The zinnias Benarys' Giants and Jungs' did very well although they didn't get over 7 foot tall like they did last year.
Another flower that did real well was a perinnial ageratum, a cultivar caller "Cori". I think that this is a type of Greggs Mist Flower, I'm not sure. It tolerates lots of shade.
My physostegia patch is begining to scare me as to controlling it. Plus I'm disappointed in the bloom size.
I'm thinking of cutting the plant off at about 3 feet and see if it wont make a better flower head.
The saldego "Cloth of Gold" always pleases me and a pearl type yarrow called "Angels Breath did very well.
The most disappointing was the black-eyed susan the Goldstrum strain. It makes a bushy plant with lots of flowers but no real cut flower stems.
Also my blackberry lily shattered most of the blackberries and made few cut stems.

I had lots of things that didn't make it this year. It was so hot and dry that I just couldn't keep up with the watering.

I got most of my seed from GeoSeed, and I couldn't be happier with the service and products. I've yet to find something I wanted to grow that they don't have.

Winners:

Zinnias, Echinacea and Glads - Always great, no matter what the weather.

Sweet William - I planted Sooty and Holborn Glory. They both did well, but they are biennials so they take a lot of time. I tried to start some for next year, but they fried in the heat. Some of the Sooty look like they might perennialize, but most of the leftovers fried too.

Every sunflower I tried this year did great. Pro-cut, Velvet Queen, Italian greenheart, Teddy Bear. I'm trying some more cold hardy/short production time varieties next year to see if I can get an earlier crop. I planted some Mammoths for eating/seed saving and I can't wait to roast the seeds!

Liatris - I grew some from seed in the greenhouse and some from roots. They all did well. The ones from seed are forming nice little bulbs and they should bloom next year. I also threw out some seed in the liatris bed a few days ago to see what happens.

Rudbeckia - Goldilocks or Double Gold. Not sure which one I planted. It's still alive and I hope it comes back.

Lilies - All my lilies did really well.

Losers:

Monarda - I was surprised that this didn't make it. I grew them from seed and they were in great shape when I put them out. They just shriveled and died even though everything else beside them surived. Trying plants this time.

Penstemon, Husker Red - another surprising failure. I don't know why they died, but they survived all winter and bloomed, only to die when it started getting warm. The soil was in excellent shape and they got adequate water.

Callas - They survived the winter and came up with lush green foliage, but never bloomed. I think it just got hot too quickly. The bulbs have multiplied though and I'm digging that bed out and amending the soil heavily.

Most everything else that failed was my fault, or due to the horribly dry and hot weather we had. I had to cut my losses on some things because the water ended up costing more than I would make selling flowers.

The so-so's:

Dahlia - Pom Pom and Showpiece. I grew these from seed, and their lack of performance is my fault. I didn't get them out soon enough and the soil wasn't as good as it could have been. Pros: They are very easy to grow from seed and 90% of them formed tubers. I'm not saving the tubers, but I'll grow more from seed next year. I just don't have the storage space for tubers.

Tulips- For the amount of work it takes to plant them every year and the fact that most of them won't come back, they are ok. If I were just growing tulips it would be easier, but I can't spare the bed space all summer where they are growing. I also can't afford to buy bulbs every year for the small amount I sell. They aren't as popular here apparently. They put on a lovely show, so I'll probably keep them in my personal beds!

Coreopsis - Mayfield Giant. Profuse, bright yellow blooms on longish stems, but the plants flopped horribly. I may try them again next year in a drier spot. I pulled them out and just scattered seed in the meadow, so if they don't come back I won't be heart broken.

If I think of anything else I'll come back.

L James - Seven foot zinnias? Good lord, I don't even have sunflowers that tall. Thanks for chiming in.

Backyardgrown - I agree about Geoseeds. They have a ton of stuff and their prices are outstanding. I'm not familiar with either Sooty or Holborn Glory Sweet Williams. I've been adding first-year-blooming dianthus lately. Along with the Amazon I mentioned, I tried Hollandia this year. I wasn't crazy about some of the colors, and stems were on the short side. Next year I'll do the Sweet series.

