June, clematises and chat

Hello Everyone, I am getting around pretty well and Wife, the Doctor and I are confident the Pneumonia I've had since early March has left. I hope you and the ones you love are well. Pirl- When I saw your photo of a strong Pink lupine I immediately thought I will move 3 of them down around my H.F, Young for next May. Thank you!! EVERYONES Clems. are looking swell this year, young and established alike. Kiseta, you have such a lovely way with plants. I wasn't able to get a pic.Miss Bateman in very heavy burst of bloom, do you that grow her find her to bloom heavy but over a brief time mine is 4 years old now and even considering her small stature she seems very healthy. I will be writing more soon. Good luck and God's love to all. Lee Sherwood McDonald------Why did the Cowboy get himself a Dachshund pup?....Because he wanted to get a long little doggie !!

Lee, I'm glad to hear that you've gotten better. Sorry to hear that you were ill. Continue to take good care of yourself!

Beautiful clematis, and LOL about the joke.

Annette

Glad you're feeling better, Lee. Yes, my Miss Bateman is a small clem, but has a lot of flowers in May.

Lovely clem's and gardens, Annette...as always.

So glad you're feeling so much better, Lee. Lupines can be difficult to move due to the long tap roots so I wish you luck.

I'll save the joke for my grandson and he'll enjoy it!

So surprised that Blue Light is either continuing to bloom or reblooming. The huge seed heads are still in place although not perfect, thanks to the precipitation. It never occurred to me that earwigs were the culprit, but it makes perfect sense, especially for the blooms near the damp ground. There are a few more clematis that have blooms or buds after I was certain they were done.

As the song goes, "Everything's comin' up roses...." Including the roses! There's something to be said for lots of rain. Luckily we did not seem to have much damage from the rains.

No damage here either, such saturated gardens.....I have a large white clem, keeps right on blooming, too.

My only rain damage was droopy peony stems, everything else, including the clems, loved the extra water. But so far only Veronica's Choice has gifted me with blooms... I've seen a couple of buds here and there, but that's it. Waiting...

Lovely to see so many beautiful gardens here...

Same as Pam regarding drooping blooms but that was the extent of any rain problems. All our plants seem to be loving all the rain.

Here's the huge white clem on the same trellis as Omoshiro & Gypsy Queen....

Beautiful! Is the white one Henryi, Miss Bateman or another one? Love the depth of color on Gypsy Queen! It reminds me of Reiman, now in bloom.

Jackmanii is also in bloom now.

Pirl, I went to the Brushwood site......the white clem is Ibi...you'd think I could remember! I like the saturated color on the purples......

Hi Everyone, Here are picture of about half the clematis on my north facing fence.I have to take time look at my papers and i.d. them but, I need to fool with the gardens now. We seem to all notice what a good year it is for Gardening and I hope we can all get out to enjoy them. Lee s.

Funny, Marilyn. We can remember long complicated names but the easy ones are easy to forget.

Lee - such great photos and I love the color combinations you have as well as the trellises. Clematises do go well together and the blue/lavender/purple family looks heavenly together.

Look what came in the mail today! The President is putting out more shoots and more blooms too. Also had a nice day out at Fairhope with a friend; neighbor and fellow gardening enthusiast.

Very pretty, Lee....nice combination of colors.....Glad you had a nice day out, Pearl....

This message was edited Jun 20, 2013 5:13 PM

Oh, Pearl! You must be happy! What a magical place Fairhope seems to be.

Cezzane has the most beautiful blue:

It is a beautiful color and your photo is also beautiful.

That is a gorgeous blue! Is it really that color? Other pics I've seen on line are more lavender... I'm looking for the bluest possible to go in my new blue garden. I do realize that color can vary by zone, season and soil makeup, especially blue, and that it is nearly impossible to photograph accurately. But I would swoon if it looked like that at my house! Lol...

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/144333/

It's listed on PlantFiles as "blue-violet, violet/lavender"

On Brushwood it is said that it is lavender: http://www.gardenvines.com/shop/large-flowered-clematis-3/clematis-cezanne-558.html

To me the color is so close to blue that it doesn't make a difference. It gives the effect of blue in the garden, especially when it's near white.

I have Still Waters though Brushwood doesn't mention a color:
http://www.gardenvines.com/shop/large-flowered-clematis-3/clematis-still-waters-341.html

I consider it blue simply because of the look. Here's recent photos of it with allium azureum and there you can see the difference between the colors but it will stay where it is since it does give the look of blue more than lavender (to my eyes).

Thanks, that's what I really wanted to know. I love the combination, the allium seems even more blue next to it.

The whole reason for the blue garden is that I can't find a better way to mix my blue Platycodons into the rest of the garden, and the new trellis area wasn't completely assigned yet. Hobhouse and Jekyll say that blue can go dark and dull without the right degree of contrast- white is too white, etc. I know any new area is trial and error for a while, that's half the fun, but I don't want to waste Clematis :-). I already have 2 Veronica's Choice there, and I'm thinking of putting a Jackmanii with them for fullness, but lower down I'm trying to stay more true blue, but with some softness for depth. This looks perfect! ...and I guess I have to get the alliums, too, since the Platys don't get going til later...

Thanks "pirl" and "pfg". You are very kind.

It really is this blue and shows best in the muted light of early morning and early evening.

Another early bloomer (it has finished now) was "Angela". It is now in its 3rd season. So much more vigorous and floriferous than last year. It is just the right size to fit properly in a 6 foot obelisk.

These are Still Waters and not Cezanne. To my eyes Cezanne appears blue and it is wonderful.

