Hello! This clematis was at this house when we moved here, sticking out of the ground in the middle of nowhere in the yard (must have come up from seed??). I moved it to the garden, but I have never seen one like it - any ideas?
Also, I am looking for a deep red or maroon clematis and also a white one - I am really new to clematis, so I was wondering if all you experts had some favorites you could recommend. I saw 'Bourbon' in another thread just now, and that one is absolutely gorgeous!
My guess is that it wasn't a chance seedling but that a former owner planted the clematis there. I'll leave it to the experts to identify it.
Please check Plant Files for 'Bourbon' to see the color as it blooms for other people.
For a white I'd recommend Lanuginosa Candida but there are so many beautiful white ones:
Looks a lot like my "The President" clem.
Elsa Spaeth is also a possibility for the clematis pictured. Attached is a picture of my Elsa.
I would also look at some of the blue/purple and red striped cultivars, checking PF for pics of how they look when grown in a variety of real conditions and whether your clematis might be one of them. The stripes (on blue/purple) are often more muted than they appear in vender pictures.
Edited to add that I believed my Elsa Spaeth was The President for years before I unearthed her tag one day to learn her true Identity.
This message was edited May 4, 2010 3:23 PM
pirl: great rec on the Lanuginosa - that is a pristine looking white!
neheskett & Dream Of Spring: Oh, wow - it is definitely one of those clematis! Earlier, I looked up The President, and was convinced that was it, but Elsa Spaeth looks so similar! I had the same problem with my Fireworks clematis before I found its tag. To add to that confusion, the Fireworks that is planted in clay soil is more pink than purple with a pink streak down each petal and the one I planted in compost is bright lavendar with a fushia stripe down each petal! But, anyway - on this other clematis, whether it is the President or Elsa, now I know when to prune it. =) Thanks for your help!
Put lots of compost with the clem planted in clay.
Good luck.
Compost is a gardener's best friend.
I must agree strongly with the idea of adding LOTS of compost to clay soil. I also have clay. I have (or had) dreadful soil, an inch or two of topsoil over what seems an endless layer of dense, nearly impenetrable, grey/white clay, limestone I think it is. I got some good quality compost, tons of it, literally. Every time I planted anything, clems included, I back filled the planting hole with compost. Except for larger items like roses, I pretty much used pure compost to fill the holes.
I realize that pure compost isn't recommended. Most authorities recommend a mix of compost and soil. My thinking was that I already had plenty of pure clay 'down there', so I couldn't see the point of putting much of that stuff back in the hole. We have lots of earth worms here. I knew the compost would draw the earthworms as surely as if I'd rung a dinner bell. My hope was that the worms would eventually mix the existing soil/clay with the compost in the holes (plus some worm castings) and ultimately produce a better mix in the area.
This appears to have worked - quite well, in fact. Most of my clematis were planted from tiny 5-6in bare root cuttings which I planted and pretty much ignored except for spring pruning. All have survived, even thrived and are doing well. Before I started this program of replacing soil (in planting holes) with compost, my backyard was a swampy mess, the kind of place you would not expect clematis to do at all well. We are at or slightly below sea level (depending on who you ask). When I would dig a hole in my backyard, it would instantly fill with water. That's how bad things were when I started. With all that water, clay, and our very high temps and humidity, I feared the clems would mildew and die. So far, in almost 10yrs, I've not seen any signs of mildew, and all of the clems are growing like weeds. Compost has made a world of difference. I cannot recommend it enough. I don't think there is anything better you can do for your plants than to add compost to the soil where they live.
I'm glad your method of replacing the clay with compost has worked - that is basically what I am doing, too. Also, each year I "topdress" the bed with compost; and that seems to be helping. I am encouraged that you are having success with this method - we have only been at this house for about three years, and have treated the existing beds this way. Last year, we built a large raised bed, and it is a dream to garden in compared to the clay soil. It is still amazing to me that I can just push aside the dirt and stick a plant in - instead of getting the pickax to break through clay and rock! =) We are in the Ozarks and have tons of rock mixed in with the clay. And, actually, it is a combo that works really well with the clay soil, since clay tends to hold water badly sometimes, the rocks do help with the drainage.
erica,
Sounds like you are really doing it right. Isn't compost wonderful? The effects of compost coupled with a little worm activity is nothing short of amazing. The beds that I treated with compost those 1st few years while building my garden + the holes I've filled with it since then when planting anything new, have been totally transformed.
My front and side yards are higher and thus drier. There, except for the flowerbeds that were treated with compost and where the beds are quite workable, the 'soil' is more like a giant cement block. It is of the pick-axe variety like you describe. A male friend of mine tried and failed to put a shovel into the ground. He even jumped up and down on the shovel at one point as though it were a pogo stick, but it would not even budge an inch. We don't even have rocks here at all, but the clay alone when dry is nearly as hard as stone. That impenetrable soil is adjacent to beds you can dig in with a hand trowel or even your bare hands with ease, the difference between the two being compost.
Keep up the good work. You are doing it right.
We have six compost bins. We started with three, saw the amazing results and added the next three.
I'm always stunned when people say they have compost "but not like yours". In truth, what they have is dead potted plants (not broken up), some leaves that just happened to fall there, twigs, branches that haven't broken down over the last 10 years, and it's more like a heap ready for the dump than actual compost. It isn't the layers of brown/green/household waste but a heap of trash. It's insulting to those of us who make our own "Black gold".
How can we take them seriously as gardeners if they don't know trash from compost?
