Is this a case of you simply having too green a thumb, or of the supplier over-hyping a product (not unheard of)? Look on the bright side. You don't have to bend down to take a close-up of the blooms, or of the bees and butterflies on the blooms. Seeing a 2-3 foot tall Joe Pye Weed would be surreal, after decades of seeing and loving the exuberantly tall kind.