Hardwick Hall More Summer Blooms

The blooms continue. jumped to a new thread, the other one was loooong. here is jackmanii growing up and thru limbed up lilacs. they are a mixture of white, pink and purple lilacs, just common ones....i keep them limbed out so they can be a clem trellis. the lilacs bloom so early and the jackmanii adds mid season interest. this area is partial shade, so if i did not limb the lilacs i would also be fighting powdery mildew there. i get enough lilac blooms on the top growth to add fragrance to the spring.

so many ways to use shrubs as companions and hosts for clems when you think about it......

yesterday when i was cleaning up some clems, i noticed little Ashva, a 09 ssv plant i put in the ground in may. the blooms are small now, but spectacular in radiance ...they just glow. will be exciting to see this one come on strong next year.

ernest markham is not a strong performer in my garden. i have several and never count on much from them. this one was a pleasant surprise yesterday, showing some nice blooms and the plant seems stable. thanks ernest!

need a visual break from the riot of clems......shrubbery never clutters the mind or overwhelms. shrubs and sedum are my two favorite garden elements after clems, but not including trees as trees are number one over everything i guess.
visual clutter overload is the reason i do not grow a lot of roses or even other flowers. i can't say no to a clem so i keep the mix edited from other flowers so there is some sort of edit going on.
and i don't want to edit out the clems!

Nice photos. I especially like the last one.

My Ernest Markham seemed like it wasn't going to do much either and then it took off.

CG: I now understand why I enjoyed your garden, as my first love is around trees, then smaller trees (other wise known as shrubs... LOL) and then the flowers and now the clems have moved into 4 place.

I so love the grasses, I wish I could train the clems in through the grasses but I don't think the grasses are strong enough to hold them.

Boy can't ya see the chartreuse clem (can't remember the name right now) mixed in with a miscanthus..... maybe one of my new ones coming I might just have to try this to know for sure. I've got a fence it could start out growing up on and then take it to the grasses.....

Janet

janet, you are thinking of lemon bells? that is from joy creek.
there is another sweetie blooming (one bloom) i got it from brushwood this spring here now called "maria cornelia" that is delicate and divine. no pic, have to wander out there lately.
brushwood has such a diverse selection. chatsworth, maria cornelia. they really have a nice mix and all the plants i put in from them were well rooted and took off like a race car.
haven't stepped out side into the garden yet today.......

Yes that is it.

Have you ever order from Britain? I was looking at a lot of sights over there, and man the selections are incredible, which I totally understand cause they are loaded with breeders. I'm really wanting to learn about the seeds and how to collect and plant them. I'm a patient gardener and wouldn't mind the long wait to see a seed take hold...

Janet

I have a kind of related question too -- have you, or has anyone else, grown Fleuri? My husband and I went to the Chelsea flower show this year -- Fleuri really caught my eye at the Evison stand. It's a petite one. Very striking. Probably not the right place to ask...

re ordering clems from UK, don't think you can.
but i have poked around on some sites over there and seen some clems to drool for.

for harder to find clems good to go thru the brushwood site and look at them all, they have a good selection. i have maria cornelia i am very excited about, just in the ground this spring and look like it will be amazing, delicate, different and vigorous. not seen or heard of fleuri yet....but hope to! if you were in UK bet you saw some amazing clems! and gardens in general!

if i am wrong and you can order from there , let me know i think i posted a question once ot one of them and they e mailed they did not ship to the US.

hope you see this julia j, you had asked about rebecca. i was in one of the gardens watering this morning and noticed my rebecca had bloomed. there were 3, 2 were very faded and i pinched them off and took this shot of the newer one. embarrassed to see bug bite in flower too. but i am posting it as you were wondering about the red and how different and true it is. i find it very red, much redder than any other clem i have seen bloom. my hoshis have not bloomed yet and i have not seen a hoshi in person yet so can not compare rebecca to that.
i did notice the 2 almost spent blooms i plucked off had faded to a burgundy ish. i am growing rebecca in partial sun, and had wondered if i should move it to a sunnier location, but based on this i am leaving it where it is. i am very excited to see something this red.

anyway here it is.

here is what looks to be the last of the durandii blooms for now. i am going to reduce th e plant by a half and fertilize today or tomorrow. anyway this nice last bloom had a rose flop over near it. i do not know the name of the rose (shows how much i care about the roses). for those of you that like rose combos, i think these two look good together.

watering and looking at all the pruning i have to do kept me from photographing much this morning.......and fertilizing the clems that have finished bloooming or the ones that are very young is on the list as well. enough to keep me busy this week, let's leave it at that.

CG - you're too funny "embarassed to see a bug bite"! I'm sure we've all seen plenty of them - at least I know I have!!

Rebecca is a beautiful shade of red. I wanted to order it so bad this spring but just didn't have room at the time. It is another one I gotta get next spring. And I'm already rearranging to make room for them!

