Clematis chat - heading into winter

Thanks, Sue. You make me feel better with your last sentence. I just planted several potted plants that had been waiting 17 months - sweet relief!

Mine are older, since I sold and moved out of my last house, over 2 years! Eekkk, poor things! As soon as the big dogs clear out and move with their family, I will finish planting. I started with such a huge number ya know!

I feel better too - just got my hydrangeas planted that were purchased 18 months ago and I have a couple of clematis that need to be planted. I plan on heeling them in for the winter and planting them out in the spring..... these clematis will give me something to play with during the winter. It will be fun figuring out where I want them. ^_^

Now I feel so much better! I hate not planting new purchases but putting them in the wrong spots isn't the answer for me. I detest moving things once they're in the ground.

I also have a few more clem's to be planted and with any luck I'll get it done this week.

When I went through my battle with the evil Houttuynia I had to dig up Crystal Fountain since the Houtt. roots were in with the clem's roots. After I managed to get the evil roots out I moved the clem to a large pot and used chipped leaves, pine needles, compost and manure under the root ball. Now it's more lush than ever before so I finally scored on an "idea" that worked. I hope it survives the winter.

Is there anything special you have to do when you have a clem in a pot. I have never done this and I dont want to to die this winter.

Marie

I just bury mine in the back yard, taking care to put some type of a stake or something so I know where to dig in the Spring. I have done this with clematis, hydrangea, and heuchera with excellent results. I have only lost one plant doing this and I think the root system was suspect on that plant to begin with. As soon as I can work the soil in the Spring, I dig up these pots.

Ok, that will have to be my next project on a day off. I hope I don't miss the opportunity with the clems and the banana trees I have to get in the ground. I tis so hard trying to get things done on days off. It does not always work out with the weather.

Marie - we'll find out next year if this pot idea of mine worked or not. It is a huge pot and there is no way I could bury it. Painting the pot next year is on my list.

Hello everyone, I see that I have a lot of catching up to do. Arlene, I'm glad that you fared well from hurricaine Sandy.

We really are heading into winter here in Duluth, GA, and we've had many days with cold temperatures, and lots of frost days. Many of the clematis have died down, but I wont cut them until spring when it starts to warm up.

I did get 3 new plants last week, Snow Queen, Barbara Jackman, and Ramona, which I'm glad to replace, since I'd grown it at my last house and loved it. They came in 1 gallon pots from Lowes. I gave them a feed of Miracle Grow with Epsom salt to tide them over. I will be planting BJ in a very large cement pot, that's in partial shade and sits on my driveway. I'll have to find a place for the other 2. We just had our Cryptomerias limbed up by 6-7 feet, so I have some new planting areas. I wonder if the new plants would do well under them? They would get morning sun. Annette

Thanks. I'll be picking up the small pieces of the spruces for another year but that's minor. So far Jack has been to the dump four times with those little pieces and larger branches. At least it keeps me out there gardening and I'm in the midst of four projects now. Hope I get done by mid-December.

It's cool here, too, and by 5 PM it's dark so the days are cut short both morning and afternoon: I don't like it at all.

The BJ will do fine but I'd be hesitant to plant anything under the Cryptomeria or any type of pine, cypress, hemlock or spruce. I've lost more clematises from doing that than any other reason even when I plant them 2' or more from the plant. I don't know if it's something in the soil (from the shedding of the plant) or what goes wrong. I hope you have much better luck than I had if you try it!

Candida just gave me one more bloom! I have been cutting them back (against the rules) only because they look a wreck right now. I'm also concerned about a late spring and having too much to do at once. I like knowing at least I've taken care of the clem's. I have done this before and they all grew just fine.

Wow, it sounds like you has a lot of wind damage done to the trees. We had a 50 ft tree fall from the high winds from Sandy. Thank goodness it fell at an angle and missed the house. We had a tree removal company remove it and several other tall trees that were bound to fall eventually.

Thanks for the advice about planting under the Cryptomerias. I'll find other spots for them in the garden.

I have had a few late blooms from Crystal Fountain, and yesterday while straightening out the clematis, I found a tiny bloom on Liberation. BJ that I just got has big fat buds, so I'll get a few more blooms there if the buds don't get frozen.

There were only a very few large branches but no limbs, thankfully. The majority consists of little pieces about a foot or less in length but they add up fast and they're embedded in plants, shrubs and trees. You had much more damage than we did! It's wise of you to have removed any trees that posed a threat. So many people don't do it, or perhaps they can't afford to do it, but the resulting damage, when trees do fall, can kill people and destroy much of a home.

