Guru, thanks so much for the clem garden tour and all the details of how you created your pretty (and big!) garden. I love your Guersey Cream to death and must get one of those right away!
I am very interested in how you grow your clems in what looks like such a shady area with lots of trees. We have so many trees whose shade is always a challenge for me to deal with I am always looking for new strategies.
Have a wonderful mothers' day and please take time to take more pics! t.
ClematisGuru's 2009 Hardwick Hall Clematis Garden
Guru like I have said before - your yard is just beautiful and it does look like your pink champagnes are doing great! They sure do have a beautiful flower. Claire de lune is very pretty too.....
A beautiful garden!! Thanks for the tour, and Happy Mothers' Day!!
Happy Mother's day everyone!
Your garden is beautiful CG. It's so fun to see the entire thing and get an idea about how you manage to install so many clematis there. I love the bent wood furniture too. It looks like such a peaceful site.
I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Pink Champagne is definitely a show stopper! Claire de Lune is beginning to show her pretty blooms. Thanks for letting us see what Otto Friebel looks like. I wasn't familiar with this one. My Henryii hasn't begun to bloom yet. I'm so jealous that you're already getting blooms on your Henryii!
clair de lune having a good year. i know i already posted here, but this shot shows the blloms to come and over all effect on the arch she leaps on.
I think this is a better photo of otto froebel. spring developing slowly here. preventing snail and earwig damage is my main crusade now that we are finished planting all the 09 clems.
need to do a sandy gritty top dressing of all the clems within a couple of weeks, collar some of the newly planted ones and then it is just enjoyment and mantaining for awhile. more henryiis and pink champagnes opening every day, john warren has started opening and the duchess of e and Joesephine are loaded with fat, fat buds....
a true spring here, very enjoyable outside. winter a forgotten memory now.
For those that have been interested in the "totem" as we call the huge dead tree with hydrangea and guernsey cream on it, here is a long view of the tree with blooms. this is the year the greenery may hit the top of the tree i hope.
the tree was dead when we moved on the property 20 years ago. i couldn't bear to take it down. about 5 years ago when we cleared this part of the property and exposed the totem, i planted the hydrangea and clems on it.
That's truly a stunning shot with the wooded valley in the background.
The view beyond the totem tree is what we call the "turrett", which is a walk out to the top of a 17 foot retaining wall behind the house on the hillside. the inside of the turrett wall is mostly eyuonimous i grew from cuttings.
thanks figaro....my hubbie has worked on the hardscape here,with and without contractor help for a long time. some of the big projects were not really planned such as the turrett. here is the last view of the totem tree from the other side. the totem tree is about 40 feet tall and, as our tree man suggests, the hydrangea and clems are probably holding the tree up, or will be at some point!
Truly incredible! It's the perfect trellis that needs no extension! You have a lovely property!
figaro, this is the way the turrett looks from the bottom as you walk down the path....tomorrow back to clems, i promise!
That's quite a drop! The retaining wall looks great. You've tamed the wilderness without sacrificing its beauty and character. Thanks again for sharing these pics!
CG, what river is that below? Everything at your home is so beautiful!
I'm also curious... what is your career that allows you to live in Ohio and travel to NY a few times a month? I'm so jealous that you have a midtown Manhattan apartment for such infrequent trips. I would LOVE to have a play space like that to whisk off to with a moment's notice! =)
This message was edited May 11, 2009 6:52 PM
Stunning CG. What a beautiful and lush place you live. Makes sense that you hate to leave in clem season. I'm not sure I ever would leave!
thanks doss. it's a labor of love.
lily love,the river is actually a creek, no name...stays full most of the year, can dry out in august. it leads right down to the Scioto River, about a block away. my husband is doing construction of some sort down by the creek, adding lights or something...note dirt pile at bottom of path!
