Clematis August 2014

This may not be the most popular month for blooms, but I do have some news to report, as well as a nice surprise. The Silver Moon clematis I bought last spring arrived in June, huge roots, cut back hard, but with some buds still on them. Both have grown very well, and are now 18" to 24" high, both have several buds which are starting to open.. One is on a north- facing wall, the nursery said it will bloom in a closet. Now, I believe it. I'm thrilled!

Also, I have two 2 year old vines of Veronica's Choice on an arbor. Both years, one climbed and one bloomed. This year, the climber had one flower a few weeks after the big flush of the shorter vine. And today, I see more bloom buds at that higher level. I assume vine #1 decided to climb...

And Hagley Hybrid has a new bud, too. I'll post pics when they open :-)

Wow!

Your gardens are so lovely, Pam. The clematises are doing so well for you!

I know I've said it before, but I love your urn lady! =)

Thanks! I love her too. I bought her for my first garden years ago. I could only afford her because her knee was broken. She's been in storage since 2001, I just got her back this spring :-)

Somehow I lost this thread, but it's been all quiet on the clem front! I do have a few blooms on Blue Light, but everyone else is resting.....my new pup has been taking all my time....I wish I was resting, too!

It just hasn't been the best year for clematises. A few have done well but many haven't.

I forgot about this thread too, thanks for the bumps.

Silver Moon is so amazing, I can't believe it! But in general, the garden is late and less. I have pictures from July 20 of last year and all the Phlox is in full bloom. This year a few were just starting last week. I won't be tin the garden again until next Sunday, another week away. I hope there has been some progress!

It's been a strange year and since the cold spell, right after Mother's Day, plants have shown their reactions. Caladiums up here in the northeast were so late starting that I thought they weren't going to bloom at all, lilies were noticeably shorter this year (Asiatics were fine, not the others), clematises were a bit disappointing. I'm glad you're so pleased with Silver Moon! You selected a lovely setting for it. David phlox is late but at least it's showing up...finally. The other July to fall phlox are asleep on the job!

Phlox are just starting here......haven't done a thing in the garden because Nicki takes most of my time!

My somewhat recently planted 'Parisienne' is blooming. I took pics but they are on my phone and I don't know how to transfer. This is one of the clems I planted behind a ladder like headboard and a 20 gallon pot with large tomato plant, trying to give the roots shade.

I've been adding perennials to the sides to give more shade, echinacea and gay feather (liatris) for the most part.

Also the ones I planted in the blue pots under the lilacs have grown into the lilac and bloomed.

Today it got to 103 F!

You are doing very well!

At 103F I'd be inside with the AC going full blast.

If I knew how to transfer photos I'd try to help but we don't even have cell phones!

Turtles, try emailing the pic to yourself from the phone. Even if you can't transfer from phone to computer, you can choose to send it and then instead of a phone number enter in your email address for it to send it to. That always works for me in a pinch. Try it!

Thank you Arlene.

We don't have A/C! so I was sitting disrobed in front of a fan. It works. Today it's 25 F cooler. Go figure. So I'm out again anyway.

Wifeygirl, I've tried that too, but then I don't find an option to choose a photo from my email! I'm snookered.

Turtles - it all feels so confusing at the start of trying something new. Keep on trying. I hope you get it to post.

Arlene, you are such a lovely jewel of a person.

Thank you.

How nice you are! I remember my frustration level with trying to post photos, then a new computer that didn't operate like the first one! I was furious.

My name of pirl is taken after the real pearl, Pauline Isabel Reid Loeffler, my former neighbor in a previous home, who taught me to garden and was my dear friend. She died at 102+ and lived a beautiful life.

She was a lovely looking lady, Pirl....you were lucky to have been mentored by her.....

Thanks, Marilyn. She was 90 years old in that photo! She gardened until she was 95 so that should teach us all that gardening is good for the body and soul.

Isn't that the truth!

That makes me feel better! Although I must say my Mom was good until mid-90s also........now at 99 she is in the nursing home with dementia & it's sad....

At the very end, the last two years, Mrs. Loeffler probably was suffering from dementia. Odd that she knew Jack and I when we'd visit but didn't know her son who was there every other day. The end of life is so upsetting and unpleasant for all concerned.

I volunteered in an Alzheimer's community for several years, and there was one lady that I got to know and discovered that she loved gardening. I got approval to do some gardening with her, and we planted a pot with some annuals. It was so special. She was in a wheelchair and didn't have the strength to plant them, but after I would take them out of their container, I'd put the root ball in her cupped hands, and she would smell the flowers, look at them on all sides, and exclaim at their beauty before handing them back to me to plant in the planter. That is a really special memory for me, of her holding some pink petunias, gazing at them with such simple pleasure. She died a month later, and it hit me pretty hard. I'll always remember her.

P.S. Robin, my experience is that even when people with dementia don't "remember" you, as in your name or relationship to them, they remember you on a gut level. I found over time that people remembered me - the moment I would walk in, they were drawn to me and knew somehow that I was a safe person that loved them. They never knew superficial things like my name, but they remembered me from their gut. Keep visiting and know that even if she doesn't remember you with her mind, her heart will always be drawn to you.

Such a sweet memory, Wifeygirl! And such nice encouraging words for Marilyn/Robindog.

Alzheimer's runs in a steady stream down the female line of my family, and I worry. My mother is a brilliant woman, and I can't imagine her like my Grandmother. Your words, Wifeygirl, are really soothing to me.

Yes, thank you for the encouragement...I try to be at the nursing home 5 days a week to help Mom eat lunch.....she would eat the pudding & fruit & skip the rest!

At 99 I'd eat dessert first, too!

LOL Arlene! Too right!

Oh, she always gets the dessert first.....but I sneak in bites of real food between the dessert bites....after awhile though she catches on!

Sounds like you are getting revenge for all the peas she made you eat as a child!

My 'Parisienne' is blooming.

My Hagley Hybrid has a new bloom... Just one, but I'm happy to see it. Such a weird year, it already feels like fall. Some things were so late getting going, and now lots of things are finishing up early.

Ooh, I like that Pam.

Nice to see clems this time of year....am hoping I get a rebloom on my Gypsy Queen.....

So glad to be an encouragement. Caregivers like yourselves make such great sacrifices (like your lunchtime visits, Marilyn, what a good daughter!). You deserve the utmost respect and admiration for your efforts. It's exhausting, often thankless work, but it really does make a difference. I've seen it with my own eyes! =)

Do Clems typically only bloom in the Spring?

Nice clem's, Turtles and Pam! Here Hagley Hybrid blooms pink.

You're right, Wifey! It's always on the mind of the caregiver so there's little free time. I'm glad Marilyn has a new pup to keep her smiling.

Class 1 generally blooms first and in April here in the northeast.
Class 2 (large flowered) bloom late in May into June.
Class 3 are the summer bloomers.


Warmer springs mean earlier blooms.

Thank you both for your kind comments.....Nicki certainly brightens my day!

This is Twilight. That's the back of the lower bloom, but it's almost that much lighter in front too.

edit: Pic is on its side.

This message was edited Aug 20, 2014 8:17 PM

My Advant Garde was blooming up until last week and my Princess Diana ( I think) is still popping out blooms. And a couple gave me 1 more bloom each. But some of the bottoms was brown and dry. I have a few that are all brown. Is it ok to cut them back now and get rid of that dead looking vine or should I wait till the late winter and early spring?

I like Twilight's reverse side!

Marie - I just cut them back when they look awful.

Princess Diana has done very well this year and is currently in bloom way high up in a Japanese maple: