Clematis: Our "White Fence Project", 1 by pirl

pirl wrote:
Etelka - I wish I had known that grasshoppers bite. When I spotted one on a plant I went to pick it up to throw it to the ground and smash it and it took a quick bite of my hand! I did spot it and I did kill it. In the same area, a short while later I found another "hiding" in the grass. That one is also in grasshopper heaven.

Kim - how's your clematis that had problems? Did you cut it back? I read an interesting article about the value of planting them deep. It seems that if a clematis has a problem and you've planted in deeply enough (and cut it back if leaves have wilted/died/blackened) it will send out new shoots very quickly. I tend to plant them only two inches deep (the earth covering the top of the plant by two inches) but now I'm going to go to four inches. All leaves that would end up under the soil should be removed. I'm all for any plan that will encourage more shoots and more blooms.

Those nasty mealy bugs not only have attacked the Mandevilla vines, which are beyond hope now but the replacements are waiting in the wings on the other side of the house, but they got to one coleus, Elfers, and I only saw it when I had removed large portions to take cuttings. The beauty of any one plant isn't worth risking all other plants so when the rain ends (not too soon, I hope) I will remove it and trash it - no composting of that one! I've just wasted time in the past trying to rid the mealy bug by using alcohol and a Q-tip: no more.

We did have a few nice days and I was out removing that very evil weed - Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon'. It is so beautiful but so very invasive and I'm in the midst of digging it up again. The roots go deeper than I can dig and it goes around huge pine roots making removal even more difficult. It has overtaken 400 square feet and I refuse to be defeated but it's a major and probably life-long job. I'll post a photo showing its beauty but don't think it can be controlled by putting it in a pot without a drainage hole! Wrong! It gets a tiny flower, insipid, and I wouldn't chance any seed from it.

Do not be misled by the beauty of the leaves: this plant is truly evil.