It was a good plant year. I can't think of any disappointments...except the snow itself.

A few years ago I planted a callicarpa and after trying it in 2 different locations, gave it away this year. It begins to bloom in October for me so that no purple berries are possible before that nasty weather begins.

My vitex is only beginning to show colour now, so I wonder what will happen next year. It certainly starts growing quite late in spring.

{{gwi:276944}}

Oak leaf hydrangeas are another plant I'd love to grow here, Cercis Forest Pansy too....but I am learning to love what are solid growers here and what does not need pampering.
So pushing the zone thing seems to be the cause of any plant failures here.

Snow is swirling again today and last night's freezing temps pretty well took care of everything except for the Black Eyed Susans, a few pansies and snapdragons. Having been given a fair trial - I cannot get coreopsis or hollyhocks to either establish themselves in the year of planting or to come back the next year. I did get a couple of leaves and twigs on both this season, but they just petered out. So they're gone and will remain on my don't attempt list. Kind of a shame, I like coreopsis and most gardeners seem to have good luck with it. Tops on next year's list - a few more daylilies, hostas, and sedum.

Heliopsis "Lorraine Sunshine" and some varieties of garden phlox just don't do well at all. Boltonia is another plant that I find is overrated. Anything that flops that much is just too much work. No matter if I cut it back or not, it just isn't worth it. Lorraine is a red aphid magnet and I finally sent it to plant heaven. I love garden phlox, but it's really a hit or miss thing. Some varieties do great while others just droop along.

I planted a "first light" helianthus last year, and it stayed pretty much the same size as when I planted it. It just got some buds last week, which are now covered in snow-this one gets my vote for most disappointing.
Jen

I have to say that my most disappointing plant is tradescantia. To me it is just not pretty. I keep trying to give it away - anybody want some????

I was trying to think of what my biggest disappointment was, and rtreets hit the nail on the head; tradescantia - blech! Following a close second is Agastache nepetoides, Yellow Giant Hyssop; such a blah flowering. The only thing keeping it in my garden is that is helps hide a 6' maple stump, and I can't decide what I'd rather put in its place...

Does the tradescantia like partial shade and moist soil? I'm having trouble finding something that will spread rapidly for this area. If so I'll take it! Another mans (in this case womans) treasure.

Jen

I saw tradescantia on sale last week at a garden center, I slowed down, but didn't buy! I think the flower is pretty but I think I remember hearing too many negatives on GW. You who don't like it...is it just too weedy looking? Not enough flowers for the amount of foliage? That's the case for many of the ones I feel indifferent about. If they have small flowers, or not many, they had better have nice foliage!

I planted about 4-5 new dianthus this year, no blooms from any except one. But the blue-green leaf color was so fresh looking that I'm content to wait. And the one that did bloom (just started last week! Wouldn't you know...) turned out to be a great deep pink that contrasted beautifully with the leaves. They all spread a lot so I'm hoping they'll be good next year. If they live it will be a first in my garden.

My "perennial" perennial disappointments are any threadleaf coreopsis. I'm trying again with Moonbeam: wish me luck. I saw Sweet Dreams and the other pink one on sale too, but I run from those! Those have been the faster diers I've ever had.

I'll agree on the tradescantia. I love the blooms on all of them, & when they first start blooming in the spring they are gorgeous. A month later they are still blooming, but really ratty/weedy looking. I cut them back & it is an improvement. I'll keep mine, but planting things around them to cover up after I cut them back.

Same with me on the tradescantia - the blooms are fine at first and then blah later. I pulled both of mine and threw them in the woods. I never would throw plants out if I didn't like them, but I decided that if I keep noticing that it isn't what I love, it goes. I am getting fussy in my later years. Carrie

Nancyd, I am with you on the Heliopsis "Lorraine Sunshine". I was out looking at the border today, checking out the late season bloomers, when this horrible mess caught my eye. At first I didn't know what it was, it looked like an all white plant. It was Lorraine Sunshine, and it was so covered in powedery mildew that it looked white. What a nasty looking mess. As soon as I get a chance, it's coming out of there.

I do love tradescantia, instead! There a so many varieties of this plant, and some of them are just fantastic. The most part is only zone 10-11 hardy, but you can overwinter them as house plants, they are so easy to grow, even inside. I'm thinking to T. Sillamontana, T. pallida!!!, T. Zebrina, T. Somaliensis, etc. etc.

