I'm posting here because I'm certain Maggie, Josephine, Mitch, or Vossner or one of you wonderful folks can answer my question. I have some seeds (only 10) of Clematis Pitcherii which I hear is a texas Native? or just an American native? I'm going to soak and then nick the seeds...I feel confident about how to germinate; but how to plant outside? Do they like sun or shade? Not real big or invasive right? I'm posting here because the vine forum probably won't be having the same "grueling" growing conditions as we have. Is anyone other than me doing any indoor planting yet?
By the way...does anyone have any fresh pavonia lasiopetala seed? I tried some last fall (early-Oct) and none germinated. Do they need stratification? (If that's possible this winter!)
Thanks all and best wishes for the new year!
Debbie
Native Clematis Pitcherii Vine/
Debbie! where have you been???
sorry, I can't help you, I grow few things from seed and clematis is not one of them. I'm more of an "instant gratification" kinda woman, LOL
Well, I'm honored that you think I know anything, lol! I too don't have much experience with propagating seeds. Josephine and Hazel are much better at that!
I planted my first clematis at the end of summer, beginning of fall, Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora). Wish I could help! :-)
I don't have any pavonia seed (though there might be some still on my plant right now), but I probably have several babies out there. If I don't have seed, would you be interested in a seedling?
Vossner--I've been working like crazy. But I've decided to NOT work so hard...it's not nearly so rewarding as gardening...but alas my air conditioner went out, you would know it, the hottest winter on record! So have been working overtime to get it replaced soon.
Maggie--sure I'll take a seedling! Have you heard anything about a citrus tree sale at Arbor Gate coming up soon? Seems I heard something about one on that gardening show on ESPN radio (940) in Houston 8-12 am on Sat and Sun (The guy is soooo chemical dependant its not even funny but it is garden related noise to listen to while doing laundry LOL!).
I thought maybe someone was growing this clematis variety--I've heard its the best for down here--has magenta blooms. The germinating part I feel OK about--its the growing conditions over the summer I'm worried back. Full sun, half sun, shade (which really isn't too cool and dark here in Houston...LOL!
This message was edited Jan 7, 2006 9:55 PM
I have tried these seed three times... I grow most of my stuff from seeds, but these will not come up for me no matter what I do. So I went out and bought a plant in the Fall sale and dont know if it will leaf out again but I hope so! I have never seen one get out of control or to big, I planted mine for morning sun and afternoon shade for the Texas heat. I am in love with the flower and I am going to keep fighting to grow them! If you get the seeds to grow let me know how in the world you do it - I want to know! I can get seeds easy it is the getting them going that is beyond my skills.
Debbie, Arbor Gate's fruit tree sale is Sunday, Jan 29th. Heidi Sheesley, from Treesearch Farms, will be there at 11 for a talk about growing them. Are you thinking of going? I decided last year to definitely pick up a Meyer's Lemon tree this year (heaven knows where I'll put it, lol, but it will be in a container.) Let me know if you'll be there, maybe I can bring your pavonia seedling then.
Nery, could you join us if you're in town?
Well, Heidy does a fruit tree sale for the Ft Bend Co Ext in Feb. i volunteer and usually work the sale, so I doubt I would go to arbor gate. But i will think of something else we can do before end of March (before it's meltdown time, again).
in fact, Treesearch is a really good friend to several gardening organizations. I think she also does a sale for the people in Galveston, Sugar Land GC and others. Heidy's enthusiasm is contagious.
anybody than can make it to the Arbor Gate sale or some other Treesearch sale, this is a not to be missed event. You might be able to buy $1-2 cheaper elsewhere, but the quality of what you get will be so superior. All available is suited for our area, that is fruit trees that require low chill hours. Some outstanding peaches, citruses of all kinds, pecans, pears, apples, plums, and berries. Go early, people in the know grab the stuff fast!
This message was edited Jan 7, 2006 10:36 PM
Yes Maggie I think I will go to the sale (its prior to the talk I believe). I just hope I can get out of there with some money remaining in my bank acct! I was thinking about a Satsuma orange. I had a meyer lemon in a pot for years (a big one with the attached wheels) and it really was an excelllent producer. Then I had surgery last Christmas and my teenage daughter could not get it into the garage prior to the snow and that long cold snap. I ended up staying in the hospital much longer than expected (hip replacement). I will get another but figure I can pick one up in the summer at Cornelius but I hear they are going to have some of the harder to find vareties that do well here.
