What was your great gardening disappointment this year?

[amid chaos]

For me, it would have to be all those flats of seeds I started indoors...they did crummy outside.

 

[gina2000]

I worked my butt off in the spring redoing beds and planting alot of new flowers. The drought really did them in. Alot, not all.

But it's really discouraging to put so much time and effort into your garden and have it look like a desert plain by August.

 

[Mamu]

Like Gina it's been the drought, and not being able to water properly. The plants are all showing signs of stress. I do not know what the long term outlook will be on some of the plants. Usually when plants have been stressed they have a rought time making it through the winter, and lots of times they are very susceptible to disease. Time will tell. We have been getting rain this fall but, it pours 1-2 inches then doesn't rain again for a month. This may help the overall drought conditions but it's not helping the plants. And not being able to water with a hose has been difficult. They need water on a regular basis if they are going to survive

 

[sorcerormickey]

I guess mine would have to be my annuals. They all had a pretty rough year. In the front of my house (very shady) I had planted several different annuals that tolerate shade....Well, the only ones that grew were the impatiens. All the rest looked great for a week, then died. I guess nothing but impatiens next year! All my container annuals suffered from the lack of rain, and not being able to water when I wanted to - but they aren't doing too badly.

 

[Tulirose]

I've had several disappointments in the garden this season. However, my greatest gardening disappointment has to be all the things I planned to do that I never got around to doing:

• planting low-growing juniper or something near end of driveway to replace the forsythia I wacked down last year
• cutting down 10 foot high privit hedge to a more manageble five feet or so
• making a walkway in the large area behind the pool
• adding more plants to the large area behind the pool
• keeping the weeds out of the lawn
• edging the lawn
• cutting down several branches from some trees (although we did do one and a half trees)
• dividing the iris
• stealing some more peony plants from my mom
• stealing some of her English ivy too and plant so as to grow up on ugly metal fence
• finish laying down old bricks to form a small patio area by the hot tub
• putting down sod, or at least seed in the rest of the area near hot tub
• putting in some sort of border, retainer edging, between sidewalk and grass (dirt actually) in pool area
• repaint the metal shed
• numerous other things that slip my mind right now

 

[olena]

My dahlias. The ones that grew shriveled in early August. I'm not sure why either. The blooms I did get were just lovely. Maybe they'll do better next year.

 

[Snowwark]

Tulirose! That's such a long list, no wonder you weren't able to get it finished.....you're much too hard on yourself!!!

BTW - I love how you typed that list!

The late frost did a number on my cranesbill geranium. I really missed that beautiful blue!

My obedient plants were a major disappointment, for the second year in a row, so, I had to let them go.

The grass, well, let's not even go there!!!!

 

[TigH]

Not keeping up with the weeds. I used to walk through our yard every day and pull any little weeds I could find, but this summer I didn't and they all had a big weed party. (But we eventually got rid of them, mu ha ha ha ha ha!)