I am a business consultant in the beauty service space....used to own a small spa in nyc, and was partners in the hair salon at bergdorf goodman for many years....only the business angle, so no asking for hair and beauty tips!
i have commuted in and out of nyc for over 15 years, in the winter i go a lot, 3 times a month, or stay for longer , a couple of weeks at a time and my hubbie comes there sometimes in the winter. in the summer i consolidate and only go there when needed, usually getting away with one 5 or 6 day trip per month. hard to tear myself away from the clems.
the apartment is TINY, but in a good area. i consider myself lucky indeed to be a city mouse and a country mouse!
so as not to post without photo, am including the rockery my husband built with the help of a Bulgarian casual labor, a little suzuki jeep and a borrowed bobcat about 4 years ago. i am trying to grow only sedum in the rockery, but i did put some soapwart seeds out the other day which will be pretty, training pink blooms and may self seed too. now back to clems!
WOW, C.G. Your gardens and beautiful home are in such a wonderful setting! Envious of all the stonework! It certainly is a labor of love! For some reason, I envisioned you as a "computer guru" (notice the C.G.) in web design. You mean to tell me that all your cyber Clematis friends won't get FREE make-overs?! :~O
Beautiful property, guru, and I love the stonework, too! What a setting for your clematis collection.
Yes, I'm bummed about the 'no makeover' thing, too! Lord knows I need one. Well at least you could give us the names of some real miracle workers in the beauty business...! I go to 'Kenneth's' in Cols, and I think I need someplace more high-powered! "Fresh", a little soap and beauty products store in NYC/Soho neighborhood, is my favorite beauty hangout there.
I've got my clematis all planted and watered and now I'm waiting for the magic to happen. I toured a garden this morning (garden club day) and she had the loveliest display of clems along her wooden (deer keep-out) fence. Now I need one of those along with a beautiful stone retaining wall! I've been bitten by the clem bug, I fear!
thanks for the good vibes shirley. alas, as no longer in the business, no makeovers possible. i could use one right now. spent the day with the garden, and now at my desk pretending like it is not 3 pm and i am just getting started.
the weather is so good and everybody out there coming along nicely.
i am having a few of those slow clems finally show some shoots. guess with the deep planting and all the top dressing they were really deep. in the last few days, kullus, volecuea, perevil pristine, entel, to name a few. i still have a handful not up, including my beloved marmori, but i am not without hope as today saw my old friend rhederiana with the first few shoots and i thought she was a goner too. (shes 8 yrs in the ground here)
tabasco, sounds like you are practically a neighbor, and you probably know downtown manhattan better than i do. when i am there it tends to be work work work and i am up in midtown area.
clem bug is a bad one. i am in year 8 and really loving it, when i look back i do not know how i stayed interested thru the first few years of not knowing much, and the spindly struggling plants..no forum etc. just my mary toomey encyclopedia, no cotw......no friends with clems either, so how i hung in there do not know. and then when you start getting some bigger plants, well the obsession just continues.
here's to clems and friends and planet earth!
CG, I think I've spent the best part of the last hour admiring all of these photos. I'm searching for the right words to describe how totally fascinated I am with the beauty of your property. I would NEVER want to leave home. It looks so private and tranquil. Please post more photos of the same areas when the clems are in full bloom.
Pink is not my favorite color, but after seeing your Pink Champagne, it's on my wish list for next year. Hopefully, I'm through buying clems this year. I have a few expected tomorrow and on Thursday, then that's got to be all for me this year.
When you speak of top dressing, do you mix sand with your oyster shells, or are you referring to adding compost?
