I just checked out SSV looking at clematis just in case I have to replace John, and noticed that she now has an extended-extended sale.
SSV sale extended to Aug 4
The woman is trying to break me.... lol
You probably aren't alone ;)
YAY! I have a few I was considering, but I didn't have time to go through her website before last Sunday. Now I can take a little time and consider the options. Thanks for posting this! =)
posting pics from the ssv display garden and joy creek display garden tomorrow for all to share in. some downtime at the sea tac airport now. the gardens were amazing and i understand a bit more about the health of these plants and the potential of them. diversafolias so lush and tall and all the clems just glorious. bought a few myself.
glad to be headed back to my garden to rethink a few things and get started on building the health of the plants.
Can't wait to see your pics, CG. Meanwhile, thanks very much to you clem-enablers: just when I thought I was in the clear and had exercised great willpower by not ordering anything from the SSV sale before it ended weeks ago, I saw this thread. Just ordered 4. So much for willpower.
My original plan was to ask my mother-in-law to get me lilies for my birthday. Looks like she's gotten me some clematis instead.
To funny wicker..^_^
I'm with you, Wicker. I e-mailed Debbie to ask a few questions and if she answers, I may end up ordering 4 more myself. I swore I was finished until fall. I went through her website and looked at every single one that is not sold out and made notes about which ones I might want. Most on my wish list are sold out, however. It wasn't hard to find 4 that I would love to have. I evidently don't have much will power.
Have any of you grown Madame Baron Veillard? If so, do you think it will take the west side of the house with lots of very hot sun and humidity? I love the fact that it is supposed to get very tall. Also, how would it look paired with a Group 3 purple such as Galore? Her site says to give it full sun, but I thought that pinks tended to fade in the sun. You KNOW how easy it will be for you to talk me into buying this, don't you?
I am growing Madame Baron Veillard. I don't know how it will do in your zone, but this is what Brushwood has to say about it. They don't have a very good photo of the blooms, though.
http://www.gardenvines.com/shop/large-flowered-clematis-3/clematis-madame-baron-veillard-132.html
It is doing very well for me this year. I have it growing in a spot that receives full sun from morning until later afternoon. The blooms do eventually fade, all clem blooms fade to some degree as they age, but MBV holds color longer than many of the pinks. You can see the color variation on CotW. The blooms that are about to drop will be lighter.
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=270
Even though MBV is listed as a group 3, I had about 3-4 feet of vines survive winter, so I left them as the plant is on a large support. This has given me blooms much earlier this year, but they are high on the plant, so if you do the same, I think it would be ideal to plant a lower growing clematis along side it to have blooms at eye level.
jj, i find when i leave growth on a type 3 in the spring it can come out , be taller and bloom earlier, but i get late season issues with the plant. it does not bloom for as long and gets brown off worse than if i prune it as a 3. i am a freestyle pruner, but not with 3's. by mid summer those old stems are the big problem stems on a 3. i have learned this over and over with avante garde, ppe and a few others.
my advice is a 3 is a 3 , treat like a regular perennial plant.
it is hard in the spring when you see that growth early to do so however, i understand that. that is why i have learned this so many times, in fact i have 3's in my garden right now i let go a little in this spring that look bad, so i learn it every year. not next year however. and you probably get the lower blooms too.
Thank you for the links, Julia. COTW says that Lady Betty Balfour has the same late flowering period. I like the idea of having later blooms, especially when my perennials start to look bad. I may put this one on my wish list as well. CG, how have these two done for you in the past?
Also, at midnight last night I searched and searched until I found your photo of your totem with Guernsey Cream. There's something about that photo that I just LOVE! I've tried to figure out where I could grow that one, as Debbie seems to have it in stock. Does it require some shade?
guernsey can grow anywhere....up here in the spring the trees havenot leafed out so there is less shade then. i have it in full sun and partial with great results.
lady betty b is a standout for me. still bloooming big. kicks in when president fizles out. i have guernsey in all the gardens and lady bett b too in each one. they are mainstays here for me.
Well, that does it!! Those two just made it to my wish list. We just had a very bad storm blow in with very high winds. Hope I don't have to unplug computer before I get to read all about your trip.
Any advice on MBV?
i have a small one in and it seems to be doing ok. (mvb) from what i have heard would not be surprised if it takes a while to establish.....good things take a while sometimes..
I hear what you are saying, but MBV is a very late bloomer. Most years it would just start looking good, then get hit by frost in September. I almost got rid of it this year, but I wanted to see what would happen treating it like a 2. So far it is still robust and healthy looking. However, we have had a cooler summer, so next year it might not perform the same.
Frost in September! In that case, I wouldn't have that problem since our first frost is usually in November. I'll probably give it a try.
Also considering John Huxtable since it says late, large blooming Group 3. I have many more early bloomers than late.
Yes, frost in September. Isn't that sad? That's why so many northerners start heading for Florida after August. lol
Sometimes I wish I could head north to miss our scorching summers and return in September.
we usually do not get real frost till nov here. i have had clems blooming at thanksgiving before. this is a great climate for a hard winter zone. i was in the garden mid march this year with no set backs as to weather...just ramp up to spring.
so sharkey if you move n for the winter come here, or just come up and help me in the garden if you can tear yourself away form yours at that time of year!
That's a GREAT idea. I was wondering where I would go if I went north! I would miss my grandkids more than my clems, though. And, of course, my DH. (Can't leave him out.)
I just realized that if I don't finalize my decision about ordering more from Debbie, she may sell out of the ones I'm considering. It may mean potting them up to a 3-gallon or 5-gallon nursery pot until I can get more sites ready, though. I thought my digging was finished until fall. Hubby has to have some surgery in a month, so I'm either going to have to be very nice and try to get more holes dug soon, or learn to use the hole diggers, which is very difficult for me.
in your zone you can grow them out in bigger pots. deb f even has some in larger pots within her gardens.....
my order should come tomorrow. i have been lucky to have a had a good helper this year and most of the hole digging has been by him. but i am augering the bottom of them tomorrow to aerate the dirt and mix in some amendments with the long tulip auger on a drill.
have fun sharkey! hope hubbie ok and nothing serious....
Thank you, CG. I'm sure he'll be fine.
Have fun with your drilling!