were goners pop up after i had put some pansies in that bed..(I fear I may have dug the fourth one up now..)
I think the only thing i lost were my lavender. the ones planted next to the house are fine... but all the others are toast.
which saddens me. *sniff*
I "lost" a white clematis & a few white w/yellow eye lantana - drainage problem, I think. I ammended the soil & hilled up & replanted - we'll see how these do! Samantha
My forget-me-nots forgot to come up - again! The type I have is allegedly perennial, but not as far as I can tell. We replanted them last spring, the seller very apologetic that one of her employees must have gotten mixed up and sent the annual type instead of the perennial type. And I heard they're now a noxious weed in MA, just not in my yard! I would post a picture of what they used to look like, but DD has my camera cord.
I lost every Veronica, almost every Coreopsis and several Agastache
Wow, that's harsh, mosbyone. Any particular reason, you think? Not hardy enough? (Some of those fancy new coreopsis cultivars are wimps, and some Agastaches wouldn't be hardy for me in any case.) My condolences. . .
Artemiss -- I was just browsing here when I read your post, and just thought I'd mention that although I don't grow chocolate eupatorium anymore, I did grow it for several years, and it was always one of the very last plants to emerge in the spring. Came up with some of my latest ferns in fact. So you might not want to give up hope yet. Hope it surprises you.
We had a one-time cold snap of 0F. None of my lavenders made it, and they were drop-in replacements for old gnarled woody lavenders. My yucca rostrata sapphire skies croaked in March. My variegated Joe Pye weed went belly up. My three year old virgin's bower has expired too. :(
My gelsemium sempervirens Margarita did great, as did jasminum x stephanense, with no extra protection. My rhaphidophyllum hystrix is fine.
This was an odd winter: long and snowy, but no record cold.
-Joe
I have some stuff that has not shown signs of life yet.
Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/68422/
Liatris ligulistylis seedlings
Amsonia hybrid (I think blue ice?) & illustris seedlings
Joe Pye Weed
Maypop
Ipomopsis aggregata
some of my ornamental grasses.
Hosta
Other types of disappointments in my garden....
My Iris reticulata didn't bloom : (
Trout Lily (I tried one last year) - had one bud rot and the other appeared to be eaten overnight.
Lots of daffs performed poorly or didn't bloom.
Lots of darwin tulips didn't bloom there 2nd year for me.
I won't consider them goners until my hardy hibiscus start growing. After that c'est la vie. : )
Suzy, have your hardy hibiscus come up at all? I know you are about a month ahead of me weather wise, but I can't remember exactly when they come up. I think anything that is a zone pusher, will not show up until after you've pretty much written them off. IE my Passiflora incarnata, last year I thought for sure it wasn't coming back, and it did. It didn't do a whole lot, it only got about 6" maybe 12" tall and was only like, one piece. Much smaller than the year before, but I was so happy it came back at all! : ) I don't think it popped up until late June!
My Black and Blue that made it through a winter here, has not shown signs of life so far. I wasn't counting on this one any way, I am happy for the two babies it's seeds have given me though! I put apic of them, so far their stems look black like mommas. They are missing some leaves from a recent, pinching I gave them.
Let us know if anything shows up late!
P.S. I should have some agastache rupestris seeds in fall for you, the ones I started last year have returned! I know you tried apricot sprite, but the species are usually hardier so why not give it another go. : )
This message was edited May 5, 2008 6:35 PM
Meredith - Thanks for reminding me - I haven't seen any sign of my Liatris, either! I planted bulbs & the plants were big last summer & fall. Does anyone know if they are late to show up? Samantha
Do you know which type? I have spicata already growing, but they are up against a soth facing foundation. I have a couple others that aren't doing anything yet either.
No, I don't remember the type - all I know is the flowers were white. They were up against a south-facing privacy fence, in a protected area... Hmm.. I guess time will tell! Samantha
Okay, I just realized you are in a much warmer zone than me! Lol, I don't think you have to worry about cold killing them there! The only things you could have a problem from is poor drainage, or not enough water from a drought. If neither of those things are an issue for you, maybe some critters thought they were tastey. Hopefully not, and they are just taking their time on ya! : )
Looks like I am in good company!
