they look great sharkey. first blooms so often are different and while in are containers too, so your belle blooms may lighten up in successive blooms. notice the leaf color if your photo is true color? just really hard to get that plant using soil minerals well and looking greener.....
you have an amazing crop, and those cukes draw bugs anyways......anyway they look great. and the liners just take time.
New blooms
I have the same problem with my Belle. Leaves are light green. Any suggestions for better mineral uptake? One of them for sure would probably be replanting in a deeper better amended hole
Yes, I was wondering about the color of the leaves on Belle of W. What's strange is that it is in the same large pot with multiblue, which has dark green leaves. They are getting same nutrients. I probably shouldn't have put two in a pot, but this is another beginner's error. I have made many, I'm sure.
Princess Diana is blooming for the second time. The first time, I wasn't impressed. Only had two or three blooms a few months ago. This is much better.
Banana, have you tried Messenger? I remember seeing posts on the Mid-South forum about how much it helped clems and roses in our heat.
re diana, glad yours is doing well sharkey
re weak colored yellow green foliage
you guys will usually find this condtion in plants that are known to be harder to grow(belle, otto froebel, some duchess of e ,to name 3) some say it is because there are compromised or weak varieties out there, sometimes attributed to mineral updake, sometimes to an actual virus that is part of the plant.
i rarely see a clem that has the severe yellowish characteristics and does not respond to soil or nutrients end up being a large vigorous plant. but all you can do is keep on keeping on and work with the plant. some folks remove them from their collection for belief of infectious possibility.
i have not removed any but have 2 or 3 plants right now that seem to be in the category.
there are variations of green among clems and while the middle part of the range does not indicate a sick plant, the extreme yellow end of the range might, so a good learning experience over time as you care for them and see if you can get a response.
i have never had any condition like this spread form one plant to another.
Thanks Blissful, I forgot about Messenger...I still have some from an order a while ago. Will give it a try.
CG, ,very thankful that you have not found this to be a virus. It is enough to have to worry about swine flu!
Belle is growing behind a wrought iron fence with a large ornamental grass in front. It will take serious motivation to dig it up and try a better hole. Still too hot to think about it!
I have 4 Princess Diana,shes the first to open for me and will flower till frost..
This Princess was pruned by about half after first bloom. I think your growing period is shorter, so I was wondering if they bloom continuously for you, Demstratt, or have they been pruned once? All this is new to me, but I'm amazed I'm having so many clems bloom in August. I thought that once the June and July blooms were gone, that was all I would see until next year. I have definitely become a believer in pruning now.
Sharkey, many of the references suggest pruning mid season and then again in February. I'm experiencing the same phenomenon you are with the rebloom. Isn't it fun?! Sometimes I long for four true seasons, but when I realize how long we can enjoy our flowers, I count my blessings for a long growing season! =)
Yes, we had just a couple of cooler mornings this week, then today back to the good ole FL humidity and heat. Unfortunately, I was busy with other things those cool mornings and couldn't take advantage outside. I think we have about 2 months before danger of first frost if I go by what it did last year. I can't wait to see what it's like to dig a hole without dripping with sweat.
I agree that it's nice to have a longer growing period, however.
I think someone else from the south told me they prune around Valentine's Day, but we always have a late frost, so I guess that doesn't matter.
We always have one too. In fact, in the years we get snow, it has sometimes been around Mardi Gras time (which is also typically mid-month). We've had years where it snowed one week and we were in shorts the next! Late winter/spring are so crazy for us, aren't they?!
Yes Sharkey mine does...the 2 in my front yard I prune alot,ones in the back I don't..I give my lots of bonemeal...
Sharkey:
What an incredible collection you have there.... How many do you have total.... It seemed like your beautiful pictures went on and on,,,, oh to have that many..... I can still count on two hands how many I have...LOL
I so loved strolling through your pictures. Thanks for sharing them and don't ever think we wouldn't want to see them......
Janet
Janet, your are TOO kind. Maybe in a few years I will have photos that are really breathtaking. I'm just so tickled to have clems blooming in August, that I had to share them with someone. I'm so proud of my Tie Dye and Rebecca that are also blooming, but no photos yet.
I'm still laughing about your question regarding how many. I haven't updated my spreadsheet lately except to record blooms, so I really don't know how many I have. You might say that most people would think I have too many.
For a long time, I wouldn't post any photos after seeing Guru's, but then I realized that she also had a first year with her clems.
I, for one, am THRILLED that you post your bloom photos, Sharkey. Any time a novice posts such pretty photos, it gives everybody else encouragement that success can be achieved without years of study and practice. You're an inspiration!
Sharkey, I do find it incredible that you are able to grow that many in the heat/humidity of my beloved Florida. Do they ever really shut down for a sleep?
Janet
Thanks, again, ladies for the compliments. I certainly hope they will go dormant this winter. I only planted 5 last year, so this will be a real test. However, the few I planted last year did well this year, especially Galore. And, I certainly didn't know what I was doing when I planted her in a hole that was not 18 inches deep. I remember looking at that little liner and thinking, "There's no way this little plant needs that much room." LOL I still think it's too early for me to know. I had heard so many people say I couldn't grow them here that I'm very surprised so far at their progress. Time will tell.
This fall I will be planting about 10 clems on the west side of my house. That will be the TRUE test next summer.
Sharkey, any of my clems that went directly in to the ground haven't gone in 18 inch holes. If I dug a hole that deep and amended it here, I'd quickly have an 18" deep swimming pool for my clem! Most of my clems are planted in raised chimney liners, which does provide the 18" of quality soil directly to the roots. But, the ones that are directly in the ground are pushing their way through the gumbo clay amended with gypsum and top-applied nutrients, just like all the other ground-based plants. I learned 30 years ago that preparing beautiful holes for my plants in our soil was the quickest way to kill them!
These are Rebecca's first blooms with several other buds not open. It really is red.
Sharkey ! Have you thought about using that image as a Christmas card or the like ? It is glorious....your pictures certainly are eye candy ! kim
Thank you, Kim. Maybe the other buds will open soon and I'll get a better photo. I haven't even thought about Christmas yet. I have miles to go before Christmas.
my few blooms were really really red. as we all know initial blooms sometimes have different characteristics than later and ongoing blooms. i have heard rebecca reverts back to a more burgundy and is not the true red it is marketed as.
i am really looking forward to my learning curve with this clem and hoping my plant stays true red.
however, rarely have i heard something like this thru my network and not found it to have validity.
your photo is pretty sharkey. rebecca was my moms name and i was very glad to get a nice heathy plant from joy creek that is off to a good start.
Thank you. When the first bloom first opened, it was more of a burgundy. It looks a little darker in photo than in person. Definitely a pretty clem, though.
This is Tie Dye's second blooming after a pretty hard prune in July. Once again, a better second performance than the first. It's from Brushwood planted this spring. It's one of my favorites, as it reminds me of the 60's, the good ole days.
This Claire de Lune is one of my bargain plants recently purchased from a local nursery. I put this one in a pot and it grew very quickly. I have it in what is the only semi-shady spot in yard near crepe myrtle tree.
Sharkey, when you get your clems, do you cut them back or do you let them grow to see the blooms? I'm afraid your going to say it's all your sunshine that's making them bloom so well.
The ones I bought locally were given a hard prune because they were in such bad shape--overgrown and neglected. I always re-pot them in my own soil mixture. This particular CDL may have had a little growth left on it after pruning, more than the others maybe, but they have grown back very fast with few exceptions. They must like this heat more than I.
Do the clems that you have put into the ground do just as well?
Actually, they do better in the ground. I've used a few pots because of a few reasons. First, I have a large deck in the back and wanted to enjoy some blooms closer to our patio table. Second, we have virtually no shade in our yard except for a large pecan tree and cm tree.
Therefore, I've had to make use of the shade provided by the crepe myrtle tree this time of year and I can't dig between those roots. Therefore, I've put several in pots in that area, including John Warren, Hagley Hybrid, and will probably add more shade-loving ones under that tree in pots. I prefer planting in the ground where they have plenty of root space. I've learned that slugs and snails can still find their way up there, though, even if they are in a pot.
Sharkey, you might try the method I've used many times for planting here. I frequently will use a pot that has no bottom (crack or cut it out) sunk an inch or so down in the soil for permanent planting in areas that either have poor drainage or are tough to dig under trees. If you rough up the existing soil and spread gypsum, the roots of your clem will force their way through once they hit the bottom of the "good" soil in the container. I started doing this many, many years ago with roses. I like the look of potted roses, but they are just too difficult to keep happy long term in our heat. Cracking out the bottoms allowed me to keep the roses high (helping with drainage issues), gave some layers and visual interest to my gardens, and helped me overcome root issues in all the places I wanted to plant. That might work for you under the crepe myrtle. You could use a variety of sizes and styles and create a "container" garden there!
Here's an idea of what I mean... all the pots in this photo of our side yard are bottomless (please excuse the lack of blooms... this is a photo from between bloom cycles):
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/si/187865/
That's looks very appealing Bliss. All those pots have no bottom? I would think it might make things a bit easier on the back also.
Sharkey, Rebecca is now on my must have list! She is a real eyecatcher!
Wouldn't you know it. GardenCrossing just had an ad up for Rebecca.........Sold Out drat!
Venu, I'm glad you like it. Try Joy Creek. I don't think Debbie has it in stock at SSV, but not sure.
Very nice Blissful.Even without the blooms. It is a great idea. Are the pots clay or plastic?
Thanks Sharkey, I'll check it out.
Wish I could use clay pots to do like yours but sad to say they become brittle when left out during our winters.
Nice picture.
Janet
Thanks, Janet and Banana. Janet, do the faux clay ones crack quickly for you too? Some of those pots are clay, which is tricky to get cracked out. I used a masonry bit to drill holes in a circle around the perimeter of each base and then tapped with a masonry chisel to crack out without damaging the bottom rim of each pot. The faux clay pots that claim to be able to take the elements are much easier to work with and they also have an insulation quality to them that I like. The clay and the faux clay require a lot less watering. I have used plastic for this before, but it doesn't work as well in our environment because it heats up too quickly, so the roots don't get enough insulation in the summertime. I would think the faux clay ones would do fine up north... they are essentially constructed out of the same material as the styrofoam rose cones that are so handy up there in the winter.
Okay, I found the description on the pull tag from one of my pots that's been out there for three years. It gets full sun all day every day. It's called "Garden-Lite" by Duraco. I got this one at Home Depot, but I've seen them sold other places too. It's a polyurethane and foam material, and the ones I have purchased have all been the terracotta color. They also make it in a sandstone color and perhaps a few others. Here's the info from the label:
The Duraco Strathmore Garden Lite planter is lightweight and durable. Its thick-walled construction won't crack, chip, and break in freezing or sweltering temperatures, which makes it the ideal alternative to concrete and pottery planters. The planter is an exquisite alternative to pottery planters, and looks like the real thing. Its faux pottery finish complements any lawn or patio setting beautifully. With the thick, insulated walls, you'll be able to use this planter for years to come.
clay and the material above are not up to successive winters in zone 5.