CG, if it wasn't for Dave's I don't think I could have been successful with many of the plants in my yard. I have pushed the zone, so to speak, on many plants that have a reputation not to do well here. Driving around my area, and going on garden tours, I'm hard-pressed to find anyone growing clems around here, save for a random and extremely infrequent patio potting in a very protected area. I do hope that I can look back in a few years and have a collection of beauty performing in the garden... and if I can, it will in large part be due to the help I've received from the lovely posters on this forum.
sharkey, thanks for the nice feedback.
the formula here is many mistake, many years.....and over the last few years editing down down down to simple focus. common woody shrubs, evergreen trees, sedums and clems. i am going to plant some impatiens at the base of some clems this year, will be first time in several years i have put any annuals out. but they really bloom here thru mid november and are an excellent value if you think about that. and if you break off a piece and stick it in the ground when you plant them it makes a new plant asap, so really good value if you take a second to do that.
pink champagne is growing on me too. i now have several more than i would have due to the lowes label error last fall. but the blooms are lasting a long time, and if they plants get some size on them, i will like them. the ones from lowes actually were pot bound roots (which is why i bought them) and the plant size this year is good. no complaints on that. exceeding expectations.
i top dress a lot and use different mixtures. sometimes straight oyster shell. sometime Nias posy power or my own compost mixed with sand. what i have on hand and instinct. i am doing a lot of sand this year and oyster shell to combat the clayish soil here...as it soaks down, hopefully it will lighten the soil. i am inconsistent with these mixtures, but they all seem to work. when i buy oyster shell i tend to use it asap , as the bags up here are paper and if they get wet, a mess. sand i keep around in 50 lb bags lately so sometimes it is on hand and easy vs trip to feed store. i do have covered storage i can use for the oyster shell, need to get a lot and do that. am going to see if i can drive 20 miles or so, to the "country" and get a better price. i am using either sand or oyster shell right now every time i top dress, usually mixed with compost, i used to do compost mixture only sometimes. but the sand (or shells) helps drainage and is cheap too. like that part.
this morning i spent 3 hours out in the garden, john warren has opened a couple of buds, giving a taste of what is to come as they are loaded with blooms. here is one that i measured with my hand and lower arm, it's gotta be 8 inches across. i have john warren in a few spots, it is my favorite clem bloom of all. not plant, but bloom....
seems to be beneficial.
as we are still waiting for so many blooms, thought i would share the hardwick hall composter with you. this is one of two cages we have right next to each other. actually they are hubbies. into these, (he got the cages years ago a recylcling center for like 5$ each) we put grass clippings when we have them, ( most mowing done mulching style )leaves (not all the leaves on the property, wouldn't fit) ALL kitchen compost, very small garden clippings and weeds, NO STICKS. have learned this the hard way. the huge cages are sitting on cinder blocks to create access form below.
we do not aerate or turn it, so it takes longer , but they are huge so it doesn't matter. once in awhile i throw some enzyme accelerater on it. and we do water it from top and into middle. we put the kitchen refuse in it all year, even in winter when it is not active. we put leaves on top of the kitchen stuff or bury it in the leaves or grass clippings year round.
i pull "black gold" as i have heard compost referred to from the bottom, as needed or when it looks ready.
these are not in view from the house or lawn, they are behind one of the landscape berms. so accessible, but not obnoxious.
i am not sure what the cages were intended for, nor is he, but they work fine for our composting, even if our process is slower. there are no chores associated with it except for removal from bottom of the composted materials. hubbie gets all the credit for this. we have had the black plastic composting units, and the worm composter which we gave away and they just were not big enough and did not work for us. these cages are full of live worms year round, even in winter in the middle. thanks hubbie for this one!
I love composting and you have a great set up! I have two store bought bins that I use all the time. ALL our kitchen waste goes into it....along with grass and leaves etc. Compost is really amazing stuff and I just love that you can recycle so much of your kitchen stuff into it....a lot more less waste and great for the garden.
