Beginner Gardening: My flower bed!, 1 by txflower

txflower wrote:
Hello all! I am back! LOL

I was wondering if I have missed something with my flower bed! Nothing seems to be growing and the Celosia is starting to look bad!

Do I need to deadhead Celosia? I thought the blooms where supposed to last a very long time!

The Dahlias are not blooming either! AWW I think I might look for some Dwarf Zinnias to replace them! I have heard the bloom like crazy and I know I can collect the seed for next year. That would at least put me ahead!

I noticed that the soil does not seem to be getting very moist under about 2 inches below the new organic soil I added so I am going to add in some Pete Moss. I have thought about giving it some Miracle Grow, but I am not sure that is a good idea because of the fact that the soil was organic and has manure in it! LOL

Here is a list of what and in what order I planted. This pic is a month old but they are not looking much better! LOL

My questions are:

What do I need to deadhead?
What can I collect for seed next year?
What will just come back?
Can Vinca change color? It is supposed to be hot pink and some white and it is all hot pink! Maybe it was just miss labeled at the store.

Front Row:
Celosia (Cristata) Amigo Mix. Which is a mix of bright colors 6 inch height

Second Row:
Hawaii Royal (Ageratum). Which mounts to about 8 inches and is a blue/purple flower 6 inches height

Third Row:
I mixed these together.
Floral Lace Mix Dianthus (Dianthus). Which the colors of are crimson red and a white tipped pink fading into red and white tipped red. 8 inch height.

Forth Row:
Salvia Sizzler (the tag does not have the Latin name) Which has deep plum purple blooms. And I believe grows to an 8 inch height.

Fifth Row:
Dahlia Figaro Mix Which is a bright mix of colors. 12-24 inch height (I did get a few from a greenhouse that look the same! But that tag says they grow to a 10 inch tall height and 10 inches wide. So I guess we will see! LOL)

Sixth Row:
I mixed together Titan Punch Vinca which are hot pink 14-16 inch height. And what the tag simply calls) Vinca which has white peddles and either a yellow hot pink or red center. Some of which have a pinkish purple peddle and a hot pink center. Which it says has a height of 12 inches.

Seventh Row:
Rocket Mix Snapdragons. Which it says are a hybrid of mixed color. So I don't know if that means they will reseed. Height 36 inches.

And finally in the upper left corner (or Eighth Row) is a Royal Red Butterfly Bush. Which looks the same as the standard Butterfly Bush with purple flowers, but whose flowers have more of a pink or reddish tint to them. I was told it would grow to be 6 to 7 feet tall but I am going to keep it trimmed back shorter then that.