The last photo below shows SW (5/27) as it opens and it looks lavender to me but that changes fast and becomes the blue look of the first two photos (6/21 and 5/30). Of course, the longer a person stares the more confusing it gets between lavender and blue.

Pam - you might want to enter some blue/gray into your area, like Russian Sage. With its airy look it seems it would be ideal for the clematis, Cezanne, as well as the Platycodon. Whatever you do make pleasing yourself the priority. Too many people seem to make gardening a competition but it's so much more enjoyable to make a garden special to ourselves.

So pretty, Rouge! It's always helpful to know which ones fit which structures well. The shorter ones are not the challenges that the taller ones can be.

Such beautiful blooms everyone! Arlene, love your combination of plants. Some clematis to consider that are in the blue "ish" range for me are Arabella and Daniel Deronda, Arabella being a pale blue, and DW a darker blue.

Durandii, is a non-vining clematis that I grow in partial shade that is also in the blue range. I love them all.

Annette

Pirl, you are so right. I come here for ideas and the wealth of shared experience. But in the end when I look out at the results, if I'm not happy it gets changed. But as time goes on, more and more often it's becoming a pleasure to see plans and accidents combine into good pictures ... And DH is speechlesswith admiration, which is not so easy to accomplish, lol... (just kidding, he is a good boy and very supportive)

The accidental combinations are a treasure and yet there is something so satisfying about combining plants we feel will go well together and then seeing our dream/plan come true.

Just yesterday my husband said he could never have imagined our gardens could be this beautiful. Maybe it's the one week when men really notice and appreciate all the work we put into the gardens, not just active gardening but thinking/planning/getting ideas, then applying them.

Good morning everyone, good rain last night and the garden and the gardener are happy. This morning I took a walk in my garden, it is overwelming. Most of the clems are resting, but the little Sizaja Ptitza just took of, and has lots of blooms. I just love this little clematis, it is so different then the rest. Also my Leitris is going nut, the Gay feathers are getting to gay, next year I will have to move them closer to the fence so they can go crazy.
Pirl, you garden is very nice, Do you have some chairs outside where you can just sit in the shade and enjoy.
welcome to my pink heaven, the cleomi just outdone its self, Etelka

Wonderful, Etelka! I love the cleomes at the fence as well as the clematis. Your liatris certainly is tall!

We do have 10 chairs (6 at the table) but seldom use them and never in the heat we're having. I'd love 65 degrees for a few days...90 days!

The Japanese irises are in their full glory now but many of the clematises continue to go on blooming.

The JIs you gave me Pirl are budded, ready to bloom in a few days!

Even after all that rain, my Iris have not bloom yet, you think I should just wait till next year, this is already the second year in ground and no blooms. but I have noticed the White dahlia has some buds on it, this year I put some small tomato cages for them because last year they went crazy all over the place. Very large white bloomes, could not find the name. Etelka

Lee and Arlene, I love your fence and gate, respectively. And the clematises that go with them!

Etelka, I have no doubt that you have the nicest yard on the street. I don't know what kind of irises you have or how old or large they are. Weather and time-wise, we are behind you. The reticulata or early irises were out in March, and the tall bearded irises were out in May, followed by the siberians. The ensatas are in bloom now, and the gamecocks were out last week and just finishing up. I don't think I've seen dutch irises (from bulbs) in a couple of years, so I think they are history for me, but if you have dutch iris, they might still come up. This is the third or fourth year for the gamecocks; they are really slow getting started.

There are bearded iris that haven't bloomed for us in quite a while, so I know they will have to be moved. Could you fill me in with the size and kind of iris?
Marcia

That's great news, Marilyn! I hope you love them as I do.

Etelka - looks like you may have planted them too deeply. The top of the rhizome should be exposed to the sun. Remove some of the mulch from the top of the iris. I guess next year will be the lucky one. Your big white one just might be Immortality, usually a repeat bloomer.

Thanks, Marcia. I feel the same way - Etelka has the showplace garden on her street, the one everyone gets to enjoy. Here's a photo of the irises I sent Etelka - they are tall bearded and do bloom in May and June.

It's a very pretty iris. They do like to have their knees exposed, and they have a personality all their own.

We had a great season of alliums, but no blue ones! Unless they are still planning on growing, which is a possibility, I think they may have died. I noticed a few plants that started to grow in the spring but keeled over and died.

The Compliment comming from you two, Pirl and Cathy, is greatly appreciated. I have a sister who is an artist and I have told her I feel like I am painting with flowers, not paint. This Spring I was very impatient and planted lots of flowers and now I have a full garden sometime I think it is overgrown. I guess I will loose some in the heat so will still have enough till Fall. Thanks again. Etelka

Etelka - you're the one who worked hard to make your gardening dreams come true so sit back and enjoy the compliments. Remember to tell your sister!

Marcia - it was a great season of alliums here though when the 495 bulbs arrived in the cold weather I had visions of not getting them all planted. The A. Albopilosum Christophii (first photo) was probably the biggest surprise. I simply couldn't envision such large heads but they bloomed beautifully. Schubertii (second and third photos) was pure fun and huge! The plants aren't tall but they really do look like fireworks, as they are sometimes called.

I thought mine were nice until I saw yours! Gorgeous, just gorgeous!

I, too, bought some called fireworks, but I think they were supposed to be much smaller. I ordered Schubertii and bought Christopherii locally. I don't know if it was the vendor I used, if I did something wrong or if they did not like our soil (which would be a first). I used Garden Watchdog.

We had about 150 bulbs, some of which I shared with a buddy. I don't know how you got them all in. In planting them I unearthed some others which ended up being replanted.