As for my disappointing perennial this year, the first one that comes in my mind is Ligularia Przewalskii. I think I've tried EVERYTHING to make it happy and it is still NOT. My conclusion is that this plant is not hardy in zone 9 (but in the nursery where I picked it up, is zone 9 too, the darned thing growes so well!!!). What am I doing wrong? :-(

Here's a pic of Tradescantia Sillamontana, isn't it lovely? {{gwi:276945}}

Hi Folks! Well I can chime in on this one. This was really my first season in my new garden, and I definitely had a few disappointers. My biggest will surprise people I suspect, and that is various coneflowers. I had the conventional E. purpurea, some labelled as Magnus, Rubinsterns, some White Swans, a couple of the Mango- Meadowbrites, and also I bought one each of sunrise, sunset, and one of the other ones (pale yellow, what is it?). ALL beset with problems. The new varieities got bad powdery mildew, the old standbys flopped and grew poorly and also got mildew, and none of them at all seemed to thrive. Huh? Coneflowers are bullet proof, easy, right? I think part of the issue may have been that they were in beds with irrigation by elevated sprinkler heads. I suspect they want less water and less moisture on the foliage. I am going to move nearly all of them out to a front drier, sunnier, non-irrigated (at least not regularly) and I bet they will do better. I do really like that pale yellow one and it seemed the best performer of them all.

Just goes to show that even great easy plants can be 'disappointers' by fault of the growing conditions (and shall we say the gardener....?)

A comment on a few of the others, including Tradescantia. I have found that, for me anyway, not all tradescantias are created equal. Some are shy bloomers and look ragged a lot of the time, others are good performers which have at least 2 good blooms and decent foliage too. The best one I have is one I originally got from Heronswood, years ago, and moved from my old garden - 'Lilac Frost'. It is for me a very good performer, a rich clear silvery llilac in bloom, profuse, good clump of grassy forliage, and when cut to the ground after blooming it gives a very credible 2nd or third bloom. Likes moisture and part shade. Unfortunately, like so many of Heronswood's plants, it is probably hard or impossible to find now. I noticed in the later catalogs that they did not even offer it. I also liked Sweet Kate and want to try that in my new blue and yellow border, That foliage sure is bright!

I too found, like Nancy at first, that Boltonias were floppy. But they do much better in dry soil with less water. I love the pale pinky-lavendar flowers of 'Pink Beauty'. That one flops no matter what. BUT, if you surround it by a complimentary grass like Calamagrostis brachytricha, which it can flop into and still look great, it is a real keeper despite the flops. The mauvey flowers of the grass are a great compliment to the flower color of Pink Beauty. It also works great with one of the tal airy grasses like Molinia 'Transparent' or 'Windspiel' -- the tall airy grass makes great scaffolding for the boltonia flowers, which then look like fireworks!

Sometimes the 'disappointers' are just that -- material for the compost heap. But other times it is really worth looking how their 'disadvantages' can be turned into advantages in the right context.

One last disappointer --most of my roses planted this year, which the deer seemed to selectively love just out of spite. With the dog they didn't seem to bother much else, but the roses regularly got nailed. Time for the deer spray.....

I would have to say Heuchera Amber Waves is a total bust. The first year I planted it , it did nothing, the 2nd year it was smaller and gone by the 3rd year.I've also been dissapointed by Echinacea Sunset, just doesn't seem to have much vigor. Gaillardia Fanfare is another one. I've tried twice now and it just won't make it through my zone 4 winter. I've seen it listed as anywhere from zone 3 to zone 6. Anyone else tried this one?

Re: Tradescantia

Alchmilla - remember that most of the responses are from cold zones - I think the ones you are growing are not the ones we grow.

To others - I like the plant. My first one was planted on the north east side of the house and got maybe 1 hour of sun. It bloomed all summer long. The stem structure is not great once it gets older, but nothing else blooms as well.

I now have several types and some in sun. They do not bloom nearly as long. I do plan to move them.

There is also quite a bit of difference in bloom size between species and recent clones - a 100% increase in size.

Alchemilla, re: L.przewalskii, my guess that it's simply don't like the z9 mid-summer heat.
Mine planted in place where it might get 1 hour of the direct sun the most. It was originally planted in a soil containing about 75% of the leaf mold. Spot is not boggy, but with a poor drainage nevertheless.
It thrives.

Madtripper, yes those Tradescantias I mentioned are tender plants, also here, but as I said, you can treat them as (beautiful) house plants during the winter. They're such easy growers, that even a small piece is enough to make them overwinter successfully! :-)

Ego45 said: my guess that it's simply don't like the z9 mid-summer heat. This is too my guess. My LP thrived till June, after then it has started petering out (and still doing).

