Beginner Gardening: What went wrong?, 1 by BlakeInCanada

BlakeInCanada wrote:
Here are the places I read about the cool treatment. This is from the hybridizers:
Cool Treatment
„ Start cool treatment after 12-15 leaf stage.
„ Cool treatment temperature can go as high as 55°F
(13°C) during the night and 60°F (15°C) during the
day.

Controlled Temperature Forcing Option (For July to November flowering when cool greenhouse temperatures cannot be maintained)
„ Sow February to May into a 392-tray.
„ 8 weeks after transplanting into 50-trays or about
12 leaf stage, place the 50-tray plugs in a lighted
cooler (14-hr. days) for 4 weeks at 41°F to induce
flower initiation. Water as needed.
„ After 4 weeks, remove the 50-tray plugs from the
cooler and transplant into final container (6-in. pots).
„ Plants will begin to flower 4 to 6 weeks after
transplanting into final containers

And then there's this page about columbine requirements for flowering from michigan state university:
Vernalization And Juvenility
Some perennial plants will not flow-
er until they’ve been through a winter
or they receive a cold treatment. The
effective temperatures for this cold
treatment, or vernalization, are 37˚F
to 46˚F for many species of herbaceous
perennials. Commonly, these vernal-
izing temperatures need to be main-
tained for at least five to six weeks.

Here's the pic of my healthy, green, indoor Swan columbine that was transplanted at the same time as the outdoor ones but into potting soil inside the window. So you can see how ugly the outdoor ones are in comparison. But it's past the 12-leaf stage and there's not even a flower stalk coming out of it.

If I knew they were just late in blooming, I would be fine, but from what I read and see, I think it's not going to happen.

I didn't see any nice columbines in nurseries, and online seed stores have so much more choice. I would have been fine with the extra work if I could get the reward but most likely I won't. Oh, at the nursery yesterday, I asked an expert about red tipped leaves, and they said it is because the plants weren't weathered enough before transplanting. I don't know how I could have weathered them more carefully, and they were fine sitting out there in their old pots. But the smallest one is the one that died, so maybe size was the main factor in the hit they took.