May Day with last year's flowers

These were some of the flowers that grew in my porch pots last year. It was so nice to have a bit of color growing, something fresh and pretty (and free).
This year it seems that the flower seeds - or my flower pots - are on strike. I am having such a hard time getting anything to grow! I plant the seeds, they pop up, and then wither away (yes, I do water them, and no, not too much).
It's almost as if something is killing all of them .......... or they decide to give up once they realize that they will have to grow on a shaded balcony. *sigh*.
And I had so wanted to have a few flowers to cut for the table this year.