I think it was the cold spring. There wasn't enough warm weather for the vines to really grow.
What's blooming today
You're right Julia, it was a very cold spring and thus far a very cool and rainy summer!
The cool weather didn't seem to affect the amount of blooms, though.
It also only affected (for me ) the early bloomers. The later ones are sky high and loaded with blooms.
Julia, the photo you posted on the 17th of VDL and the President is gorgeous. I LOVE those two colors together.
Thanks - Ville de Lyon is getting swamped by it's competition and isn't growing or blooming well - maybe not enough sun. I might have to do a little pruning today.
jj, how old is your vdl and what size plant when you put it in?
hf young has really surprised me this year in year 4. the 4 year old ones are still blooming (less profusely and smaller of course) and finally are climbing. the ones i have that are not 4 years old are still blooming low and sprawling. one is blooming at the top of an arch about 7 feet high.
so wet here, will have to dig for motivation to go out and do a look see.
This is the third summer in the garden for Ville de Lyon. Now that I think about it, I probably got it from a local nursery whose specialty is annuals, herbs and vegetables. They buy clems from Donahue's and charge about what it would cost me to order direct. If I get there early spring, they usually have something I want and I can trust that the clems are labeled right. VdL was on the list to cut back hard once I saw the blooms, but I still haven't gotten up the nerve to cut them.
That's good to hear about HF Young.
All the rain that was in the area the last 2 days mostly missed my area. Some areas in the state had flooding rains, but we didn't get the soaking rain that was forecasted. It would have been nice. Now I'll have to water this weekend because it's going to get hot next week. I want the clems prepared.
i 'll send you some water jj. so you don't have to water. we are soaked with a capital S.
ville de lyon will end up being very vigorous...order a ssv one to put next to the one you already have. it is one of my most stabi-ly vigorous clems, but it needs some time to establish. mine main one was bought as local gallon. i have a younger one, probably 4 years in ground, also bought local.
here is my young one taken a few moments ago the rubro marginata it is next to has not opened up yet, but will maybe even tomorrow.
Wow! I can't wait for next year. Nice combo, btw.
I haven't check if VdL put out more shoots, yet. You would think by now it would have more than 2.
formula is pruning and years and fertilzer and luck
some clones are not as strong as others.
Perrin's Pride is putting on a nice show right now.
i am so glad someone else has perrins pride! i love this clem. mine was so slow to establish, but now gives a good showing, but not as nice as this one of yours. how old is yours? did it take time to establish?
the matter plum color sometimes does not show it's uniqueness in photos, i think you have captured it and the recurve to the sepals makes this a very unique clem. i hope it becomes more popular.
would love to know more about yours. it looks like it is thriving. mine came form a local nursery at least 6 years ago and did nothing for years.
I love this one too. It has such a simple, clean flower and the color goes well with so many perennials. I have two of them on the same fence - a north/south fence. Both sides of the fence has this many flowers (which makes my neighbor very happy!). They're in a mixed perennial garden and various perennials are growing pretty close to them.
I'm don't even know where I got them anymore. I'm pretty sure they're 5 years old, maybe 6. They weren't terribly slow to establish. The first year they only had maybe 2 vines but they were loaded with flowers. After that they took off. Because of where they're planted, other than rain they don't get watered very much at all (shame on me). Because of the perennials around them their "feet" are well shaded.
Very pretty color and form.Must be a big asset to the bed.
Guru, what are doing up so early?
jep, I believe that you have a type 2 clematis because it blooms on old and new wood. I don't prune my type 2's although people do. Perhaps someone smarter than I am about clems would direct you. I didn't want your question missed. See Post #6709800 you good clematis folk.
Jep,
Is that the actual color of the bloom? It sort of reminds me of General Sikorski, which is very difficult to photograph. General Sikorski is a very strong plant, with thick, sturdy vines that grow straight up the trellis. What do you think?
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=19
If it is General Sikorski, it's a group 2 that can be treated like a 3. Mine dies back to the ground each year. It will be blooming within a week or so.
jj the anthers are a diff color with the general, no?
i was up too early for sure....
I thought of that, but it could be the photo. I have only seen one photo on the internet that got close to capturing the color that GS has in my garden.
Do you have any idea what it is?
Hi Guys,
Sorry.. just ask me for a larger picture... no worries. I'll give you a little history on this clem. My mom got it last year in the spring and planted it off the patio next to the fence to give it something to climb on. It climbed at bit last year and we got maybe 4 blooms, but nothing like the size and color of this year. It more than doubled in size but got more bushy than upright. It does not climb that fast. I'm only a few years into gardening and I read and research whenever I have a moment. That's how I learned about differences in them and the whole pruning thing. Then somehow I came across a home brew clem fertalizer online and the directions where 1tbsp right a the roots every 2 weeks. I also sweetened the soil a bit with some garden lime. After that the thing started to explode like I had given it steriods.. I just could not believe it. I'm sure most of you clem experts know the brew. Anyhow here is a larger photo for you to help me identify it. Thanks again for all your help.
