looks like mechanical damage.. track it down the stem.. until you find the damaged part.. and then prune it off..

out of sight;. out of mind..

straight down pix were really hard to interpret... perhaps if you posted another pic.. but not straight down.. something else will pop out at us..

ken

Posted additional photo. Two plants are like this. Third plant is just fine.

did you look for the damage ..

for a plant thats been in the ground 6 or 8 weeks.. it doenst look all that bad.. how high are your expectations for immediate gratification ..??

i bet by next year.. you will be beating it back with a stick... give them time to grow the root mass.. to get next years growth... always think .. what could the plant be growing that i cant see.. and with a new transplant.. the answer is.. roots... to get established.. to grow to potential next year..

just like children.. each plant grows according to its own situation ... they arent all duplicates of each other.. and the usual answer is.. the root mass in the pot you started with... perhaps those struggling.. didnt have as good a root mass...

ken

ps: pull back the soil.. and find out if there is a fork in the trunk.. that should NOT be underground.. perhaps it was planted too deep.. or sunk after planting... plant parts that are supposed to be dry in the air.. might not appreciate being under soil always wet ...

Beating it back with a stick, you had me cracking up. :-)

I don’t think I will see blooms for a couple more years, but wanted to ensure I was doing what I could for these plants to establish themselves. So, I really appreciate your advice. I will check the trunk and planting depth. And maybe it is the struggling root of that part of the plant. I have a good place to start. BTW, you’re 100% better than google! :-) Thank you!

Thank you both for the great advice. I will try the shovel to lift it a little tomorrow. :-)

Good news! The stem I thought was dead has a new green sprout growing out of it! Yay! Thank you again!