I didn't think about several of the things mentioned above until I read them, and have some additions to my list. LOL!
Somebody told me maypop passiflora is called that because it doesn't come up until May, and since it's more or less a weed, I think I'll wait that one out.
Ecrane, No doubt you're right. Bummer. I wouldn't want to HAVE to have a xeriscape garden, but I want to be able to grow one of everything! As dry as it was last year, I can't believe they wouldn't have been happy, though. NO WAY we got 40" of rainfall last year!
Joanne, I have lost gas plant a couple of times, too. No explanation, though I thought is seemed like a really slow grower, so maybe it was never happy here. I also lost blanket flower -- a short one, but I don't remember the name. Or maybe it is there and I don't recognize the foliage. I thought it was narrower and what is growing there now is wider -- more like a purple coneflower.
TCS/Terese, Lavender dies for me each and every time I plant it, so I don't bother any more. My soil is just too good for it. Same with Hollyhocks -- they seem to like the worst soil on the place, and pretty much only self sow in that area.
Meredith, I just ran downstairs to look at my B&B Salvia seedlings and they don't look like yours at all! The seed heads popped in my hand, but I swear I get sidetracked before I get in the house to write the name on them. My seedlings' leaves look like Salvia, but the stems are more succulent, like an Impatiens. Now I'm not sure what these plants are that I have! What a hoot!
I don't actually grow hardy hibiscus. We have Japanese beetles here somehting fierce, and everything in the Malva family is susceptible, so I keep that family down to a minimum. I did wintersow some seeds this year, though, so I will have a couple, anyway. Not sure if they bloom first year, though. I doubt it. Thanks for the seed offer. Right now I probably have 100 Agastache seedlings of all sorts - I hope I won't need the rupestris!
Toofew, good news on the Helenium!
Artemiss, I have seen a lot of posts about Joe Pye weed & Chocolate Joe not coming back, so I think Wickerpark must be right -- not ALL these people could have lost what is essentially a weed, could they? I think mine is up. To be honest, perennials get the short shrift here and when they come back, I don't realize what they are until they bloom.
Mosbyone, I can see losing all the Coreopsis, especially if they were the "new" ones -- the fancy ones -- like Pepsi says. I think "they" lie on the hardiness of those, and in fact, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they are really annuals! But the Veronica is a surprise....were all these plants form the same place/vendor?
Connie/Pepsi, What are perennial Forget me nots? I wonder how I can make sure mine come back again? I got the Compindi Blue fro Bluestone.
GG/Samantha, Those Lantana aren't hardy up here, so I put my Lantana in the compost pile to sit out the winter, just in case, but it didn't work. BUT I had an Impatiens arguta, also Zone 7, winterover in the compost pile. Of course I forgot I put it in there and it was 3" of pure white growth when I found it, so although it made it through the winter, it might not make it through the spring! My Clematis don't like the wrought iron rellises I have for them...after touching one on a hot sunny summer day, I can see why: The poor plants are getting BURNED! I need to figure out a way to attach some netting inside them (without it being visually distracting) so they only look like they are traveling up the trellis.
Joegee, I have to look up each and every one of the plants you had that made it through winter...never heard of them, but they sound pretty exotic! Where is Bucyrus? South of Columbus? (I'm thinking if you could grow them in Ohio, maybe I could grow them in Indiana!)
Interesting, I forgot about my Liatris ligustylis, too. I had that same one, but it was from tubers or corms instead of the plant. I planted them, and they never came up, so I thought maybe they'd come up in spring.
Well, I really do feel like I am in good company, so that's good!
