Good thread idea! Looking forward to hearing everyone’s experiences! I really need to try Cleome some time. I think my beds are mulched/crowded enough to inhibit excessive reseeding.

winners:

this was actually my first year growing ageratum, picked up on a whim. I love it! Tidy little mounds of nonstop color, they don’t need seem to mind the heat or infrequent watering. The bright blue really makes surrounding colors pop. They really set off an adjacent ‘Ogon’ spirea. Mine are a dwarf variety (haha). I need to try some others now that I know i love it.

Salvias Mystic spires and Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues are stunning, as usual. I much prefer them to Victoria, but as I can pick up Victoria in cheap sixpacks rather than expensive quarts, there is quite a big bit of it in my garden, too. It has done exceptionally well this year, blooming away and over 3’ tall adding some height to an area that really need some it. Both Victoria and the hybrids above mentioned frequently return for me.

Calibrichoa is new to me this year. It roommate a while to get settled in, but looks great now. I’ll plant it again.

moss rose portulaca in isolated colors really makes an impact. I don’t care for it in a jumble of colors, but if I can can place a yellow where it I’ll be effective, and a red where red is needed, etc., it provides excellent, low, incredibly tough color.

Larkspurs, singing the blues blend rom Renee’s garden, were a success this year, and just this past week were cut back afternoon flowering since April.

Failures:

cosmos Little Princess was sporadic in its dwarf ness, with one reverting to a 5’ giant. I have been unimpressed with the blooming power (or lack of it), and I willing be trying another variety in future.

Dusty Miller is one that I try every year, sure that I can make it look good with that striking silver foliage. Every year, I either place it wrong and it looks cheap and common, or I actually like whatever combo I’ve concocted, but it peters out.

What - nobody else wants to play? LOL!

I planted Benary Giants zinnias and would plant them again. My zinnias aren’t as tall as their suppose to be, but they’re so pretty that I’m ok with it. Super easy too.

A friend gave me a cosmos plant that she grew and I decided I’m going to grow some next year. I like the height and how airy they are.

Also, grew some sunflowers because they’re my son‘s favorite flower. I really liked the light yellow one, vanilla ice, I think.

I tried growing both annual and perennial poppies from seed. I think one grew, but it hasn’t bloomed, so not sure about that

I LOVE POPPIES, but they don't like me. I keep trying to grow from seed and even bought some plants. I'm not ready to give up, though. I'll try again next year.

Winners: Rose of Sharon/Hardy Hibiscus bushes, pink blooms with dark pink eye. Very happy with these and now being patient and hope they grow each year.

Ruellia. I love this flowering plant. Each year it comes back a little larger. Hasn't been invasive. Happy little pink blooms.

Liatris/Gayfeather: I bought 60 corms and planted. Not one came up. Sad. Very sad.

this was actually my first year growing ageratum, picked up on a whim. I love it!

This sounds exactly like me this year! And I will plant lots more next season.

(I saw this combo with ageratum this past summer)

Mystic Spires is pretty...sounds like it's a good bloomer too. Most of my salvias bloom in spring, or late spring/ early summer and then they're done. But for me Victoria Blue salvia is a winner and blooms nonstop. Salvia guarnitica also blooms nonstop and I like it but it's invasive here.

I tried Benary's Giant zinnias and they were non stop bloomers. Pretty healthy. I liked some cactus flowered ones very much ...they were amazing looking spiky shapes.

One of my best bloomers this year was a calibrachoa that is at least a year old. I left it out in a pot all winter and it came back beautifully and has some blooms on it now. I was happy with most of my new clematis plants but especially liked Rooguchi, and Perle d'Azur. I didn't much like convolvulus from seed...very spindly and poor bloom, and I didn't like ammi majus, also spindly. Forget-me-Nots were very good this year. I had some huge, beautiful plants of cosmos from seed but they didn't bloom until mid October. Verbascum Wedding Candles was interesting. One plant leaned over horizontally and the small blossoms reached for the sky all along the stem so the whole thing ended up looking like a comb facing upwards. It started out looking like lumps of popcorn along the stem but later opened into little flowers. Seems to be a tough plant. I have a wild verbascum that comes up sometimes in a certain area.

Some of my long time favorite reseeders, rose campion and larkpur, are petering out in my garden for some reason and I've noticed someone else's nearby stand of rose campion is also dwindling. Anyone else have this happen?