Pruning...and chat continued

Corolyn..yes love the integs. , but I must admit I have never heard of an Atragene, have you tried the texanensis I have several, Love the small flowers.....Pirl..seems to me that I have moved gypsophila, might have been smaller tho. Yes they are tuber like, and go to China, lol. I have 4 or 5 planted next to that clem and are becomming overgrown a bit so will be doing the same as you, moving a few to give others more room. Have even gotten some babies that reseeded in. I have another patch that has 8-10 plants and it gets huge!!!!!! Think this summer was 10X10ft square and 48" ht. Do yours get that big? I grew from seed and were just tiny when I put them in the ground 5 years ago. Just love babies breath, I like to grow it for large country bouquets, thats why I grow so many tall things and after BB is done I turn to Limonium latifolium (purple statice) as my bouquet filler. Not sure if BB will resprout from root left in ground as I moved from location when dug up. Another with large taproot is Crambe cordifolia, when that is dug it will resprout, and rooot dug out usually gets broken but plop in groungand grows just great (crambe c. looks like babies breath on stilts, will get pix in spring. Both are midly fragrant. Crambe is related to Kale). Kathy. Darn I am thinking I took pix of Crambe this spring, but still have to get puter thiny for pix from phone to puter, lol. Ya, I will do in my spare time. LOL.

The texensis are so easy to layer. It makes it addictive to do it in spring.

My gypsophila got so huge I had no choice but to cut them back. I think the two or three plants at Queen Elizabeth rose, which blocked the path, had to be 5' x 5'. Ours were also grown from seed by my husband.

Your photo is of the crambe? It's lovely. How tall? What month does it bloom best? I never measured the height on BB but would guess 3'. The deer leave it alone so I love it twice as much.

I loved the white bell clematis....I have none like that, will put it on my wish list.....

Kathy

Some of the type 1's fall into the Atragene group. I love the shape of the flowers. http://hummingbirdfarm.net/clematis.htm#np

Robin - I love the bell shapes too!

Count me in as another bell lover. 'Pauline' is a macropetala and was new to me this year. She performed beautifully and had many blossoms so I'm looking forward to even more next year. Since I'm working in the area where she is I am considering layering it.

Here's the double layering of Liberation.

Looked thru my pix for Crambe but realized it was one of those plants that got nailed by the hail on July 10th this year, if I remember right it was in full bloom. Remember I am at 68-6900ft so bloom can be 2-3 weeks later than lower altitude. No, pix above is a patch of BB. Crambe is 5ft htX 4ftw, leaves are huge like rhubarb but more krinkled or puckery (if thats a word,lol). Flowers are a bit larger than BBs also, more airy effect. Think my BB got to 48" last summer before hail nailed it, and pix above is my second patch. Even after the hail, for several weeks looked bad but rebloomed, was very suprised. A plant I put in the middle of the BBs is Erumerus (foxtail lily) needs to be dug and moved to the edge of the patch not thr middle as it doesn't get enough sun. In a past garden I grew together and was beautiful as it hid the legs of Erumeris ( bright but soft yellow) .Kathy.

Lovely photos, all.

I still have Pot Marigolds blooming. I think the Sweet Allysum still has flowers, too.

Thanks Carolyn.. just signed up for the news letter for hummingbird. Love their pix!!! Just curious, is anyone else growing shrub clems? Later , Kathy.

Thanks, Kathy. I have some Eremus so I could move it and the BB and put them together. It's always finding the right spot that gives me problems.

Here's an article on shrub/bush clematis: http://www.perennialreference.com/perennials/clematis.html

I hope we all had a grand Thanksgiving and hope any who ventured out on this Black Friday managed to get what you wanted.

I've finally finished digging all the evil weed, Houttuynia, and we can finally put down black plastic, secured by pots, to solarize the soil and kill any tiny piece of root (or roots) that I may have missed.

Glad you are victorious, Pirl! No shopping for me, I babysat.....do most of my shopping online anyway...can't abide the stores this time of year.....

What a glorious day this has been. It would be difficult to think of ever having a better day in the garden this late into November. Jack and I accomplished so much and, as a bonus, I did cut back the Jackmanii at the post. I know it's too soon for many of us to consider cutting back but I couldn't bear the look of it and I have done it in November most years and it always zooms into growth come March.

It was 63 degrees here today with more great weather on the way for Sunday and Monday. If I didn't get so sidetracked I'd be done by now.

I have to go and get a Birthday gift for my Great Nephew Monday. But after that if the weather is good. I need to get some more stuff done outside. Working my yard work around the weather and my job is tough.I dont get as much done as I would like.