Well, jep, I'm certainly not a clem expert and would love to know about your "brew." That flower is gorgeous.
This is why Jackmanii is so popular I guess. This one has been in the ground probably five years.
such beauties folks.....thanks for sharing!
They're all so purdy!
Hi everyone -- I've been mostly lurking in this forum, watching all the gorgeous clems opening up and making careful notes. I don't have much to share that hasn't already been seen here, but do have a few starting to open up that I'm especially happy with. First of all, because Clematisguru has been raving about Margaret Hunt, and whipping me up in a frenzy of anticipation, I have to post my first flower on her. I planted her early this spring, from SSV, and she certainly is vigorous. She's growing up a Zeph. Drouhin rose that is usually indestructible but this year got attacked by aphids. I've cut it back hard. New growth is red, which is nice with Margaret H, I think, but won't see it with the flowers this year, sadly. Think I got the aphids under control now, but if you see any in this picture let me know and I'll go blast the thing to heck.
This is a sloping stone retaining wall covered with creeping sedum -- this is purpurea plena elegans and venosa violacea clinging to the sedum, growing along the wall toward the sun, and just starting to open up. I posted a picture last year too, it's first, when I was excited to see it even work. I may add blue angel to this combo next.
Finally, this is a young leverkusen rose, which I love -- very pale yellow and growing in just a little bit of sun. Hoping by next year it's big enough to meet up with etoile violette and blue angel.
Thanks again for all the beautiful pix and inspiration....
Hi wickerparker - so glad you posted these incredible pictures. The two with the sedum is spectacular so I can just imagine what it must look like "live." What is a "leverkusen" rose? I have a lot of shade and would welcome something that gorgeous that tolerates a fair amount of shade. kim
Thanks Kim -- I got Leverkusen from Antique Rose Emporium
http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/rose-1007.html
I'm not sure if they have it listed in their partial shade growing section (you should check that out btw), but someone somewhere recommended it for that. Anyway, it's performing well for me, in it's third year here. The bigger it gets the more sun it'll get. It only blooms once, right about now for me.
Too cool; I ordered two heirloom roses some 10-12 years ago but only have one left. The deer really "prune" it but I have a new, big FENCED in garden that I will be moving it to so I'll have to order some more and will use this website....thank you so much !
WP, very nice. I LOVE the clems growing in the sedum on the wall. Go ahead and post pictures of ones that other people have posted - never get tired of seeing pictures of clems!
Yes, me too! I would love to see your pictures and to see what you are growing them on. Love the sedum idea!
Yes please post more...very interesting! I love watching them grow through other plants....
I think Guru would like to see it too since she has a lot of sedum!
Thanks very much for the interest -- I only have a few more and nothing growing through anything as out of the ordinary as the sedum. It works great, but I would only use clems that get hard pruned. And these are young plants, so I don't know what will happen when they fill out, though I suspect it'll be fine. That sedum acre is incredibly tough and persistent stuff. I spent a couple hours sitting and standing on it today as I was weeding the border at the base of the sloped retaining wall. It couldn't have cared less. And I'm no lightweight.
In the past I'd considered replacing the sedum with more interesting rock garden plants, but realized it would never go away. Then, as I was trying to find places to squeeze in more clems, this notion came to me. I think I could probably get 4 in total on that wall. Will definitely add at least one more this year. It's not a high rising wall, but it's long -- I put the clems at the east end; they just go up as far as they can and then turn west toward the sun. And these clems seem to start blooming right after the little yellow sedum flowers are done.
wickerpark...wow
just love the use of sedum and sprawling clems. clems used to be used like that, and are used like that in the uk and in prior times in much more interesting ways than the classic trellis. and i love sedum, as you probably know.
the rose. the rose the rose. love. i will get it ........if it is hardy for you should be for me too? do you give it winter protection?
thanks. i am flying back to my garden from nyc this morning, had a little travel delay last night. this is real inspriration. thanks for sharing.
Pink Fantasy. I really like this one with the various colors of pink as they mature.
Thanks cg! I don't give the rose any protection at all. I'm far FAR from a rose expert, but I don't see any downside to this one. Well, it only blooms once, but I think it's got a pretty long bloom time, and my one repeat bloomer almost never repeats here anyway. Blooms with my clems. And (knock on wood) has never had any disease. The aphids nearly destroyed the rose next to it, but left this one alone.
goldfinch, what a lovely pink, and such a lush plant. Gorgeous.