I have noticed Lilies missing but that's not unusual ( voles )
My biggest disappointment is my Baptisias. Carolina Moonlight and Purple Smoke are not as full as in past.
I blame it on the long extremely cold winter.

Generally the Baptisias are lush by now but mine are barely noticeable. Must have been the winter.

Not as many eaten lily tops as usual.

Gaillardia totally gone in one area but lush in the attached brick planters in front of the house.

All three pots of crocosmia all dead. Planted crocosmias did fine but are not as tall as usual.

One potted clematis, Florida Sieboldii, appears dead but I didn't fuss with it so maybe life will return. Another self-seeded clematis was so close to a Japanese iris that I had to lift and pot them together and they all survived the winter and are thriving. Both pots were side by side in the dog's pen on a table. Hard to figure it out.

One rose, Sheila's Perfume, dead.

The good news:

Two climbing roses (different exposures and locations) are more lush than ever before.

Pirl Thanks for including a bright side.

The lilies I moved to safety are all fine (uneaten tops) but still not as tall as they normally are in mid May.

All of my helianthemum are looking sad this year. They typically stay evergreen (if a bit ratty) over winter, then put on a flush of new growth in the spring. I usually shear them back at that point to shape them and keep them tidy. This year, they just looked like dead sticks with only a small amount of growth at the tips. I sheared them back really hard (to about 3") hoping for the best. Most are very slowly recovering, so hopefully they will survive. Must have been something about the winter they didn't like - we got quick freezing temps in the fall, then had some dry winter months, so could have been either or a combination of both.

Hydrangeas had another horrible winter. It looks like we're growing sticks with green leaves at the bottom.

Same here on some old established mopheads. It's weird.

Even the lacecaps here. Poor Tokyo Delight is now down to a foot tall. So disheartening.

I have the same Hydrangeas. I cut back the sticks,guess there wont be any blooms this year. Those freezes two years in a row must be the culprit.

It's not too much work to do a dozen but we have many more hydrangeas and it takes a lot of time. The bitter cold for extended periods kills the flower buds.

Allium Schubertii. I planted quite a few 1.5 years ago and got around 10 beautiful blooms last spring. Only one bloomed this year.

Gladiator Allium, around 3 years old. Only 1-2 bloomed this year, out of around 10 plants.

Hardy passiflora. This is my third attempt. If it again fails to show up, I won't be trying again.

Definitely hydrangeas! All of the old-wood blooming varieties are looking pitiful.

On the bright side, my baptisias are looking great this year. They didn't even bloom last year.

'Tardiva' and 'Endless Bummer' killed back to the ground second winter in a row. 'Annabelle', 'Blue Billow' and 'Limelight' are good. All on the east side of the house but the first two are more northerly than the last 3. All perennials are coming up fast with no problems other than that Corydalis 'Berry Exciting' is now blooming white. Is it a hybrid of C. ochroleuca?

Yes, baptisia. I had a great show on my NOID blue one.

I have been disappointed this year because for 4 years I have had black and blue salvia return. I have had 4 to 5 plants that I have been able to keep going and so far I have seen only one plant that may be returning..I keep going out there and staring at the place where they were growing...I know they don't usually come back this far north but I have been fortunate so far...Wonder if they still may come back as I haven't seen any salvia of any kind come up yet..I usually have lots of plants that volunteer. Here I am crossing my fingers!!!

I was sure my Pineapple Sage succumbed to winter but was very delighted and shocked to see the first two leaves emerge!

I have a nepeta Andre Chandon. I planted it twice before the second one did anything. Its back but just barely. I am giving up on it. I dont call two straggly stems a success.

My only disappointments are crocosmia, potted and ground planted. Zip. Dirt. Doesn't mean it won't happen but I have little enthusiasm at this point.

I'll steal the good ones from my house for mom's house this year, and steal back next year. It seems a common sense plan. I don't get to spend enough time at home to enjoy my blooms, might as well spread the joy? I can view and enjoy them here. As cutting flowers go, crocosmia is very much a favorite of mine.

Every year as I am planting all the new plants, I have this same question in the back of my mind that I bet all you experts can answer.

What is the correct thing to do with all that terrible potting medium that comes with most new plants??? Do you get rid of most of it and then plant the new plant, or do you plant the plant just as it comes out of the pot and hope for the best??

When plants fail for me, you pull them up and they look just exactly like they did when you planted them. They have made no attempt to put out new roots and have that same potting junk in the same pot shape as when they were planted. Some of the medium has a spongy quality to it, and a lot of it looks like burnt wood chips. When it dries out it is the strangest stuff.

I also want to know what is considered the correct way to handle the root mass that has developed around the pot. I have heard that you just loosen them with your fingers or you slice through them with a knife!!

Wes Mee toooo. Crocosmias planted in April are no where to be seen.

Karen, I love your observation about the potting medium in purchased plants. I find it depends on where you buy them to some degree. But in general I pull the plant out of the pot and look at it. If it's good soil I leave it for the most part and just loosen or spread out the roots. If it has circling roots I first loosen and untangle what I can, then hold it in my hands soil side down (fingers at the bottom of the soil, plant top toward wrists) and gently split the chunk apart at the bottom with my fingers, then rotate the whole thing 1/4 turn and split again. If the soil is like a chunk of cardboard, I water it well first, let it sit for awhile, and then loosen the roots and tap or shake off some of the soil. I do just slice off roots that are sticking out at the bottom if the pot. Overall I pay more attention to the area where I am putting the plant, to make sure it is prepared appropriately.
When I first started gardening, I used to very carefully unpot the plants and try to put them in the ground without hardly touching them. Now I practically beat on them.