Mitch--I heard to soak the seeds overnight and then nick them with the toenail clippers. I'm going to give it a try. I only have 10 seeds so I figure I may as well try! I might try the peroxide in the water trick since you said you have trouble with them. I wonder if they might need stratification then? (like it really looks like it will get cold here this winter LOL). I really like this plant though--thanks for the morning sun afternoon shade...are they native to Texas or just the southeast United States if you happen to know.
Thanks ya'll!
Debbie
edited to Thank Vossner too! We replied at the same time!
This message was edited Jan 7, 2006 10:28 PM
i think lecture always precedes sale. By the time she is finished talking, you're ready to buy one of everything! lol
That's what I'm afraid of!
Well, luckily(?) I'll be writing a check for my property taxes on 1/31, so that should keep me in check, lol. I smelled a Meyer's Lemon in bloom last spring, and was hooked. Now I also know that they are good for butterflies!
In the past treesearch has offered a variegated calamondin orange. I think it is better for cooking that eating out right, but the foliage--that is THE most beautiful thing! I might try to buy one but honest to goodness don't know where I would put it.
She doesn't usually carry many of these, and they sell fast, really fast.
I have two var. pink eureka lemon (sold to me as var. meyer lemon, so I'm not 100% sure of the name). They have grown like crazy. flowers are delicious, but i have not had lemons. Some people have told me I pruned at the wrong time, others that I need to fertilize. Anyway, really good-looking citruses.
This message was edited Jan 7, 2006 10:48 PM
I have pavonia seeds if anyone needs them. They are very slow to come up. They come up under my momma plant, so maybe they need to be sown on top of the soil.
Debbie - H2O2 does not work, chilling does not work, they might need to just be left under the plant right on top of the soil. You might try to sow them on top of the soil right outside and see if that works.. some seeds hate to be babies and I tend to really baby them.
Mitch I don't have a "mother" plant but I think I will just presoak them and put them on top of a pot of soil and then just put them outside and ignore them. Sure worked for my Christmas or Thanksgiving Cactus this year. I almost killed them with total neglect last fall and got the best blooms ever this year. I'll try that approach for germination with the clematis.
If I get them to germinate, I was thinking up the side of the house on my Eastern exposure for the summer.
Debbie, I am getting into this rather late in the game, but I think that what you plan to do with the seeds is a very good idea.
I have never grown this Clematis, but I saw it t the Wildflower center and it is very pretty although it does'nt appear to be very vigorous, it is delicate, and I beleive that in my climate it dies to the ground in the winter, that being the reason why it never gets very big, but maybe in Houston it won't die to the ground and attain a larger size.
Josephine.
That could be Josephine - I hope it goes all the way to the ground and comes back up!!
Maggie--all citrus have the most magnificient smelling flowers. That and stocks are probably my favorite.
Josephine--Is that variety of clematis a Texas Native? That's what's got me so set on growing it be I'll be darned if I can remember where I heard that it was.
Mitch--Did it do pretty good before that early coldsnap? I'm sure it will come back up (maybe sooner rather than later in this warm winter0.
I'm out there watering now...it's pretty dry. I'm worried about the trees and some vitex I planted in the fall and all the rest of the shrubs and perennials.
I am fighting to grow a citrus up here... not going well but they lived through the cold snap so maybe...
It was its first fall here, but it stayed green - did not grow much but I hae been told this one only likes to grow in cool weather the rest of the time it stays about the same size. So I am waiting for spring - crossing my fingers and praying it makes it...
Yes this Clematis is a Native, although not an endemic. And it is a perennial.
Josephine.
What does the term endemic mean? Naturalized rather than indiginous (can't even begin to spell that word!)?
I think it means that it is native only in TX. Some plants are native but not endemic - they are native in other states as well. Then there are plants that are native only to TX, those are endemic.
Is that right Josephine? (We discussed this once on an earlier native plant thread, hope I passed the quiz, lol.)
just please--no spelling tests! lol
Yes Mary, you are absolutley right, and explained it very well, thank you for taking care of the explanation.
Josephine.
Whew! So glad some of everything we've all talked about has actually sunken in, lol!
I'm ready for Spring. C'mon, Spring!
