No, there's nothing you should have done to them - just keep watering them (assuming there's free drainage from the trough).

I planted seeds straight into the garden & they looked great for about 3 years. They perfumed my whole garden intensely. They don't like to be moved around - that much I learned.

Thank you Bamboo and Bathgate. Will carry on watering them. Looking forward to their scent.

With bare root, it depends how fresh they were when you bought them. If they were looking a bit sad and droopy then, they might take awhile to pick up and you might lose some. They should always be bought and planted on the same day really. We used to have a nursery near me where
the staff would go and dig them up while you waited, but I'm afraid those days seem to be long gone! Make sure they are firmly trodden in when planted as the wind wreaks havoc with them, loosening their hold in the soil and causing them to wilt badly.

I don't know what happened to mine. It was from a packet of wildflower seeds I sprinkled everywhere. It was a great big spread of bright orange & very fragrant you can smell from the kitchen. Maybe the super cold winter did them in but some are short-lived perennials as this webpage states.

I found this webpage you might find helpful.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/wallflower/growing-wallflower-plants.htm

If they don't pick up, you can try returning them as you got them from a garden centre - it sounds as if they were bare root, but I've noticed in recent years these are now largely sold as box bedding at this time of year from garden centres, rather than bare root (wrapped in newspaper, last lot I bought from the greengrocer!)

Plants that look wilted by the time you get them home and/or are ready to plant should be soaked well before you plant them. Plants find it difficult to start taking water from the soil otherwise.

Unfortunately, these plants are extremely sensitive to being moved, handled & transplanted. Chances are slim that they will recover but I won't say 'never.' They aren't the best choice for retail. The best way to grow wallflowers is to plant seeds. Plant the seeds where you want them to grow. You can also start them in peat pots indoors, then just plant the whole thing when they are small.

Here in Scotland a bed of wallflower and tulips have been a staple for domestic and council overwintering bedding since Victorian times probably. The wallflower is evergreen and are sold at markets or in local shops, usually in bunches. The bunches are kept in a pail of water to stop the roots dying out. Nowadays Garden centres sell them in trays of 6 or ten at hugely inflated prices. As Bamboo says they are easy to grow from seed and you can transplant them from your seed bed in to your beds and containers round about now. I sowed seed in July and due to the funny weather this year they have already flowered. I thought I would allow them to set seed and self sow but just in case that does not work I have bought more seed.

I was disappointed yesterday to find the local greengrocer had no Wallflowers for sale, and won't have any this year. His supplier states the hot, dry weather in July put paid to their growth.

Well, we must have a different variety. My wallflowers bloomed bright orange in April, & would completely die back in winter. I have never seen wallflower starter plants at any garden center nor have they ever self-seeded. Seeds are very easy to grow - just cast them on the ground & sprinkle. After year 3, nothing. They are short-lived perennials.

I always bought mine bare root at the greengrocers, just like my grandfather did, but now we don't have greengrocers here, or at least, not English ones so no one sells them like that any more. In theory, having them bare root meant they would be more floriferous once they started flowering - they seem to need to be treated roughly. The latest one is 'Sugar Rush' which flowers in autumn and again in spring, but is usually sold as seed or box bedding. What I'm not sure of is the Latin name of the ones sold in autumn, either bare root or boxed.

I've not heard of seeding wallflowers where you want them to grow. Usually they used to be (Father grew bedding plants to sell) seeded in a row and dug up and packed in twelves (or Bakers dozen's of thirteen) in damp newspaper to be taken out on his rounds. I've never found them as sensitive or difficult - until I moved here and the Peacocks always eat them that is! They still have them bare-rooted round this way, nip the tops out if it hasn't already been done, as they will then make bushier plants.

Well, I'm half a world away so that could explain why. Most flowers do produce seeds. I just plant them. Then they grow! Amazing! I can even buy a whole pack of seeds from the garden center--and plant them. The success rate increases exponentially.

I finally managed to buy some Wallflowers from a greengrocers today ... £5 for a dozen ... some bushier than others.