Suzy
Suzy--if you supplemented your lack of rain with extra watering that'll still push you over the top on the rainfall, any sort of water that the plants get over the course of the year counts. And even in the 30-40 inches of rain range, some of those are a bit iffy and being near the colder end of their hardiness range doesn't help. If you like xeriscape sorts of plants, High Country Gardens website has great info on their plants and rainfall tolerance, and they also generally comment on whether the plant will do well in the eastern part of the country (there are some that will!). Generally the info is way at the bottom of the page for each plant so you have to scroll down to find it but I've found it very helpful.
And if it makes anyone feel any better, I have several coreopsis ('Moonbeam') that look like they're not going to put in an appearance for me this year, and they should be way beyond hardy here! LOL
I lost my 'Little Titch' nepeta. The Walker's Low and Blue Wonder catmints are looking great, but there is bare earth where the little guy belongs. :(
Only one of the three agastache returned, but since I found them in the 'Annuals' section at the Botanic Garden plant sale, having even one come back is better than expected.
One of the two white liatris is MIA.
All the columbine seeds I scattered around last year? Nothing. Nada.
And the clematis...maybe it's still early, but two of them are 3 ft tall already while the other two show no signs of life.
I guess this list isn't too bad considering the brutal winter we had.
Lost all my Wild Horses daylilies. They were expensive too. Can's swear on DG, so DANG IT! @%#%! and all those other words too.
Illoquin and wickerpark:
You were right about the Chocolate joe pye weed!!!!
(happy dance)
I went out to look at it this AM, and there is a teeny sprout!!
I was so tired of waiting on some of my plants that I planted new ones and now a lot of them are coming up. So far though I have not seen my passifloras (3), my butterfly weed plants (3), and like many of you I had two Apricot Sprite plants that have not come back. Those were my favorite agastaches too. Makes me sick. I hate to order them again because they come as such tiny plants and are so expensive. I never see them here at the nurseries. But that was definitely a favorite of mine. Then I had some stuff come up that surprised me. My hydrangea for one, my Joe Pye Weed came back and it was just planted last year and seemed to "die" about August so I figured it was a goner. It has come back pretty well. Very happy to say that my Texas Star Hibiscus is back. Also my Bird of Paradise did not come back but I don't think it is hardy to this area, not sure though. My Russian sage is trying to come back but do not think it is going to make it either. Seems my dogs like to relieve themselves on it for some reason. It was beautiful last year and the hummingbirds loved it.
Leslie
Great topic by the way.
Illoquin, most of them are just now becoming known for hardiness. I am about sixty miles north of Columbus on a map (follow route 23 north to route 4, follow route 4 north to me.)
I am mystified by my lavender, and saddened by my virgin's bower, but on the bright side I can propagate my jessamine and put it where the virgin's bower used to live. It'll love the sun. :)
-Joe
Joe--what lavenders were they? My guess is it's a similar situation to what I was guessing on some of Suzy's plants. You're near the bottom of the hardiness range for lavenders (or below the range for some types), and you're also at or above the max on how much water they like, so you put those two factors together and they're going to be more hit and miss in terms of coming back for you, some years maybe they will but they'll tend to be more short-lived than they would in a more ideal climate.
Lostintexas - I start my Apricot Sprite from seed each year since it is not hardy in my zone 6. I have great success with seeds purchased at Swallowtail Seeds http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennials/agastache.html and it is MUCH cheaper than buying expensive plants at the nursery.
Joanne
of all things my Shasta Becky did not come back....that one has always been a solid performer. Also my Aster Monch and sundrop Primrose.... I thought my Veronica was a goner but I see it just showing now. My Hardy Hibiscus is showing some crown buds too. Also I have a clematis that I thought died last spring coming up this spring.
OH yea -- My Shasta daisy bit the dust too. too bad... i grew them by seed last year and never saw them bloom. *sniff*
Now that you mention it, my Shasta Becky didn't come back either. Planted 5 out last fall and no sign of any of them.
Joanne
hmmmmm we did have alot more snow this year than usual...alot of thawing and refreezing...I just went out and bought a consolation gift to myself...the new shasta broadway lights...