We had heat here this summer, but not your kind of heat. Days in the low 90s and humid were the worst of it.

I should have listed Monarda as one of my winners this year. I started mixed Panorama from seed and was happy with the number of stems I got - all tall.

Thanks for your contribution.

TM

Our plants were set in the field late..after July 4th (due to illness). They received NO rain, and we have no way to irrigate the fields.

Winners:
Fireworks Gomphrena produced abundantly and plants grew large without any rain. It is still beautiful even after a light frost. However, it is a pain to harvest. Probably the reason so much is still in the field!

Polaris Daisy from new last year fall planting...bloomed heavy, had long stems and good vase life. Long harvest period, over a month. Could not pick them all!

Denver Daisy Rudbeckia consistently produced cutable stems with no rain. Good vase life. Stems were a little short. Will plant closer together next year, and hope for rain.

Papaya Echinacea (new plants this year) produced many very large flowers with excellent form and color. Large flowers were a little top heavy even though stems were substantial. Probably needs some support. Fantastic vase life.

Benary Giants produced well as usual, even without water. They just gave up a little earlier.

Mexican Sage is always a winner, providing an early frost doesn't get it before days are short enough for it to bloom. Plants were shorter without water, but carried many blooms.

Only loser was candy zinnias. They always looked like they were too old to cut, even when they had just opened up. However, our neighbor thought they were great.

Hey, VRM, thanks for letting us in on your year. It sounds like you had kind of a rough one, what with illness and no rain. Your Polaris daisies sound super. I have had great luck with Highland White Dream daisies that have kind of a unique look and are as productive as all get-out.

Next year will be better, right?

TM

It's really hard to judge winners and losers for me this year. I don't think I can judge the plants themselves when it was really the heat and drought that did so many things in. And whatever did bloom, bloomed much earlier than usual (except those darn dahlias!)

Ironically, while this was one of the worst years for me bloom-wise, it was one of the best in terms of the market. I was at a new market this year, sharing a table with a friend, and after a few weeks customers were literally swarming my car when I pulled up! Nice feeling, lol, especially since I'm still in the building stages. Too bad I didn't have much to sell. But I'm looking forward to next year.

Anyway, my sunflowers were a bust. Completely. As were my amaranthus and celosias.

Snaps, like Thinman's, were too short.

Rudbeckias were good early in the season, (almost too early!) but died off quickly - some kind of wilt or rust, maybe?

Ageratum bloomed well but seemed shorter than usual.

Gladioulus were a bust too.

Echinaceas, as usual, were eaten before they even bloomed by that dratted asian beetle. Grr.

Zinnia's were just okay, but I sure was grateful for them when they did come in!

Dahlias... hmm, dahlias. I think I'm doing something wrong. My dahlias always seem to bloom so late, like mid-October. I wonder if I am planting the wrong varieties? Are there early and late-blooming kinds? More research is needed by me!

Chinese asters did well, really quite well. They were shorter than I would have liked, but such elegant flowers!

I've got wild goldenrod that always does well - it's just always a struggle to convince people that it is NOT ragweed, lol!

My saviors this season were lilies. Once I battled the red lily leaf beetle early in the season, the lilies were stars. I did succession planting, so I had them all season, into October. I'm just trying to figure out how to do that again next year, with the bulbs I already have.Last year I had a bunch of new bulbs, so I could plant in succession easily. Not sure what to do next year...

Gomphrena All-Round Purple was gorgeous! Just wish it was a tad bit taller.

I have planted sweet william Sooty, and while I always turn my nose up at it in the field, thinking how it looks so dark and dirty, in the right bouquets it's stunning, and a real eye-catcher. I will have to grow more nxt year - again, though, on the short side.

Interesting observations on the monarda. I grew some from seed, (I think it was panorama) and while the plants were huge and healthy and gorgeous, the blooms were always dull, stingy, thin (the individual blooms were thin, sparse) and dirty-looking. I finally ripped it all out a few weeks ago and will try some named cultivars and try plants.