Can I add another big disappointer? Kniphofia. Maybe it's just a matter of wrong position - I'll try moving it in Spring - but it looks 'weedy' in my border: ugly floppy foliage, few flowers..

Hostaholic, Gaillardia 'Fanfare' fares very well here. In fact, it is still blooming, despite our recent snow. It survived the winter beautifully. Gardenbug, Hydrangea quercifolia has survived here for about 5 years now. Last winter must have been hard on it though, because it did not flower this summer. But it's leaves are a brilliant, brilliant red right now, and draw many comments from our late garden visitors.
Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' is not as tough as its parent. Canada redbud fares well here, planted in a sheltered spot.
What's up with all the perennial dissing on this forum lately? Haven't any of you grown anything that exceeded your expectations?

Give them a chance. Any new perennial planted this year needs time to get established. And finding the right spot is key. I give new plants three years and if it is still fussy but I want to give it a chance, it gets moved to a new spot. If it still isn't doing well, it gets chucked. I haven't chucked many plants.

Heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine is doing well for me. The new echinaceas are doing as expected -- these are slow growing for me. Ligularias need bog like conditions in warmer climates. Mine wilt in the middle of the summer.

Another factor is that most new plants come from tissue culture. Some batches just don't produce vigorous plants. So if I really like the looks of a plant, I may buy it again from another source, particularly if other people have had success with it.

I don't consider this dissing. It didn't occur to me that the title had negative connotations. I have limited space to try things out. Perennials all look great in the nursery. (On websites they look even better!) I like to know how they perform in the gardens of real people, who don't always have the optimum conditions recommended for each plant. (Every plant label says, "Good drainage". But what if despite amending, raised beds, etc., you still don't have good drainage? Will it still live without?) Based on comments here, for example, I avoided certain newer Heuchera cultivars and went for others instead. I think I've saved a lot of time and trouble by checking on GW before buying or planting. If 4 out of 5 people say they've had trouble with a cultivar, or it's iffy for my zone, then I'll look for something else. When my Sweet Dreams coreopsis died 2 times, I thought it was me...then I read here how many people have had problems with it.
Next I'll post on "Your Favorite perennial of 2006!"

Ngraham: Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida) is my favorite Tradescantia, I've planted it EVERYWHERE.

Linnea56: I heartly agree with your last post. My garden would be completely filled by chamaleon plant and not-variegated bishop's weed at this time if I wouldn't have checked this forum. I've also been near to buy Coreopsis Sweet Dreams in September, but being too expensive (8 euro), I've choosen American Dream (only 1,8 euro). After reading your post I'm more happy with my decision.

ninamarie, What's your soil like, where do you have Fanfare sited etc.? I don't know about dissing those perennials, but they are ones that just haven't lived up to the hype or in the cases of Fanfare, and Amber Waves, lived period. I love the bloom on Fanfare but I have not not been able to find a spot where it will survive winter. I have several friends in the area who have also tried it, with the same results. So if you have it planted in certain soil conditions , site etc. that I could duplicate I'd give it one more try. But it's a little pricey to plant as an annual.

Overall, it was a pretty good gardening year. I put in a butterfly garden this past Spring in the remaining sunny space I have, and it attracted butterflies, lots of other pollinators, and even hummingbirds. The annuals were fabulous.

I planted two Eupatorium maculatum (Joe Pye weed) in the butterfly garden and they did terribly. This is a VERY common native wildflower, I see it everywhere in the wild. But mine barely grew.

I think it's because they like wet areas, and my lot is dry and well-drained. I did mulch them, but they probably needed more watering than the rest of the garden.

Oh well, maybe next year I'll mulch and water them more.

I have no luck with Echinaceas. They are so beautiful but I think my flower beds are just too moist for them. I let my Lamium get too dry and it sulked, but is looking great in the cool wet weather we've been having. We're facing flooding here in Ohio. One of my Sedums almost rotted, it will come back nice next year. I have had lots of great surprises with my new plants this year. They are confused now. My Serbian bellflower is budding, and my shrub rose has 12 buds popping open!

Jen

I planted Gaillardia 'Fanfare' last year sometime about August- September. This year, it has quadrupled in size and at this moment has dozens of blooms on it, despite the recent snow. Though it will break my heart, I know I should cut the blossoms off it soon, to encourage better root development for the winter. Our soil is becoming a rather loamy clay, from all the compost added to our rocky clay soil. But I don't think I amended it for the gaillardia. We do not water our gardens, so the gaillardia has lived on existing rainfall.
If you are going to try it again, pay attention to the drainage, plant it in full sun and don't water after the plant is established unless absolutely necessary. Cut all blooms off about the end of September. Gaillardia can basically bloom itself to death.
I've paired mine with Hemerocalis 'Love Those Eyes", which echoes the gaillardia's colours exactly, though on a much larger scale. The planting is too new yet to tell whether it will be effective or over the top.

