Well I won't say I'll ~never~ grow them again, but... zinnias! They are so tempting because of all the bright and various colors and how easy it is to get the seeds to germinate. But then they seem to always be eaten alive by slugs and mildew. So there they sit, never flourishing. I do not plan to plant any next spring, but in future years, who knows?

* White heliotrope. I always grow the purple heliotrope but the white one did pretty much nothing all season - just a couple puny flower heads.

* Osteopermum (? spelling). Just didn't do well.

* Gerber daisy. Gorgeous, gorgeous when in bloom, but most didn't re-bloom and the one that actually did was an off-white that was the an ugly used tissue color when fading away.

Eh, hey, at least I tried :0)

Ok sad, just browsing and just got White Heliotrope from a trade, hope it does better mxk3!

Also I planted Zinnia's this year and they did well for me, although I thought the flowers were supposed to be bigger. I did have to "get rid of" about 100 snails, they went crazy for the Zinnia's but they still thrived.

I did not like the freeway daisies I got this year, bloomed once and then nothing!

Four o'clocks. Closer to 8:00 for an underwhelming number of blooms. Wonderful fragrance, but just not worth the space.

Brachycome 'Brachy Blue' is one I won't buy again. The color of the flowers was beautiful...a dark violet. If the ferny type foliage would have grown, that would have been very nice too. I had them in a large pot and also planted 2 in my gardens. Never did anything but die. The ones planted in the garden did better, but by late July they died too. I usually buy b. 'Toucan Tango' and that one always grows well. So I'll go back to that next year.
That's the only plant that was a dud for me this year.

Kat

I won't devote any space to Cosmos "Yellow Garden" again.
They bloomed late, as advertised, but the nondescript blooms are barely yellow and disappear in the extremely vigorous foliage.
Alana

I did not have good success with achillea (yarrow) in my Louisiana garden. Don't think I'll be planting it again.

chrysanthemum carinatum 'polar star'. It was tall and gangly, looked like a weed and the white flower with the yellow disk only happened occasionally. Most were non-descript painted daisies.

I was also underwhelmed by a particularly expensive, vegetatively grown brachyscome. The blooms were sparse and it looked raggedy most of the summer.

Cosmos 'Sonata'. I have tried this year after year. The plants looks so great at the nursery in the spring--thrifty and bushy. But they never produce many flowers so what good are they? Back to plain old cosmos for me.

~~ sigh ~~ i planted zinnias & the next day there were only *veins* left on the leaves ~~ so i dusted the earth with diatomaceus earth AND sluggo and planted new zinnias ~~

same results ~~

thoroughly dusted the earth again ~~ AND also dusted with bonide eight insect control ~~ planted new zinnias again ~

same results!!

i have inspected at all times of day (& night) but have never seen anything on the poor zinnias ~~ so sad ~~

Phyl,

That is sad. Apparently whatever is eating your zinnia leaves sees you coming and hides.

"...also dusted with bonide eight insect control..."

(grin) It's always that ninth insect that gets you.

This was my first year to raise zinnias here in north-central Kansas, and I was completely surprised by a serious Flea Beetle epidemic. I never had a problem with Flea Beetles before and I always ignored their holes in my Eggplant leaves as cosmetic damage. This year, the Flea Beetles damaged all of my zinnias and killed some of them.

I have never been a fan of diatomaceous earth, but I had apparent immediate success with a systemic insecticide/fungicide. Systemic products have the advantages of not being washed off by rain and by also protecting new growth. Apparently the Flea Beetles are seasonal here, because I see almost none of them now, and I am sure that I didn't kill all of the Flea Beetles in Kansas.

I am a zinnia hobbyist and amateur breeder, so I regard any problem that arises with my zinnias as a challenge to be solved. I am planting some of my cross-pollinated zinnia seeds indoors now for growing under lights this Fall and Winter.

ZM

For several years I have planted Dahlias. The type that should have large blooms.I bought the tubers from Walmart.
I'm disappointed that they only put out about 3 blooms per plant. The few blooms were nice but not enough excitement for all the time I've waited and the picture that was on the container.
I have bought smaller dahlias in containers that I've had come out nicely though.

Malva 'zebrina' and a hollyhock called 'creme de cassis' will not be in my garden next year due to rust disease.
This was a new disease to me...hideous! I wasted too much time trying to control it and ended up taking the plants out anyway by midsummer.

Connie - I had the same experience with dahlia tubers (bought elsewhere). They are finally just now producing a lot of buds. I posted about it on another board, and the advice was that because the tubers are started later, they bloom later. So, best to over-winter the tubers and start early indoors or buy blooming plants. That's the route I'm going to go next year...

This one is a tough one, because either it is something that grows like a weed and will probably grow anyway or it something I really like and keep trying just for the sake of getting it, at least until my seed packet runs out, then I may not bother with that particular variety again.

That said, these are off my planting list:

Moonflower - First year produced a ton of foliage, bloomed rather late (August), and didn't have enough flowers to really make it worth it. The flowers were kind of hidden too and only lasted the night, except for cold days when they lasted a little longer. Their fragrance was their saving quality, but overall it took too much space in my boulevard garden and staking it was kind of a pain.

This year: It didn't bloom. Buds are on now but it will frost before they can open.

Sweet Dreams Cosmos:
Our season just isn't long enough for them to grow. Last year, just barely got them blooming late August or Middle September. This year it took them to October to produce buds and they won't open before it frosts and the weather goes downhill. Makes me wonder if anyone else in Zone 3/4 has trouble with these as well? Maybe If I really wanted them blooming, I need to buy them as bedding plants that have been forced to bloom before planting.

Nasturtiums? I love the flowers and the spicy leaves, but they always turn yellow and grow really sickly in our container gardens. Maybe I'll try again with a different seed mix, or maybe not.