Maybe planting under the Cryptomeria would work for you but I'm obviously not a fan of planting by shrubs. I've had success growing them on the Tardiva hydrangea and other actual trees as well as roses. I guess you could try planting them in big pots but I'm too hesitant to recommend it.

I love when clem's surprise us with the late blooms and I've had Henryi bloom in the snow so don't be surprised when Liberation does bloom. Yesterday, while continuing the cleaning, I found one that had bloomed on Fireworks.

Yesterday I was digging up a layering of Duchess of Albany for a friend. I'll have to take a photo and then hope my computer guy can get Windows 8 to "interface" with Picasa so I can show everyone. It's a classic example of exactly how it works. It didn't have a huge set of roots but far more than the cheap ones I've bought at Walmart. (I have no complaint with the Walmart or Lowe's plants - you get what you pay for and the fun of growing can't be beat).

All my clematis friends here know I use the cheap Walmart self-watering pots to raise baby clem's. I did take photos of the two Venosa Violacea that I bought back in early spring. The roots were SO robust they were growing through the water storage lip. Once I can post new photos, I'll show you how great those pots work. Now I wouldn't consider raising a new baby clem without that type of pot. I know they aren't "pretty" but they do work so well.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope you each have a wonderful day. I am very thankful for all I have with family and friends. My DG clem friends are the best!

I donated a watercolor I painted of Silver Moon to our church bazaar...the woman who won it in the raffle was so taken with the plant, she's going to try growing a clem....mission accomplished, I guess! Yes, Happy Thanksgiving to all.....

What a lovely compliment to you, Marilyn!

It's always nice to create a new clematis addict ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Annette

I thought it was fun your creating a new clematis addict too, Robin. Love the idea of the painting.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I hope anybody that is traveling stays safe.

Yes, same here!

After a spell of unexpected nice weather we now have these gray days that are cold, dank and sunless but I have been working in the garden most of the time. By 3:30 it's cold! Has anyone else been cutting back any clem's? I've cut back many that just looked so pathetic.

Henryi has given me two more flowers. Rather funny how exciting two flowers can be at this time of year. Candida also gave me a few and they do last a lot longer in cool weather.

I've been busy planting alliums. It seemed like a good idea when I ordered 500 of them back in September but not so good right now. Then I was notified that they were out of one so it lessened my order by 20 but they packaged an extra 10 of a small one so the number is 490 and so far I've managed to plant 345 so I'm heading down the homestretch.

There's an old quote about memories: God gave us memories so we might have roses in December. I do have roses, the ones the deer haven't devoured, and I have clematises so I am very fortunate on this cold and dreary December 1.

Planning on making any clematis purchases for 2013?

Hi Arlene,

Planning? I'll need to move-- to a sunnier garden in order to get more Clems. lol. This year, I finally learned that hybrid clems. can really bloom gloriously in the garden BOTH in Spring and Fall provided that we plant them in a sunnier spot. In my 'woodlands' garden. My clems. for years only bloom in the spring. This year, the SAC has over-whelmed alot of my hybrids. So I've been trying to iradiacate those sweet scent SAC in the garden. :((

As far Alliums go. Whoa! 490 of thems. They're going to be glorious. And good gracious, they're expensive too. Would you please share some tips on planting those beautiful alliums?
Kim

Hi Kim,

Well, now I have a very sunny garden since I inherited the former vegetable garden. So far two Venosa Violacea (from Walmart this past spring) have been planted next to a peach climbing, heavily scented, rose along with allium. I'm considering adding three of a montana Mayleen but I don't know if they will end up being too heavy for the deer mesh. Does anyone have any experience to share about Mayleen?

Yes, they added up fast! First I went to Van Engelen, online, then came to my senses and I'm still happy with the prices from Scheepers and the quality. When they bloom, Kim, I'll be happy to share any "tips" but for now I'm just planting them per the directions and hoping for the best. I thought I had done a good job by making up all the labels first, with the name, height, months they bloom, and the location where I wanted them but found out the hard way (of course) that my first job should have been to clear the areas where I wanted them so I wouldn't be doing that in this horrid cold, dank weather.

Arlene

I had Montana Mayleen - I loved it until the voles took care of it. I had mine growing up a pergola. I do think as time went on, that she would have gotten quite heavy. Not sure if the deer fencing will hold her - she gets pretty big and I am sure on the heavy side.

I don't cut back my clems or roses here, I do it in the early spring.....the alliums will look gorgeous....Scheepers is just up the road apiece, I'd love to get a job there, but I'm afraid I know where my money would go! I may order 1 clem this year, but not sure which one.....

I cut mine back in the Spring as well. By the time Spring rolls around, I really need to get out in the garden as I have cabin fever pretty badly at that point. In the fall, there are too many tasks for me to do my clipping back.

