Planted about 3 to 9 months too late. June-August is the worst time to plant anything in full sun, as far as I'm concerned. It's too dry. By a lot. Where are you?

It depends on your climate, soil type, and how you are watering. In general I would say watering anything other than a small container in very drying conditions (like a hanging basket in full sun) everyday is not good. In general it is better to put down some mulch to block weeds and keep the soil moisture more even. Then you deep water less often depending on how quickly the soil drys out. Here I water new seedlings 1-2 times a week at the very most if there is no rain even in mid summer, but we have clayish soil, not sandy. Also a rain gauge is helpful since sometimes our estimates of how much rain we got is way off. I saw a neighbor out watering his lawn in a week where we had 3+" of rain! I would also trust my own finger over a moisture meter, but that is me.

It looks like a new raised bed and the problem may also be with whatever soil you filled it with. Bagged product?

The bee balm blooms would not last all season regardless, but the foliage of that and the salvia definitely is very unhappy.

I am in central Virginia. Unfortunately, we only moved into the house in late May so I didn't have much choice on when to plant.

I was advised that I was under watering, and after a good drenching of the soil, they all look so much better already. The foliage and flowers are all bouncing back and hardly any are still dropping.

I've had a bad habit of over watering in the past but it was in a different state.

The bed was already here and had strawberries and carrots growing in it.

Thank you both! I will definitely look into mulch and a rain gauge.

That's exactly how I was watering. Luckily, the owners of the house never used any chemicals on their lawn or garden. I'm very new to this. My daughter watched a documentary and has been on a mission to save the Monarchs and other pollinators ever since. I'm just winging it.

We were looking into adding to it so I will look for those and add some mulch.

Your plants look a lot happier now!

Water once a week if it doesn't rain. Those plants don't like too much water. The soil needs to dry out so the roots get oxygen, I live in Florida, the soil is pure sand. I try to water once a week but most times I don't. My plants are flourishing in this hot, dry climate. Watering too much is worse than not watering at all.

Jane

Jane, I have that problem too. I am learning with all of my plants. Some I may have overwatered and killed them. For example, Black Eyed Susan plants. Well they started selling it in Aug (hot MONTH) here in Florida. So I planted it. I watered it daily for a week or two because it was so hot it kept wilting. Until the stupid mealybugs was all over it so I cut it back and it never grew back next year. I bought 4 more this week and I planted it in some shade areas and some sun area and see which one wins and I wont water it until I see some leaves that needs watering when I check on them in the mornings. They do wilt during afternoon sun because that's how they preserve their energy but in the morning if still wilting then thats when I will water it. Hope I do it ok?

Angelimperfect, ideally, your plants would never wilt. That's a sign of stress, and it means they are more susceptible to infection and aren't able to spend energy growing the way they should. I would place a lawn chair or similar object over the plants in the sun to give them a little break from the sun until they get their roots established. Water all of your new plants deeply at least weekly, and stick a finger into the ground near their roots to see if the soil is drying out or not. If it feels dry, give them some water. August is a very hard time for new plants to try to get established. But, the retail stores still need to make money and they don't care if your plants survive. In fact, if they die, you'll be back to buy more. I hate to be cynical, but that is the reality of the business world.

Martha

HI!! You planted 2 months ago! How about an update!!

You and I were doing these beds about the same time. I know the Texas heat was a challenge for me, but other than losing a couple of Vinca, I think my bed came through ok. I mostly bought plants that were kept in the full sun at the nursery so that I at least knew that they could tolerate that!! The Lantana, "Fruit cocktail" shrimp plant, daylilies, Bower vines, salvia, cleome, and sapphire shower trees are doing great. The herbs are doing ok...the regular dill's not happy, but the bronze dill is doing well. The parsley is in a big pot this time and the sorrel in the ground is doing fine. Rue is in pots. There are some others that I can't recall the name of that are still doing ok. The passion vine (the whole reason for the bed redo) is happy beyond belief. Of course, there are 2 stands of tropical milkweed in the area and they are doing fine as well as crinum, which I understand you can't kill! I put in a few ornamental grasses, etc. While it wasn't the best time to redo a bed, sometimes you don't have a choice. I had the time to do it and if I had waited it likely wouldn't have gotten done.