I had a piece of Euphorbia called 'Rudolph' that broke off a year ago and it came alive from under the snow. But when I cleaned fall leaves in April and we had a cold spell, half of it died back.
I have not seen double white balloon flowers yet. I'd hate to lose them :(
Some of the mini hostas from last year's coop are not there. Bunnies maybe to blame for those.
Hey! You won't believe this, but I just noticed today that my gigantic Shasta Becky was just a shadow of its former self -- maybe 2 or 3 divisions instead of 20-25 it was last year! (Artemiss, this completely negates my earlier statement about the improbabilioty of "everybody" losing a certain plant, doesn't it?) LOL!
I also looked up Gaillardia in the Plant Files and then went outside, but what is in its place must be some sort of Echinacea...so I am feeling around and weeding a few htings and I see this crown curled up leaves just breaking ground...maybe an inch or so up? I think it's the Gaillardia. I never knew it was such a slow poke!
Joegee, I'll be sure to look those honeys up since you are in my same zone and climate and soil conditions.
I'm missing a variegated Weigelia I bought as a plug last year, too. Not even sure of the name, but it was pretty. I didn't quite know what to do with it, though...do you put plugs in front so they get sun, and then transplant them? I guess that's what I should have done. (I already had potted it up a couple of ties, but those plugs are teeny, so a couple of sizes probably got me to a 6" pot.)
Today was dahlia day -- sorting through tubers to look for signs of growth, repotting, marking, looking them up, and then deciding which to keep and where I should send them. Thank goodness that chore is over with; it took me all day!
Suzy
none of my gaillardia survived either. First time they did not come back. I do have a bunch of coneflower and lily seedlings.
Enya_34, don't despair about the balloonflowers. They are very late to come up in the spring. I've been warned not to disturb the soil in the vicinity of a balloonflower until June, for fear of digging mine up!
I don't disturb the balloon flower area, and I have a LOT, which is why I need the forget-me-nots for spring, early summer blueness in that area.
I was sure that I'd lost a few plants -- a hardy geranium, an achillea, a brunnera and a couple of others... -- because I had others of the exact same plants that had been up for a long time and were already lush. But in the last couple of days with warmer temps and some soft rainy spells, the no-shows have begun to show. All of them.
The only plant that seems to be a complete goner for me was new last year, and I loved it: corydalis "Berry Exciting" Had three plants of it, which took off and bloomed all summer into early winter. None of them came back. It's supposed to be hardy to 5a, but perhaps it's not necessarily so. I may try it again this year anyway with extra protection over the winter. It's worth the risk.
Good, then I hope it's the weather. You guys are more to the south from me too.
My verbascum didn't come back, I am so dissapointed they are one of my favorite flowers. They look healthy till winter, then they don't make it back in the spring, I even put a thick layer of leaves on them this past fall. ugh
Kathy
Great topic--been interesting to read everyone's casualty reports!
Seems that I've lost a Hosta, Obedient Plant, a Penstemon (should be way hardy and happy here) and a Redbud sapling that I'm just brokenhearted over.
My gaillardia and my lavender both just put out one little sprout in the last couple days--Suzy and lavender4ever maybe yours aren't gone yet!
Meredith, I had several Darwin tulips and daffs do really poorly this year. Most of my bulbs look horrible, actually.
Howdy......
I lost several 'Creme Brule' coreopsis to what I decided was root rot.....overcompensating for the drought last year and watered them too much I think and drainage could be a problem but not where I got them, whoops, make that HAD THEM.....:)......I got a good many other ones same thing, Creme Brule, that are as happy as happy can be, I got them in soil i've never amended, full sun in every sense of the word and dry as a bone and they are some happy campers, all came back and all looking great....Moral of the story, a no-brainer, don't plant anymore of the darn things where I lost them all and plant any future where they are happy as larks........I have solved my own problem explaining it to you, so never mind, disregard this post, I got it now......:)
Paul from Alabama