Lovely Durandii combo too!

thanks goldf. i am really psyched about rebecca. it was my mothers name , she passed away many years ago, i am glad t have that clem, esp when i saw the color of the bloom.
i was just out for an hour deep watering clems and got photo inspired. again.
gravetye beatuty starting to open. these tulip shaped blooms will have a nice upward tilt to them and outward flare of the sepals. the plant did take some time to establish, but now is very reliable.

huldine here. very floriferous for being planted in late 08. not a liner as you can tell. nice big root and nice big plant. and nice flowers.

this is caroline, might have posted her recently, not sure. but more flowers now.

clematis viola, very nice for a plant that went in in 08.

someone had posted about wisely. here it is. i like it's color, a matte, almost muted plum. "not just another purple" clem. very nice color and good plant so far.

entel is a nice surprise. loaded with pale blooms, delicate, but a very sturdy and vigorous plant. another good addition to the garden.

clematis my angel. very vigorous. will not have blooms for a month or so. then will bloom till fall. a great clem for coverage of a fence, self seeds, layers and grows.

ClemGuru, What are those shrubs and trees in your picture, and how old are they? They are lovely, and a perfect backdrop to your garden.

the bloom in the my angel is a campsis (trumpet vine that came over to visit the my angel)


this is vitacella Kermesina. kind of like a minuet or little nell, but with deeper coloring very vigorous. planted in 08. not a liner.

pamgarden, are you asking about the shrub photo near the start of this thread? if so, there is a gallery of clems on the back side of the berm pictured. the top of the berm is ordinary arbor vitaes (now about 15 + feet high). the back is clems, ground covers and a few misc perennials.... as you see the evergreen behind a lot of the clems. the front is a tier of a shrub that was labeled french willow. it needs pruning 3 or 4 times a year to keep the height just right. the front is a spirea hedge with some limelight hydrangea on each end, and them smoke bush after that. if this is not what you were asking about, i apologize. let me know.

Janet, here is a nicer shot of little nell i got this afternoon. you have to figure out some supports for yours for sure. mine is 8 feet, but doubled over, probably could climb to 12 or 15 now.....

Yes, the early picture in the thread is what I was asking about. You're right about the shrubs. They are a wonderful canvas for your clems. I love the different levels of the greenery. The arbor vitaes with their dark green foliage and then the shrubs beneath in lighter shades--a very pleasing design. You've got a beautiful garden.

So you really want me to cut that one down, I do understand the reason behind it, but after seeing yours I'm wondering if this small little thing really is a little nell..... I remember you saying as well as seeing the difference between when they first flower compared to one that is several days old.

My one walmart special from last year is being eaten by the Beetles now, making me sick. My cone flowers have no peddles left on them cause the beetles have eaten them off.

Do your clems get attacked by the beetles and if so do you have something that helps???

Janet
ps I just found a steal of buy on some arbors at the store during lunch today. I'll take a picture later tonight and post them.

CG, I mentioned that I was thinking about planting Wisely with Little Nell...from the looks of Nell, she would have Wisely for lunch...

Nancy

thanks pamgarden. are you a clem lover?

janet.....little nell would have more color than mine if it is in full sun, mine is in a lot of shade. but your looks more like minuet to me. they are very similar in habit, form, setc. too bad about the beetles. don't know if bayer 3 in one is good for all insects, but here is kind of a preventative, tho for years i resisted that approach, wanting to be more "green" . then i decided little is green about cultivars that need deep watering, fertilizing and do not grow from seed, so just gave into it and use the product to help the clems. still, even with that being used every couple of weeks it is a buggie year here... when i think of the time i used to spend spraying soap and water, with little result but i still put dishsoap in with the 3 in one when i mix it, i think it helps a little.

punkysmawma...you can do little nell and wisely together, just put wisely to the side and about a foot forward. then train the little nell vines up and back to ward a support...it won't have a huge number of vines and the wisely will fill in at the bottom, after the little nell is up and running the wisely will use it as a trellis! in the beggining use a small support for wisely that you can move somewhere else after year two. little nell can be sparse at the bottom as can minuet, negritana, keresina etc.

thanks for comments all. time of year in the garden to think about the next wave of beauty and take action on the overgrown, over watered (from rain i hope), tired, bloomed out...i could spend 2 days trimming everything that has already been trimmed....then start over and do it again. but as growth slows done as we reach the seasonal solstice, what we do now makes the late summer garden a joy vs a jungle. happy clemming!

I hear ya on the no chemical, as I've mostly done that until the year, the dish soap water spray wasn't beginning to the aphids so I broke down and purchase a chemical spray and it helped but didn't get them to move on....

So I'm back to the soap/water spray with just a tad of olive oil. This has helped the staying ability. I'm thinking of adding just a little neem oil (I have very little of the oil left as my supplier can't get anymore right now) to see if it make the beetles leave my clems and cone flowers alone.

Will let ya know how that goes.

