All in all, everything is doing better than last year. Last year was a real bummer. Hardly any tomatoes, annuals never took off well and perennials were all late in blooming. We had one of the 'coldest' summers on record last year. This year wasn't a regular summer either, but it was warmer than last year. My hanging pots are ok, but my big floor pots turned out great. The only perennials that didn't do well were my phlox. The annuals in the gardens did well. My alyssum reseeded so well I didn't need to add any this year. They were great. I tried a new annual, euphorbia 'Diamond Frost'. I put a couple in one garden and a few in large pots with other annuals. They all turned out great. This one will be a 'must have' for next summer. I also tried coleus 'Religious Radish' and 'Kingswood Torch'. They are both excellent. The color on these haven't faded...even though they get all day sun until 4pm.

Kat

I was very disappointed with my garden this year, don't know if its because it was a lousy summer here in NY or because i didn't have a whole lot of time to devote this year. Anyhow my Hibiscus for some reason are only blooming now, my Cherry Brandy Rudbeckias were nothing to write home about, I did have good luck with all my Zinnias though, atleast the ones that the thousands of slugs I had didn't eat. One that did well was my Morning Glory's which seem to have grown on top of everything.

My seed sown larkspur, cornflowers (mixed colors), marigolds (Crackerjack mix), orange cosmos, celosia (Flamingo) and zinnias (mostly Benary's giant) did great.

Cameron

As always, it depends on what you are talking about. For the most part, my gardens have been lovely this year.

My Endless Summer hydrangeas, however, got set back by an exceptionally hot and dry June, then picked up a fungus, and are just now beginning to rebloom.

Also, a big mystery, my never fail salvias really struggled early on. I actually lost a couple of plants. But long about July, they finally cranked up and have been great since. Still scratching my head over what could have gone wrong.

I put the majority of my time into a new vegetable garden this year, and it's been reasonably productive considering the newly worked soil and my relative inexperience with vegetables. All in all, I cannot complain.

I'm not ready for summer to end!

Spring was stupendous! The spring and early-summer perennials, trees, and bushes were outstanding this year - probably due to abundant moisture and temps that did not get too hot too quickly. Hydrangeas were gorgeous this summer, too.

Fall-blooming perennials are putting on a good display this year, I'm particularly enjoying sedum "Matrona" backed by "Anne Arundel" hibiscus, flanked by silvery lamb's ears - really like the combination.

Annuals were disappointing for the most part with a couple exceptions. It was a cool summer, and the heat lovers just never really took off until about August. Heliotrope and geraniums were excellent all season, though.

Disappointed in my perennial hibiscus, and I have never, ever, ever been disappointed in hibiscus before. They started blooming the first week of September (which is very late, even in hibiscus time) and the display is puny. I have a ton of buds, but they just don't want to open. The only reason I can think of is the unusually cool summer (including night temps), but not really sure if that's it, either.

It was a very disappointing year for me. We had a very wet and cool spring and summer, and most of my annual seedlings didn't make it, between the lack of sun, lack of heat, overabundance of rain, and overabundance of bugs.

After a late start, my tomatoes started doing phenomenally well, only to be hit by late blight.

Dahlias never did much. My zinnias didn't get going until about mid-August and are doing well now, but overall it was a disappointing garden.

I'm looking forward to better things next year.

:)
Dee