I have all three plants you mentioned. Rozanne is in her third year; more foliage than last year but certainly not thriving. Not a lot of blooms yet this year. It may not be in the ideal situation I must admit; I wonder about its hardiness in zone 3.

Zagreb is new for me this year and is blooming like crazy; I hope it does the same for me next year. It looks really nice planted with my blue Delphinium.

Gold Bullion does ok but I have not found it to be a prolific bloomer. I like it for its foliage. Sounds to me like a fungal problem with your plant; they prefer a leaner and well drained soil. Is it getting a lot of water?

Not sure if that is any help but I can understand the frustration with under performing plants!

I've grown Rozanne geranium and a thread leaf coreopsis (Moonbeam?)...both died. I don't think any coreopsis is long lived in our colder zones. Haven't tried your gold leafed perennial bachelor's button but I've been trying to get rid of the regular one in my yard for years...so won't likely be planting anything remotely related to it, lol.

Thanks everyone!

I have all of these plants in very sunny areas. However, for the coreopsis, it is close to the foundation THOUGH by a window well, so the soil there may be rather cold despite the southern exposure. So that may be why... I think that I am going to get rid of the two diminishing ones, or at least move them away. The coreopsis zagreb did bloom for a couple of seasons for me and it was beautiful!

The centaurea may indeed be in an area that is too irrigated for its own good! SIGH! I do like its golden foliage though, until it gets to look a bit spent and ugly by July... what can I replace it with, and yet still have nice golden foliage please?

As for Rozanne, I am wondering if it could be too crowded in the roots? Should I try to divide it next spring?

Thanks again!

The Centaurea needs to be cut back after blooming to rejuvenate the foliage. I have a gold leaved Veronica called Aztec Gold, lower growing with light blue flowers. It is very hardy; needs to be cut back after blooming as well as tends to get a little floppy. A newer plant that looks very interesting is Japanese Aralia. Zone 3, Part shade and gets 3 feet tall or more. Not sure if it will tolerate full sun. There are quite a few sun loving golden hostas as well.

My Rozanne has been in the ground for about 4 or 5 years, next to Dreamweaver crabapple, Winnipeg Parks roses, and ozark primrose so I think the space is pretty much taken up with roots of one form or another. I didn`t think hardy geraniums were candidates for division - I hope not - I am a lazy gardener(or perhaps efficient!!!!) and don`t much care for having to fuss around with dividing every few years.

Ostrich, have you tried a soil test? I have a spot in the garden where nothing grows well, I am considering a soil test to get to the root of things. Curious if the test could provide some helpful information.

Thanks, everyone!

My Rozannne has been in the ground for about 3 years now. It used to bloom very well, but now it is just a healthy bush of green foliage!!! Prairie_northrose, if it were a soil issue, would it still have produced such healthy foliage, I wonder? Now, it is right next to a green cutleaf elderberry - could it be that the elderberry is adding a lot of nitrogen to the soil, so that it is just promoting green growth??? Just a wild speculation....

In terms of the division of hardy geraniums, it is probably a bit too early to have to divide this thing after just 3 years, right? But guess what - it can be divided!

Debbie, the centaurea did NOT even bloom! As I mentioned above, the buds never really got anywhere and then they shriveled up and died. I am sure that I am messing it up by putting it in an area with decent moisture. I should just move that darn thing to a dry, dry location!!!! Yup, I am gonna do just that and see what happens...

Thanks!

I have the odd peony bud that turns black, shrivels up and dies...think it's a bit of botrytis on it but it doesn't affect the plant for the most part...that's my guess is your problem with the bachelor's button...perhaps spray with a fungicide in the spring?

As far as I know, the elderberry would not be providing nitrogen...the only plants that can "fix" nitrogen would be those from the legume family (alfalfa, clover, bean, peas...).

When you fertilize the lawn, is there a lot of overrun into your perennial beds?

Oh! Donna, you may have the answer right there - yes, I totally forgot that when I fertilize the lawn, it did probably get to the flower beds! YIKES! I totally forgot about that! Sigh.... ouch. Next year, I will be more careful and see what happens.... you know, the joy of gardening in our climate. You have to wait one whole year for anything to happen!!! Sigh....