The forecast I saw called for temperatures around 50 at the end of next week. A few more days like today would be so wonderful. I still have one clematis to plant but would like to move another one. Tempis is fugiting.

I would like to move a couple now that I get more sun in the back yard. But not sure if I can fit it all in a day.

I still have a garden to get started in my backyard for next year - but the stores are no longer carrying top soil, compost, etc. I managed to snag a few bags of dirt, but need about 10 more. I am in North Dakota with my son's - it is sunny and 20's.

By the way, middle son stood in line at Best Buy, and managed to get $2000 worth of stuff, for $700. He called it a ''win' and would do it again, if they had stuff he wanted at good prices. ~Jan

The stores around here were out of all potting soil back in October. A neighbor brought over half a bag he had that he said he wouldn't need. That saved the day.

Good deal at Best Buy! Your son knows how to shop!

It was a gorgeous day today - we topped out at 62 degrees. I did get some things done outside and it really felt good to be out.

You are all making me wonder if we are out of garden soils. I was bagging up dahlias and ran out of vermiculite. I thought about running to the store, but used peat moss instead. I am now wondering if I would have even found anything remotely close to vermiculite.

Got a lot done in the yard today with the warm temps. Checked on the clematis that I moved and they're doing great. My NOID that I moved a couple of weeks ago has put out new shoots at this time of year. I'm afraid to cut back anymore of the clematis, Crystal Fountain that got "whacked" down by the landscapers several weeks ago is also putting out new shoots . It was warm last week, now the weather is changing significantly with snow in the forecast on Tuesday:-(.

When I was at Lowes several weeks ago, they said they they wouldn't be getting in any more topsoil, compost etc. Clearly they must not understand that as avid gardeners, we need this stuff year round!!!!! Thank goodness I got extra soil conditioner and composted manure already.

The Jackmanii at the post light was churning out new growth as well so I cut it back to calm it down. Nothing I've ever done to it has killed it.

Late this afternoon I dug up Proteus and packed it in compost because it was getting too dark to plant by 4:40. I'll plant it and Guernsey Cream tomorrow by the compost Jackmanii and have to wonder if they will be more vigorous due to the compost. We'll find out in six months.

The warm weather is encouraging new growth, especially the dandelions in my yard!

You're right! It's happening here as well.

I noticed some of my hydrangeas are starting to leaf out....

The buds are really swollen right now. I doubt if it will be damaging to the blooms next year but wish they'd go to sleep and stay asleep.

I purchased 2 Clematises(Clematii?)this Fall. I let them go a little longer than I should have before putting them in the ground. Belle of Woking did just fine but Avant-Garde seemed very dry. I soaked them both indoors for 24 hours and put them in the ground the next day. This was about a month ago.BoW had it's leaves all along and even grew 2 more. I went out this morning and A-G has new leaves growing. This after 3 snow storms and sub-zero temps. So they must both be doing okay.

It's clematises. They really do seem to be so forgiving. One of mine has waited since early August but I did have it heeled in the ground. It had terrific roots. That always gives joy to a clematis gardener's heart.

More forgiving than I ever thought. I guess it's the same with most plants. You won't know how they'll really perform unless you give them a shot.

You're right. Too many people seem in awe of them and there's no reason for it. Our former doctor neighbor, who should have known better, said they don't grow out here and that we wasted our money ordering eight of them back in 1995. One bloomed that December and she was amazed. When they were all blooming she was stunned. I asked her where she bought hers that failed so miserably and it was Michigan Bulb Co. Enough said.

Just spotted someone on the birthday list...

Happy birthday, Kwanjin! I hope you have a year of bountiful blooms!

Thanks, Pirl! ^_^ The day is already off to a great start.

Happy Birthday!

Many happy returns!

Thanks, everyone! I'm having a great day, so far. The sun is out, it's quiet...just how I like it. LOL

Here's a big surprise in honor of your special day, Celia!

My husband found it blooming today.

Happy Birthday kwanjin, I hope that you've had an amazing day, and I wish you many happy, Blessed gardening years.

Nice bloom pirl.

Pretty! Thanks for the good wishes. I'm happy, it was a good day.

Happy belated Birthday. Sounds like you had a great day... ditto on many happy gardening years to follow!

Thank you. It was. Good friends here and at home made my day.

If 40 degrees is warm, then we too, have warm weather. Seems more cold and damp to me though!

Happy belated birthday Kwan! ~Jan

If there's no wind and the sun is shining I can work outside at 40 degrees without a problem. Lately it's been warm - 50 and over. It's better working time for me than that horrible heat of summer. Today I worked from 10 to 4 PM and I'm thrilled with all I got done.