I've planted several hydrangea shrubs, so I'm hoping they kick in next year.

Thanks for sharing, everyone. It helps to hear how others have done!

:)
Dee

Dee, thank YOU for sharing. Your drought must have been a bummer. Are you able to irrigate at all? We may have had the heat, but at least we had rain to go with it, so most things really grew. Everything was early, though, just like yours.

My experience with monarda panorama was good, but the blooms were definitely on the small side and kind of sparse like yours. Still usable, though.

I put in some hydrangeas too this fall, some Annabelle cuttings that I had rooted in July. I'm sure I won't get blooms to sell next year, but maybe the year after.

I'm going to have to try some Chinese asters next year. They sound like fun.

TM

Thinman, would you mind sharing where you buy your seeds?

TM, sorry to take so long to answer - well, yes, technically I CAN irrigate, but the problem is finding the time. I do everything by hand/hose, so it is very time-consuming. Additionally, I am on a well, and when we have those prolonged droughts I like to be careful with my water use. As a matter of routine I have buckets in the showers and sinks to catch extra water, use all my vegetable-cleaning and vegetable-cooking water for the plants, and even some of the cleaner dishwater. I have a rain barrel outside my back door, so I dump all the water in there and then use it to water. Have to use it quickly, but in those dry days that's not a problem!

Was outside pulling the last of the zinnias today and turned around and a beautiful pink glad was staring me in the eye! What a nice surprise! I cut a little bouquet using it, two pink zinnias, some purple Victoria salvia, and some pink, magenta, and white snaps. Nice little bouquet for a November day!

:)
Dee

P.S. Thinman, when your hydrangeas get big enough to cut, don't forget to cut any that you didn't cut earlier in the season, and dry them and sell them in the fall. They didn't do as well last year (didn't do any this year) but the year before people were buying them like hotcakes. They either knew exactly what they were and snapped them up, sometimes for crafts, or they had never seen dried hydrangeas before and liked the novelty. If you can grow some that have tints of purple/blue when they dry, those are popular too.

Sally, I wouldn't mind at all. I get most everything from GeoSeed. They carry a LOT of varieties and their prices are the best I've found. Part of the reason for the low prices is, I'm sure, the low-budget catalog, with nary a photo to be found, though lots of good comments. It helps a lot if you already know what you want before you open the catalog.

My second favorite seed supplier is Johnny's Seeds. I like to support them as much as I can because I appreciate their good quality products and the detailed cultural info they include in their catalog. I think they are a class act.

Dee, I'm on a well too, but water is very plentiful in these parts so I can run a drip irrigation system to everything with no real worries. Knock on wood.

How great that you got a November bouquet. I was digging dahlia tubers today. I may have got few blooms this season, but I sure did get lots of tubers for next year.

Thanks for the tip about drying the hydrangeas. I'll do it!

TM

I agree with several others here that Geo Seeds may be the best source of flower seeds. Excellent selection and good prices. Yes, the catalog is simple and the seed packages do not have growing info, but that's OK if you are experienced.

This past summer was one of the hottest in SW NH. The weather did affect some of the annuals, but we still have a very good year for cut flowers.

We grow a lot and even if some varities fail we have enough back up.

One problem we've been having is with tall Marigolds (Crackerjack, Lemon Mum, Jubilee). Normally they grow very well for us, but the past 2 years they have failed. We rotate crops, but even that didn't help. The annual Asters were not up to snuff, either, but the Snaps (Rocket, Madame Butterfly, Tall Deluxe, Brazilian Carnival, Snappy, Chantilly) did well, even with the hot weather.

Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset is always a winner, Blue Horizon Ageratum also. Anise Hyssop provided us with non-stop blue spikes of fragrant flowers. We grew Cramer's Amazon for the first time and it was HUGE with nice spikes of red flowers. Alas it didn't start blooming until mid-Sept. and by then the market was ready to close. I'll grow it again but in the border.

