might be the chilly weather + rain.... I see in Taunton, it's 48 right now, Have these plantings come from the greenhouse where it's probably at least 60 or even 70? If so, this might be their first reaction, but with warmth and sunshine, they'll respond by greening up and putting on new leaves. Patience is all you need hopefully.

Thank you both. I'm sure it's just a combination of this cool rainy weather and transplant shock. They did look better last week actually. I'll chill out and leave them be for now.

Cool rainy weather is actually just the job for newly planted perennials in full leaf. They don't have to work so hard getting established. I'd be more concerned if it was hot and dry.

btw ... that columbine ... is a bit early in bloom ... you must cut off every spent flower [not stalk] .... because... if it goes to seed... it will stop blooming for the summer ...

next season.. it will bloom later .. based on your local weather ...

lol ... and dont freak out if it gets leaf miners ... i think they are cool ... lol

ken

Thanks Ken. Since it's flowering already I'm just going to let it do it's thing. I'd prefer it to seed itself around as my garden is a little sparse. I have others which may bloom later like the swan lavender which is not in bloom yet. My mother's columbines had leaf miners so I know what it looks like. Unless the plant is being decimated I'm OK with nature doing its thing.

I agree they are looking fine!

I do hope the columbine naturalize more for you. You can also collect the seeds easily if you watch for when the pods are ripe and open up, or just slightly before they open up.

I do hope the columbine naturalizes for you but must confess they never have for me. I love them and every year I buy more of them but so far they haven't self-seeded in my garden. That said, I do mulch heavily to attract worms + control weeds which likely prevents columbine from self-seeding. I regret to confess I had zero success growing them from seed (either commercial or self-harvested) via winter sowing.

As far as planting, it's important to gently tease loose the roots of potted plants since they're often times confined inside pots too small for them. Don't ask me how I learned to do this; it wasn't gladly. Plants know what to do so long as gardeners know what they need and do whatever's necessary to ensure they have the conditions they need to do it..

Thanks garden. They all came in coir pots so I just dug holes and stuck them in.

Columbine is doing well, blooming again even. I've cleared away the mulch in hopes they will self seed. I have two other columbines which are not doing as well actually but we'll see if they come back next year. They're all different colors so hoping to see some interesting colors next year if i get some seedlings.

The anemones lost all those leaves but have new ones coming in. I read they take a while to establish and this is exactly what I am seeing.

The itea is growing nicely as well, so I hope to see some flowers next year.

A watering tip I learned from my neighbors: fill a recycled plastic container (I use gallon milk jugs) with water, poke a pinhole an inch from the bottom and set the container up against the base of your perennial plant(s)/shrubs. The water will exit the container in a gentle stream & hydrate the plant slowly. The water remaining in the container once the level falls below the pinhole will prevent the container from blowing away if it's windy. I think of it as the poor gardeners drip irrigation system.