looks like you bought first year seedlings ... they will probably not bloom until next year .. but maybe you will get a few that go for it ...

second season plants would have probably been in 3 inch pots.. not these types of flats ...

in fact.. at this size.. you might want to try potting half of them.. and growing them in pots.. for better care ... and then planting the big plants in fall ...

releasing these babes to the general garden.. might not be easy ... you will need to be watering them very often.. and if you spread them all over the yard ... it could be a PIA ..... the alternative.. would be to put them all together in a nursery bed.. just for the added tlc ...

think of it this way .. in buying a mature plant.. you are buying a root mass.. ready to perform..

with these babes.. you will need to grow that root mass this year .. so they can perform next year ...

whats the old adage with perennial ... sleep...creep ...leap .. the usual 3 yer progression ... peren will clarify that.. like she did last time i babbled about it ... lol ..

ken

Those are too small to plant out IMO, especially as we head into high summer soon. If you are able, I would pot them into 3" or 4" pots and let them grow on until fall, then plant -- like Ken said they need to grow a root mass.

Or, you could plant them in the ground and cover with floating row cover to protect them from wind and hot sun (you're still going to need to be attentive to watering, though) until they gain a footing. IME birds will pull up small plants like this -- another reason to cover with row cover until they're firmly anchored by roots.

I plant many plants of this size every year with no problems. They are locally grown and take off like gangbusters. As Ken said you may get some blooms this year while others not till next year. The key to success is to keep them watered well....

Good luck and happy gardening!

I've planted many of my perennials from small liners like that and never had any serious issues or found them hard to establish and it's very economical. They will root in very quickly being a young, vigorous seedling though the tradeoff is you might not get much flowering this first year. You might get some.

Thank you all for your insight! I really appreciate it :) I have been watering them twice a day since the temperature hit around 80 , they have been in the ground for about 2 weeks.

Twice a day may be a little excessive. If you water deeply you won’t need to water that much.

This may help....here is a post about watering.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6124206/watering-perennials#n=2

I get mine from places that greenhouse germinate and grow them then harden off so not really available until early may after the chance of a hard freeze. Plenty of time to settle in in an average year, before the worst of the heat.

Two weeks or so in the ground you should be able to reduce watering, If you went and gave them a tug I bet you'd fine most have started to root in to the surrounding soil.

It might be wise to cut off flower stalks this year. Your transplants are relatively small, and new plants have a limited amount of available energy which they can either put to growing roots and leaves or to producing flowers and seeds. Even if you deadhead after blooming, if you let them bloom this year they will likely be smaller next year than if you had just removed any flower stalks early on. Gardening is a life lesson in parience, and in this case delaying gratification will result in a fuller garden next season.

Admittedly I've never researched it, but I hear some version of 'remove the flowers' the first year recommended often. I've never done it, but would love to know if there is actually any scientific research behind this especially for ornamental plants. Does it really matter? I buy lots of baby perennials every spring and I just enjoy the ones that bloom the first year and can't say I lose many or they don't seem to take off in year two.

I planted something that may have been your "Bee Balm Panorama Mix" last year. It was from Johnny's and called "Panorama Mix: Monarda didyma." One of two plants that I started from seed did bloom last year. The seeds were absolutely teeny and hard to start and to water without swamping them, so I'm envious that you could buy plants and not fuss with seeds.