2 losers for me:
I'm not impressed with the purple nicotianas I planted. They are a dark flat color, and don't stand out at all. Also they were touted to be fragrant. None that I can detect! Probably in the right combination they would look okay, but I don't like them.
I've also lost patience with some alyssum I planted. It was called 'Wonderland Copper'. It's the slowest growing alyssum I've ever seen, and it is deep pink. I've replaced quite a few.

I do like Caladiums, Northspruce, but haven't had much success with them. Not enough to spend money on them anyway.
The best one I had was purchased as a growing plant. That did quite well for the season, but I killed the bulbs.

Yep...most of the caladium bulbs rotted so I didn't even see a single leaf on them. The one bulb that I planted in a container with coleus....kind of got burried as the coleus has decided to become giants this year. Not really impressed with those caladiums....doubt that I will try them again either.

My other loser is AHEMMMMMM annual phlox. Well some of them are growing now....with several flowers.....but I still think they look awful......nothing like the pic you posted Gil.

Hey Gil, how are the begonias doing?

Sierra

The caladiums seemed to do okay for me. Out of the 6 bulbs I purchased at Home Depot (2 packs of 3 each), 5 bulbs made it. I counted the leaves and I have 44 leaves on the 5 bulbs now. I have placed the planter under an evergreen tree for the summer and it gets watered only when I remember (because we have not had rain for a long time). I love the two large leaves that you see in the picture. They are so colorful and the largest leaf is 10" long!

{{gwi:762293}}

Brenda

Amaranthus Green Thumb. Yuck. I pulled it and tossed it last week.

Well Brenda yours looks like mine did in the spring - but they got splattered by a couple of wind storms and only put out a few puny leaves after that. Yours looks v. pretty.

North53, go out and smell your nics at night. Fully after dark. Mine only have very light fragrance during the day, then at night they knock yer socks off. Of course yours might be non-smelly which would be a let down!

Sierra, oh your poor thing with that phlox. My begonias are pretty good, one of them snapped off early on, but is growing back from the tuber. The other has put out a couple of small male flowers so far, pretty colour, it will be nice when the gals arrive :0)

I luv you all so much!!!!! Again, it goes to show how wonderful everyone on this forum is. We can admit to defeat without judgement. LOL! My caadiums are pretty much like everyone else and I had 14 of my 18 bulbs come up. They all looked pretty good when I planted them in my shade garden, Within a few days, most of the leaves were on the ground and the stalks were bending severely. I thought they just needed time, but I have since decided they are a total waste of my time and space. The bed was planted with caladiums, coleus, which also hasn't done tremendously well, and the 3 Colocasia Elephant Ears that also came up so nicely. I was thinking that it might be a nutrient problem, what with all of the spindly growth they are putting out, but I think it is just the caladiums. Pity, because they really are pretty.

Sierra, I'm totally with you on the phlox thing. I bought some annual phlox this year because I couldn't get it to germinate and even the purchased ones are doing too well. They flowered, I deadheaded and then they put out a few small clusters and now they don't look nice at all. Sort of left me feeling like "Is that all there is?"

Back to the drawing board. The plus side is now I have a full shade bed to fill next year and I can start planning it now instead of in the winter.

Shauna

Gil, I've never had any luck with Caladiums, I think I gave up on them back in '95 ;) You really need a proctected area from wind for them.

My loser this year is Schizanthus Dr. Badger's, I guess they don't like the heat.
I had to shear one totally right back, maybe it will rebound in given time.

Sharon

This year I tried the annual dahlias again in two different pots. They are so pretty in full bloom so I thought I would try them again. I ended up pulling them out last week because they were the only plant in my yard with mildew. Mildewed leaves just don't look good and besides, they didn't even flower once yet.

I received 2 angel trumpets (white ones), very small ones at a plant exchange. I planted them in the empty spot in the planters. I figure by the end of the season they should grow enough to at least flower once (so I can save the seeds) and fill that empty place in the planter.

Anyone else doing the same thing? Replacing one plant in a planter with another one.

Brenda

Yes, my Caladiums were looking soooo good until I moved them outside too. They are starting to re-grow some leaves, so maybe by September, I'll have a very nice houseplant!lol

This year, verbena has been a mildew magnet. It's still blooming a bit, but may be ripped out pretty soon.

Dahlias? Our's are fantastic this year.

I'm disappointed (again) with purple centaurea. Out it goes this year. Our garden is stuffed with so much in bloom that it's easier to part with the poor performers. We also have some dull 'so so' poppies that are lost in the garden.

We alays try new things and this year one was Eremerus...foxtail lily. It was 'ok' but nothing spctacular. The spike was underwhelming. If it comes back next year then fine but no tears if it doesn't.

On the positive side there are dozens of great performers.