>> And yeah, the short lived perennials suck.
I've read that the wet parts of the PNW have the PERFECT climate for Delphiniums, and they last longer here than most places.
And I eventually figured out that slugs love delph SEEDLINGS more than anything else. That turned out be the reason they "were so DIFFICULT to harden off". They would VANISH overnight - not one green molecule remained above soil level - as soon as I put them on the porch, far away from any soil or slugs. But the slugs always found them.
>> You research it, give more (less) light, more (less) water and on and on. And it just keeps going down hill until it just kicks the bucket.
My policy now is to act decisively before it dies ALL the way dead. While it is still "only MOSTLY dead", I follow The Process:
I tell it solemnly that I GIVE UP and consider it dead to me.
I tell it that I KNOW it has no life left and is hopeless.
I stop all medical treatment.
Then I dig it up and THROW it on top of the compost heap.
Come back three weeks later and it's the healthiest plant in my garden.
I don't know whether the pep talk does it, or the compost.
