Perennials not growing

Last summer i planted phlox, delphiniums and ecinacea. The phlox has come back and is about 6 inches tall however, the others have not sprouted at all. The phlox was in a container the others in the ground.

I think they might be dead. I would appreciate any comments on this. 

Were these root cuttings bought in a cardboard box, by any chance?

If you mean Echinacea, then both these are certain slug dinner and probably needed some early protection until they are better established. Slugs can gnaw shoots down to stubs if you let them

I use heaps of grit as mulch and a sprinkle of pellets to kill off the first generation of slugs. From this point on, the wildlife will help you out

If they're not growing by now, they're dead!   Difficult to say why - could be winter mortality, or pests, but either way, it's time to buy some replacements.

Echinacea are notoriously fickle as far as being "hardy" is concerned, so if you're looking for longevity, try somerthing else!

Have one out of three Echinacea planted last year as bare root, have had good success with getting seed to germinate though, even if 50 percent survive will still have to many, maybe try from seed this year for next?

i have tried them for years...... no luck  - this year am trying for the last time as in new garden.  maybe the soil conditions will allow them to thrive - its more sandy here

I have light soil and I bought my single specimen in the autumn with the intention to grow it on this year. It was planted out and over wintered fine without any mulch. I moved it in early spring and kept a beady eye on it for slug damage, it is now thriving and about ten times its original size. I wonder if they self seed? If not, I will propagate many more from seeds.

Depends on your location. My delphs and phlox are actually already up this year, but that was due to heat wave in March. Other years the delphs would only be showing their location, whereas the echinacea and phlox may not be sprouting yet.  My echinacea are just breaking the soil. But as i'm 1000' up, things are slower here to say hello, but quicker to cheerio.

I paid approx. £22 for three pot-grown echinacea last year - marked as "hardy". Not one has re-appeared this year. Is there still time?

my echinacea purpurea pink double delight are only just showing and one not at all, it says they flower in July - Sept so they are going to have to go some to be flowering by then as I just have a few leaves, I only planted them sept last year, but they too said hardy on them and had 3 so sad to have lost one already and not sure if the other 2 will come to anything, really disappointed as I paid a lot of money for them.  Any suggestions???

I agree that it is really frustrating to buy a plant that is labelled hardy but that in reality is only hardy in certain conditions. I think it is going to be a tough year in the garden and that we will all have a number of disappointments. My echinacea have not come through yet and I think they may be another plant that I add to my list of lovely idea but needs a perfect location.

I'm a fairly new garderner but have learnt quite quickly that some garden centres and retailers will label things as 'hardy' when they're not. I've bought Dahlias when the label has stated it, even though when I've looked it up they've needed to be lifted and stored over winter.

The best thing to do with all your new plants is to get online when you bring them home and read up about what care they will need. And of course take in to consideration that winter will inevitably kill off some plants regardless.

This is my third year of trying. I bought an Echinacea Tomato Soup last year. I thought it had died till I came to plant out some purpurea seedlings. It was still there but tiny. They might be hardy in southern areas but they certainly aren't in my area, Plus they're not very long lived

Whether Echinacea will survive really does depend both on the soil, and the severity of the Winter.

I've made several attempts to grow Echincea in the soil. The odd one has succeeded occasionally, but none remain. I have a heavy soil, which doesn't help.

Last year I decided to keep the plants in pots. This gives you much better drainage, protection from slugs, and you can overwinter the plants indoors to protect them from the worst of the weather.

Consequently, these are my Echinaceas, right now (Mistral and White Swan)...