Has it just been a bad summer? All my plants look shabby

[alabasterangel]

I try so hard, I genuinely love time in my garden, but no matter how much effort I apply things still look tatty. This is our second summer and last year I wrote a lot off as we were getting to know the garden and it had nothing planted in it at all. We've been careful to plant in appropriate positions and plan ahead. Yet everything looks bloody awful, bedraggled and shabby. E.g....

Climbing rose, 'wedding day' DH gave it as an anniversary gift. It was a huge plant, we've started to train it up a willow trellis but it's leaves have all gone chalky. Is this mildew?

Marguerite daisies - dead. As a dodo.

Geraniums - done awfully. In a sheltered south facing spot, watered every day and given feed - one lousy bloom.

All my hanging baskets looked nice for about a week, now they all look leggy and tired, despite feed, dead heading, etc.

Campanula - both died.

Succulents - planted in lovely little vintage pots to put on my garden table - eaten by crows.

Fuschia - finished and gone to pod already. Look awful.

Things that are faring better - Passion flower - that's gone mad, and hydrangeas. But honestly the rest all look like I want to rip them up!!

My garden looks at its best in June, so looking more bedraggled than it did. You might have a too good spot for the geraniums. Certain varieties do their best in shade/ poor soil.
I am a bit of a lazy gardener, and hardly feed anything, and the neglect seems to be paying off.
The things that look best in my garden at the moment are:
Lavenders
Cosmos
Sunflowers
Dahlias
Fennel
Grasses

The sedums are about to flower, and the geums are having one last bloom.

Perhaps have a go at improving the soil over winter.

Thank you. Your list helps. I think I should start a notebook so I can remember what hasn't done well. Ironically some of the bargains I've had from the 'near the brink' trolley at the nursery have done best, a couple didn't even have labels so pure guesswork.

My lavender is leggy - first year!! Presume I can cut this right back to try and avoid th same next year, or try a different variety.

Sunflowers are almost done, I need to learn how to dry the heads for the birds.

No idea about the mildew. Seem to have had A LOT of green, black and whitefly too. And leaf miners. They ruined my nasturtiums (which again, looked lovely for a week then went all leggy and bedraggled).

Be very careful cutting your lavender. If you cut it right back into the old wood it will die. Lavenders have just to be trimmed where there is green stems and leaves.

Prune your rose in the winter, February. Do not feed it until the spring, May.
Some things do better in some gardens, that's just the way it is! Japanese anenomes are looking good, as is Crocosmia and penstemons maybe try some of those next year?

Thank you.

I have crocosmia, it's budding but not out yet - suspect it's because it's a shadier spot than it would like and I think it needs more sun. I'm going to get more for another corner (I love it). Rudbeckia is also ok. Sweet peas are all crispy and going brown at the base, but I had several flushes. Presumably it's about time they were over anyway?

My crocosima is refusing to flower sobs
My sweet peas were going great, until I went away for a week and were decimated by greenfly, so I pulled them out.

The flower that has done the best in my garden this year has been the geums. It was such a mild winter that they bloomed early, and a second bloom in May which lasted a couple of months and have shot out another set of blooms this week.