When I bought my native Texas clematis seed the man told me that it takes up to 2 years for them to germinate. I have 100+ planted and waiting.......
Patsy
Patsy, I have the best luck germinating hard to grow seeds if I Winter Sow them and leave them to the elements. Seems we can't improve on Mother Nature. I got all sorts of things to germinate last winter that were supposed to be difficult. You might stick some of yours outside and see since you have so many to play with.
Hilary
Hope I'm not repeating anyone here...I didn't read every post, but did try to speed read through the thread...
I've grown both from seed. The clematis pitcheri are best sown immediately when ripe, which is late summer, early fall. When freshly set seeds are sown immediately, they germinate within a month, or two.
If they are not sown, or germinated within that 2, or 3 month period, they go dormant, and need stratification to re-awaken. They not only need stratification, but erratic stratification, so outdoors is much better than the fridge, which is too constant of a temperature for them...They need some sharp highs and lows. Stratified pitcheri seed should germinate early Spring.
Pavonia lasiopetala is similar. It refuses to germinate with mild constant temperatures. It also needs erratic temps, best achieved outdoors...
Thanks Seedpicker! Your wisdom about vines is always appreciated!
No problem, Deb...hope you have sprouts soon!
-T
I have one on the fence and have no idea where it came from. It's in part shade to filter shade and only gets around 3 ft tall. I've never done anything for it and it's still hanging in there. I would like to get it to grow and spread more.
Sunny--that's what attracted me about the vine, it's orderly; although I have heard they get a bit bigger (up to about 6'). Don't get me wrong, I love my rangoon creeper dearly; but it does reguire a good 30' of lattice to show itself off!
Taylor--Have you seen this neat little product from Lee Valley for making a trellis? I picked one up and am going to try it this year--I know how you are also always looking for a creative way to grow yet more vines!
link:http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=47472&cat=2,33286&ap=1
Deb
Sorry guys--could not get the link to work right, for once (i'm on the wireless laptop--connection keeps breaking)
This message was edited Jan 14, 2006 5:32 AM
This message was edited Jan 14, 2006 5:34 AM
That looks pretty cool! Wonder what kind of weight it would hold?
Good question--I guess we will find out. It does have 2 options for feeding the wire thru the caps--one for lightweight plants/or plants with wood stalks and a second option for heavier plants with no woody stalks.
It was a reasonable price so I'm gonna try it out this growing season.
To qoute it : adheres to masonry, wood, stucco, glass, plastic, steel, concrete and more.
I don't know what more you would want to stick it to. lol
Lol, that's the truth! I was thinking that the design possibilities are endless. Reminds me of the new "track-type" lighting you can get now, where you shape the track any was you want. Should be very pretty!
I LOVE leevalley tools. I order all kinds of things from them every year. They are one of my very favorites.
I've used those before, by the way. I didn't get them from Leevalley, though. They had them at Home Depot one year, and I tried them.
They stuck really well, but a whole brick wall full of them, isn't the most attractive thing, but they do get covered by vine, eventually. It is just a strange look at first. :0)
My c. pitcheri are on a tellis and get 8 feet at the most, but they barely get there, and the coverage certainly isn't "thick". Mine is about 6, or 7 years old, and has never gotten out of hand. If anything, I wish it would grow larger, lol...
-T
Seedpicker,
Please tell me about the sun/shade conditions where you grow your clematis pitcheri. I have one to plant and am not sure where it would be happiest. How much full sun can this vine tolerate and still be happy? I don't want to fry it!
They are in a spot that gets a few hours of late morning direct sun, and then filtered sun the rest of the day. The one closer to the tree blooms less, but the one further from the tree blooms more, but can get scorched leaves in mid-to-late summer.
"Woodland edge'', or tree drip line, is how I'd best describe what they like. A few hours of direct helps them bloom, but those few hours are best in the morning, not late afternoon.
I also have some planted (near tree lines) in bushes, instead of them all on arbors. My Ms. Robert Brydon climbs through a camellia bush, and it is one of my favorite combos.
I also have some c. crispa planted within my rose bushes, very much like a lot of people do with their clematis...
-T
I have been looking for so long for the pitcheri clematis. If by chance someone has some fresh seed next summer I would love to trade for some.
Seedpicker,
Thank you for the siting information. You've been a great help. I'll go with part shade.