I'm only cutting back the ones within range of my arms as I do other jobs so there are many I won't get to until spring. Each one I can do is one less for spring and encourages me that someday I just might be up to date. The deer do the rose pruning for me - rats!

Thanks, Carolyn. My friend's Mayleen has a huge base to it and it looks more like a tree but it blooms gloriously over her shed.

That doesn't stop me from hoping, Carolyn! LOL

Why do any of us continue to believe that we'll have every job done, every plant in the ground or in a container, nothing left to prune, no weeds to be removed, all mulch in place, everything fed according to schedule, and we can just sit down and rest for a few days?

If I could think of a way to reinforce the mesh with dark green boards going over the top, from pole to pole, I just might order them but it seems more of a job than I want to tackle.

The last planting of allium for the day was near the Lemon Chiffon clematis and I managed to restrain myself and only cut back to where I could spot swollen buds.

Good news: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1289645/

Bill is having his caladium sale again, most thankfully. I loved how they all performed for me in 2012 and they do such a great job of hiding the ugly legs of clematises. I'll use more of them next year to hide more legs!

I will be ordering some more this year. I really like them last year. I like the hanging basket ones. That will be on my list also.

Hello ladies, I just catching up on this post, since I was out of town the last few days.

Arlene, I have grown Montana Mayleenfor several years close to my back steps. It should be renamed monster Maylene due to the size that it gets. Mine was neglected this year, and fell off the drain pipe that it was intended to grow up during my recovery, so I just left it there. Here it is in the garden today, I tend to prune it hard during the spring so that it doesn't eat the house, LOL. The second picture is of the stems.

I've also got Barbara Jackman blooming which was purchased several weeks ago, but hasn't been planted in the cement pot yet. It's one of the many things that I have to do this weekend. The camellias have also been blooming here for several weeks. Here's a view of some of them, and a close up of C. Nuccio's Pearl. It's nice to have something blooming at this time of year, when everything else is going dormant.

The weather here has become warm again, after several weeks of cold and heavy frosts, so it was quite pleasant to work out in the garden today, with the temps being in the low 70's. We're expecting rain here tomorrow.

Edited for spelling

This message was edited Jan 6, 2013 5:58 PM

I love that camelia!

The camellia is gorgeous. I love the delicate color. Do camellias have a scent?

Thanks, Annette. Hope you are fully recovered now.

I guess Mayleen may not be what I should be buying since it probably would rip down the deer fencing. My friend, Zuzu, who grows more than a thousand roses and countless clematises in California, also told me it is a monster. Montana means monster in French. It is not named for the state of Montana.

Barbara Jackman is looking great. The camellia is a delight to see. All I'm seeing is earth as I continue planting the alliums.

Gee, you're happy with the 70's and I'm thrilled with near 60!

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I do so love my camellias. I have never smelled them, so I don't know if they have a scent. I'll check this weekend.

Arlene thanks for the information about what montana means, it really is true that it is a monster and is appropriately named. It depends on the weight that the deer netting can handle, and Maylene does have pretty little blooms. Here is a picture of it blooming last spring. It would be great to cover a large area.

Fnally, I couldn't resist, here is Camellia Nuccio's Bella Rosa, and Pink Icicles with a bloom starting to open. I only got into camellias the last few years, and I'll be adding 3 new ones under the newly trimmed Cryptomeria. I've now gotten a lot more gardening room, and the camellias seem to love it under there. Annette

Those camellias are so gorgeous!

Yes, they are, & to have something so lovely blooming in December is awesome....

Thanks y'all ;-) The camellias have been easier to grow than I expected.

Do you keep your camellias trimmed so they stay that small, or are they just a smaller version? I would like more , but the I understood that they can get to be trees.

Hi Marie, most of the mature Camellias I've seen around here is that they can be 9-10 feet tall. I can imagine we can trim them to keep them smaller. They like Azaleas, take well to acidic soil and dapple shade condition. I've this 'Pink Snow' the shrub is about 5 yeas old; untrimmed.

Will clematis "Montana" tolerate some shade y'all? I've an arbor in the front yard that need a total 'make over'. DH wanted to rid my beautiful climbing roses of various kinds, for they worked him to no avail, plus the thorns. He has had it with THORNS. So I need to come up with something attractive, for it's the front yard arbor.

That's so pretty, Kim.

I think all the Montana (the computer will not allow me to use lower case for the M!) class want the sunshine. How much sun would it get on the arbor? If it can have 6 hours it should do fine.

Another pretty camelia.....there are some that should live in zone 6, but because I'm borderline zone 5, guess I won't try one....