1 more question, ok when my current clem stops blooming, then should I feed?

Janet

yes, feed after main bloom period. deadhead if there were only a few blooms, trim plant back if blooms were profuse if it is a group 2 or 3.
i do not use neem oil as i have had burning of leaves with any type oil in sprays before so i am very paranoid about that. i know how wonderful neem is but once burned, twice shy as they say.

I'll let ya know how it works (the neem).

Janet

janet, sounds like you have used it with good result. do you apply it in the early morning or evening, or on a cloudy day to avoid the burning action of oil?

took another shot of my summer white clem combo. alba luxurians and m le coultre (marie boisselot as also, incorrectly i now understand, known). alba luxurians is such an interesting clem. nothing really like it i am aware of.
vigorous as a vitacella normally is. establishes pretty easy. the blooms can be moody, hanging bit when weather is wet or when they first open. but the overall uniqueness of the clem, with many blooms showing green sepals makes it a must for the clem collector.
i actually don't like it with a colored clem, i think it looks best with a white so the variations in the greenish sepals and shades of white as the bloom mature are the focal point..and the tiny center of the flower (it is almost black) pops out more. this clem is also good with just climbing hydrangea or ivy to offset it's unique look.
this one is with climbing hydrangea moonlight and the pure white clem...and that is enough going on for sure, especially near the house as planted.

CG, I've noticed that you use a lot of arches. Do the arches go anywhere (i.e. on a path) or are they just a vehicle for Clematis support? I have a couple of arches and you are putting ideas in my head. :) LOL

Also, when my Polish Spirit finishes blooming should I cut it back by half and fertilize it? Or leave it alone? What about Durandii?

I always use to bury my Clem's a good foot deep from the top of the pot when I planted them. I take it that is not necessary?

I am learning so much from you guys. Thank you!

Diann

I agree the AL is an interesting clematis.....I love the look of the flowers. I think it was a great choice to mix it with another white as well. You are just genius!

CG: I've not used the oil on plants, just most other things, the Balm you have from me, has neem in it. I've used neem on my dogs, for cuts, scrapes, rough skin open wounds and it heals all of it. It works wonders for many skin disorders as well.

So I just mixed some up and I'm waiting till this weekend to use since I have so little neem I don't want to waste it with this off and on again rain that we will be having till the weekend. I'll report back the following weekend as to the results.

Just got home from another gardener who has a love for the clems close to yours and they asked about our tour, was telling them and they were very interested in the fact that you have a lot growing in filtered sunlight. They said if there is another tour next year they would be interested in coming..... They use to be in the club and are very experienced gardeners and want to do things in our community and most of the other members didn't so they lost interest in the club.

They especially like how you used the trees and shrubs around with the clems. Which was one of my favorite landscaping.

Janet

What a great compliment guru!

Love the way you use white alba luxurians and m le coultre . Like your description. I have a "white" garden "room"...but no clems yet!

Bananna - WHAT no CLEMS YET! LOL

if you stay on this venue for any length of time you will be ordering some..... CG is who through her beautiful pictures of her Clematis pulled me in hook line and sinker to them..... Now I'm happy to say I'm the proud owner of 11 Clematis.

Janet

ticker..hello. a foot deep from the top of the pot? how deep does that put the visible plant material under the soil? not sure i get it.
i plant a p 1 no more than 2 inches deeper than the current soil level when i buy it. i plant a vitacella not more than an inch deeper than the current soil line. , diversafolia, or integrefolia i will put an inch deeper at most.
totally herbaceous such as heracafolia, joiuana praecox, etc at current soil line. some plant deeper than this but as i use collars around the clem to prevent erosion and hold in compost...and i top dress at least 3 times a year with fresh compost and ammended soil this is the depth that works for me. i do not know anyone who has consistently planted at 4 inches deeper as some advise. but my top dressing program etc builds up soil level, i can not speak for planting in the ground without collar protection and continual soil improvement.

most of my arches are against the fence, bolted in, used as supports. the one with the alba luxurians is in front of a powder room window, planted in with greenery, the idea was not to have to close the blinds in the powder room, and to be able tosee out into a little garden that the arch is the back of. so it is kind of an inside outside view from two sides on that. hubbie still closes the blinds however, but the view is nice.
i have a couple of arches placed to walk thru, but most as said are bolted to the fence, just for support. love tunnels etc, just haven't gone that route as of current. most of my arches are super cheap ones that couldn't have withstood years and years of heavy plants, tho the perle de azure arch is holding up well. here it is.
janet, your friend is welcome at any time. things are looking a little ragged now compared to 3 weeks ago in terms of rains being hard on some blooms and some clems have been cut back, but there are many many many clems in bloom now.....

meadowyck, I should have said no clems in that area yet!
I love arches, but the ones I see at Lowes look like I would have to cement them in.That is on the list after some other hire out projects. I am glad your super cheap ones are holding up...so beautiful.