Please keep us posted on the Fanfare. The last time I tried it , I had it in a raised bed, in an area that gets a limited amount of water. I planted it in May and I cut off all buds for the first month. Maybe I should have cut them off in the fall too. That said I have good old Burgandy G. in a lower area, well amended but gets much more water. In 15 years it has never failed me. Maybe because it was a rescue plant, you know , one of those you bring home because you feel sorry for it. Well it has rewarded me handsomely over the years.

I too am disappointed with Gaillardia Fanfare. I planted 3 plants in 2005. None of them returned. But I didn't try removing the fadedd blooms. I too love the flowers though. However, this summer a Gaillardia seedling appeared close to where my original plants had been. I was so hoping to see what the blooms would look like but it didn't bloom. Hopefully it will make it through the winter.

My gaillardia Fanfare and Heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine do OK - nothing to write home about. And I love my purple tradescantia. But I was interested that linnea56 has trouble with threadleaf coreopsis. Have you tried "Zagreb"? Mine is downright invasive. I have two huge clumps that started life as 3" pots a couple of years ago, and I can't give enough away to make a dent in them.

gdionelli, I haven't tried Zagreb. I'm trying Moonbeam one more time; I need a light pale yellow. People on GW have said that Zagreb is more hardy, but the color (At least as I've seen it in pictures) seems to be too bright or too orangey for this spot; which is a pink-lavender purple-magenta garden. If I'm wrong about the color, somebody tell me: I'm going from photos online. I may try the Zagreb next year if I can figure out a different location for it.

I used to love the regular old-color Gaillardia: a favorite plant from my childhood. I tried one in this garden and couldn't make the color work. My Mom grew them for years and they were trouble-free. I wonder what the plant breeders did that made the newer colored versions trickier.

linnea56: Have you tried coreopsis 'Creme Brulee'? It is a pale yellow.

Every time I've grown gaillardia from seed, it has grown like a weed for me. I've even seen it growing wild on the side of the road here in Colorado. This year I bought gaillardia 'Goblin' from a local nursery, so we'll see if they're as tough as the ones I grew myself.

When I posted earlier, I did not realize what the color of Gaillardia Fanfare was. I thought it was burgundy, that is a different kind. Gaillardia Fanfare IS the same color as old style Gaillardias, just petal form is different. I like the color of the Burgundy one. If it is hardy maybe I'll try that one. Or look for the seed.

I have not heard of corepsis "Creme Brulee". Must be a popular food name for plants; I have Heuchera Creme Brulee. I'll see if I can find that one. Is it generally available? Hardier than Moonbeam?

Zagreb is a much brighter yellow, but it is one tough plant. In my gardens it does well in a moist spot, equally well in a somewhat dry area, even blooms fairly well with less than half day sun. It does spread quickly, so plan on dividing it fairly often to keep it where you want it. Also can shear it back lightly after bloom for a second, lighter flush of bloom. It stands up well to wind too.
I think Creme Brulee is new within the last year or two.

I grow both Moonshine and Creme Brulee. I have difficulty getting Moonshine to continue to bloom whereas Creme Brulee begins early and continues all season for me. The foliage is not as delicate as Moonshine. I will move Moonshine again next spring but if it doesn't bloom well, out it goes.
Also got some Zagreb from a plant swap this fall so will give it a try. I like the soft yellow of Creme Brulee.
Bobbie

Last year I purchased 'Creme Brulee' from High Country Gardens online, but this year I found it at a local nursery.

Creme Brulee did great for me in its first year, but this year it didn't bloom all that much.
Jen

I have clumps of Moonbeam coreopsis that are over 10 years old. I find that the trick to keeping them blooming heavily is to dig them up, pull them apart, replenish the soil, and replant them every 3rd year or so, either in the same spot or a new location with fresh soil.

The new soil doesn't have to be especially rich, I usually go for loose and fluffy, but the fresh soil and breaking them up seems to rejuvenate Moonbeam very well.

I, like others here, have tried Creme Brule Coreopsis this year and it did very well. I just hope it overwinters for me; the spot I could find for it is a bit wetter than I think it should be for wintering coreopsis. I will also be interested to see if it blooms as well next year as it did this year.