We also have very hard clay soil here, as much of NW Fla. does. That's why I pair my clems because it's such a chore to get large holes dug for them. I can only dig down so far, then the DH does the rest. When I mix my soil for my plants I always add some sand and put sand in the bottom of the hole as well to help with drainage. I will start adding a little sand to the top as you suggest. So far, you haven't given me anything but wonderful advice. The clem I was having a problem with, Comtesse de Bouchaud, is now putting out new growth because you suggested I feed it a balanced fertilizer. You're a good "clem doctor," and obviously, an experienced one.
dawn, yes composting a good feeling.
sharkey, aahh shucks , thanks. appreciate the feedback. didn't know you would have clay, just assumed it was sandy. the other thing you can do is when you mix the soil from the hole, use only about a quarter to no more than a half of it of it in your re mix for the hole, add a generic top soil along with the standard stuff we are always talking about ,sand, perlite or vermiculite, compost to make the mixture. of course with this method and a lot of clems you end up with extra soil and that can be a problem where to put it. start a berm.
right now my hubbie is leveling a place out on the hillside so he can use my extra soil, which is good.
glad your bouchaud is feeling better. it is a good clem when it is a good clem, but when it gets off kilter it can brown off and be funky quickly.
big thunderstorm an drains here this morning, will keep me out of the garden this morning for sure. hopefully it will bring out the last of the sleepy clems.
today at hardwick hall we are closer to a colorful spring. we had soaking rains night before last and yesterday morning, now all spring sunshine and great gardening weather. today we have added to the "starting to bloom " list, nelly m, joesphine just starting, henryii opening well, guernesy still pretty along with otto f and clair de lune. haku ooken showing better this year too...that one is a sleep sleep, creep creep type of clem.
luckily john warren didn't have many blooms open yet as the rains beat up the ones open pretty well. also ruby glow open today and hf young starting.
here is ruby glow, a very nice little clem, with great saturated color and pretty anthers too.
claire de lune is a show stopper this year, and haku ooken has opened next to her with several blooms..i usually get one per year from this clem, finally some action. here they are together as they are planted near each other and decided to make a great combo. the deep purple of haku ooken plays up the lavender cast of claire nicely.
Ruby is "glowing" and certainly living up to her name! Love your combo of "Haku Ooken" and "Claire de Lune". I like how Haku is accentuating Claire's dark stamen.
thanks shirley, the combo is a accident, both have been soooo slow to establish, i like the wavy margin of claire and the spikiness of haku too as counterpoint, with the purple undertone of claire and the opposite colored anthers too. thisis the first tim i have seen them together, as literally haku has been a one bloom plant for 3 or 4 years and claire very slow to establish. just goes to show you have to be patient with clems. i was thinking of you this afternoon as i check kullus, she is still at two 1 inch stems. but they look good. and lemon c has not come back up. i put another clem very close to her space, have really written her off as she is the second one that didi not like it here well enough to come back.
glad you like ruby i bought some of them locally 18 months ago, well rooted and i think they are going to do well this year.
anyway h f young started opening today and puts us a step closer to late spring blooms. have a nice evening and good clemming tomorrow if that is what you are up to!
Ohhhhh can't wait to see your HF young since I just put one in the ground myself. I was so sad - I cut him all back even though he was like 3 feet tall when I got him. I knew it had to be done. I guess I shouldn't expect any blooms this year......
dawn, i think you will have a few blooms, hf young of those clems that always blooms. maybe low to ground and not many, but you have such a green thumb. will post today, behind on taking photos.
Well I am not sure I would agree with the green thumb - maybe it is just luck? LOL!!!
Can't wait to see it!
hf young opening so slowly, as are a lot of the clems. they are taking their time. here is h f young, dawn.
elsa spath opened today. a really pretty clem.
nelly moser keeps blooming
henrii and ruby glow blooming together
the photo of nelly above also includes a carnaby.
betty corning nowhere near ready to bloom, she grows inches per day. monstrous. love this clem. this one is 5 years in the ground here.
Your clems are gorgeous, CG. H.F. Young looks blue on my screen. Is it usually blue or lavender? I have a new one planted, but have never seen one in person. If you have John Warren and Royalty, could you please post their photos when they bloom?