My Sad Goldfinger Banana & Coneflowers

We planted this beautiful Banana and 3 Coneflowers in June...and they both look horrible, along with another banana. They started out great, but within a few weeks all the new growth is burned - even the Coneflower that gets shade from our fountain looks all fried. The flowers are still blooming, but the leaves are horrible. The Banana is still growing new leaves, but they are coming out totally bare. They start turning brown before the leaves even open up. We water them well, and the soil is moist.

It's really hot and we have high winds, but I chose these (Coneflowers and this specific type of banana) because they could handle it....but I'm starting to worrry.

Our palms and cactus and La Jolla Bougenviella (I spelled that wrong) are all doing well....What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any advice!
Hugs,
Erin

Here are the purple coneflowers...

Planting things in the summer when you live in a hot climate is extra stressful for plants, so they often will look a bit sad and not hold up to heat/wind nearly as well as they will in future years after they get established. I bet you'll be a lot happier with them next year. Even later on this summer you may start to notice a difference as they get their roots going better. If you're going to do more planting, I'd try to wait and do it in the fall when it gets cooler, it'll be less stressful for the plants then.

Thanks! Everytime I look at them I hope that maybe they'll look better later. lol. I wonder if my Goldfinger will be a loss since the leaves are coming out so horrible....It does have a little pup growing, my fingers are crossed that it does ok. I was afraid that they have some sort of disease, but I hopefully it's just the "You Planted Me in June You Idiots" disease :)

I just discovered some sort of bug (little green aphids?) on my pepper plant. I hope they don't jump to anything else! I have to read up on how to get rid of them.

I can't see the bugs in your pic, but little green things does sound like aphids. I'd start by hosing off as many as you can, then hit them with insecticidal soap. The trick is to keep after them--they reproduce very fast, so if you miss one or two and then forget about it for a week they'll be back again in full force, so you need to check every few days and take care of any new ones that show up.

I think the BLACK mulch you are using is heating up the soil and frying your plants.

Erin,
Up here, the bananas need shelter from the wind, and more water/humidity than they are used to with our temps and wind conditions.
One lady in Lake Elsinore grows hers outside. She's closer to the water table, and the banana is sheltered from the worst of the wind.
Now that I'm back, we need to get together and talk plants. I like to use straw for new plants as mulch. works really good and it is cooler, but it's cooler under the mulch any way, no matter the color. As long as it is wet it keeps the plant from dehydrating as fast. Between the wind and the heat, ours get stressed. Not a good time of year to plant, unless it is in the shade, and gets LOTS of water. Time to plant is Oct - April for most things.
Found another bunch of bananas growing on mine in the gh. You'll have to come and see.
I'll take photo's too.
BTW, Best to water at night, so the plant has time to get a loooong drink.
WIB,
SW

Welcome back SW! Yes we will have to get together sometime! I would love to see your plants. I'm so crazy with orders and remodeling, but I want to meet you definitely!

Well we have smaller banana that we got from Louie's, and the darn thing has rotted! It looks like a dried up tobacco plant, but it's all black and rotten at the roots.

We've discovered the people behind us (they are elevated a tiny bit) water ALOT, and it's keeping my area where I'm planting pretty consistently wet. I'm wondering if things are getting TOO much water. She's got a lot of stuff growing (I peeked through the cinderblock crack! lol), and I think she waters for a long time each day. We've not watered for 3 days, and the soil meter still reads WET all the way to the top of the meter. So we're going to watch it, as everything is really wet. We always water in the evening, but we're holding off for now...who knows...maybe I won't have to water back there as she's doing it for me!

Oops the dog wants out....have to run. Welcome back to hot Menifee. I hope your trip was a good one.

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home, (close eyes and click heels of ruby slippers). We are certainly not in Kansas.
I'm not sure it will work, but you can try removing some banana starts from mine if you'd like. Mine did live in a pot for five years before I put it in the ground. Now it keeps fruiting. My Dad's never fruited and he lived in TX. Go figure.
Be great if she watered your garden. LOL!
They say it's going to cool down a few degrees. I sure hope so. Too hot for man or beast, and a lot of plants too. Although my plumeria and angels trumpets seem happy. So does my honeybird bush. Lost one b.fly bush while I was gone. It didn't get enough water. Sigh. It might still come back. I'm going to cross my fingers!
WIB,
SW

I finally had to move my banana to the shade. The latest SLOW growing leaf is better formed than the last ones. It was in the hottest part of my garden (which I thought was a good thing), and I superimproved the soil with peat, manure, bone meal, and blood meal. Still the thing was malformed and the leaves were drying up before they could unfurl. The one I am speaking of is a Java Blue or 'Ice Cream' Banana.

I got another one, this time a Dwarf Brazilian, and I put it in very high shade with a bit of morning sun. It is flourishing and has pups! I guess Bananas in Pasadena like shade.

Could be, I was thinking that the humidity may be a factor too. Really dry here in Menifee. I know that I have the top of the gh where the banana grows covered with shade cloth. Been having pups like crazy. Have to remove a stalk to make room for the new growth coming on.
WIB,
SW