We've tried a wide variety of sunflowers and have always had good success. This year we grew Golden Cheer, a large double sunflower. It was fantastic and sold out at the Farmer's Market. It was very productive and gave us bloom from mid-to-late summer. A definaite winner! We may concentrate more on the doubles (Giant Sungold, included). They hold up better and last longer.

Scabiosa (Blue Cockade & Imperial) seemed to be affected by the heat but produced enough.

The Zinnias (Benarys, Burpeeanna, Cactus, State Fair) seemed to take awhile to get going but once they did we had more than enough for our bouquets.

Tommy, thanks for chiming in on this. Interesting (and good!) that your snaps did well for you. I had been blaming the hot weather for mine doing poorly. Maybe that wasn't the reason.

I have Cramer's Amazon on my list for next year. September blooms would be OK with me, though August would be better. I'll see how it goes.

I'm glad you mentioned the hyssop. I'm always looking for something blue and I think I need to get some of this going. You're talking about Agastache foeniculum, right?

It was good to hear from you.

ThinMan

Thinman:

Yes, Agastache foeniculum. There are a number of cultivars. This is one of our favorite perennials for providing a nice blue-purple cutflower & attracting beneficial insects. It's almost impossible to kill and self-sows readily.

In addition we grow them in containers and sell them at our Farmer's Market. People are impressed when they are in bloom and the fragrance is nice too!

It produces throughout the summer and if you cut it back will rebloom later.

Another agastache we grow is scrophulariifolia (wild hyssop) I got it from Thompson & Morgan years ago, but have not been able to find seeds for it since. That's OK, because it also self-sows. In addition goldfinches eat the seeds and spred the plants through their droppings.

T&M said it grows 3-4'. Will, surprise, surprise. Ours grow anywhere from 6-9'! They produce a long, pinkish-white spike throughtout the summer and provides us with a fabulous addition to our bouquets.

We've been getting more and more into Agastaches.

While the Snaps produced well for us, I believe the heat was a factor in not being as robust as in past years. They still did well, but Snaps like it cool so the heat may have been more of a factor than anything else.
Cramer's was amazing. It grew to 5', bushy with a reddish tinge to the foliage. We pinched them back at 12" to provide more stems. They started out slow but once the weather settled took off. I knew they were a long-season plant and was hoping for lots of cuts but they really didn't start producing large spikes until mid-late Sept. By then our market was near it's end.

They were way to big for our cutflower beds, but would be great in the border which is where I will be growing them next year.

If you have room in your cutflower beds and your market lasts longer than ours I would highly recommend them.

A very impressive and majestic plant.

Tommyk, I'm glad you mentioned the agastache. Several years back I grew the plain(?) (sorry, I'm terrible with terminology - don't know my cultivars from my varieties from my hybrids, lol!) - but anyway I grew the plain agastache foeniculum from seed and it did very well. A little too well. It self-sows rather aggressively.

I then tried Honey Bee Blue, which I love and I find is a tad less aggressive. I still keep a cautious eye on it - this year I cut back all the seed heads and disposed of them in the garbage instead of my (cold) compost pile. Of course, I have visions of landfills covered with agastache taking over the world, thanks to my actions, but hey...

Anyway, I agree this is a wonderful plant to have around. It makes a nice purple filler and has a wonderful aroma, and lasts a long time in the vase. It has a long bloom season in the garden and does rebloom. This year I was more aggressive in cutting it back and as I said disposing of the seedheads, and even ripping patches of it out completely, but I know from several years experience that I will still have plenty next year!

About the snaps - I have a little patch of snaps that are doing great right now, even into November! They are very short (6 to 8 inches tall) but they love this cooler weather and it's wonderful to have something in bloom now amongst the fallen leaves. I only wish I had better luck with them in the summer!

:)
Dee

Do you mulch your snaps? If you use straw it will help keep the soil cooler and may improve production if temperatures are really hot.

We use black plastic on many of our beds and did notice lower production on the snaps but still very good. We water using drip hoses on a regular schedule which may have helped keep the soil from over-heating.