Beginner Gardening: Vincas dying, nothing growing!, 0 by allisont

allisont wrote:
I am in Houston, TX in a new home (built about a year ago). Since moving in we have two flower beds in the front yard both which we built up slightly last fall with soil and mulched. Both beds get mostly full sun except in the morning. One bed is doing fairly well, a pygmy date palm is growing well and the purple fountain grass is doing pretty well (a hibiscus, bird of paradise and agapanthus are doing well). The other bed is not faring so well! A hibiscus, bird of paradise and some dwarf agapanthus are doing fine, but the pygmy date palm won't grow, the purple fountain grass has just a few fronds of new growth and is tiny.

Most concerning though is that no annuals I plant will grow- in early spring the petunias died, then the begonias and now the vincas are on their way out. The soil is mostly clay and I'm not sure how well it drains. We've stopped watering at all, as I thought we were over doing it. So now we're going to start up again maybe once a week if needed. Here's a picture of one of my sad vincas! I haven't tried anything new yet, as I don't know where to start! The other bed has slightly less yellowing of the vincas. Where do I start here?

Thanks,
Allison