Please excuse me for calling you citybusdriver instead of citybusgardener! It's been a long day of watching the rain. You can do a search for the subject in the post you recall and you don't need the name of the one posting to do it.
Louise - no cuttings! I like well rooted clem's like your gift of Rooguchi was!
I've been watching rain too. Getting that picture with the camera under my rain coat front was tricky. Tried holding the camera out, but immediately I could see it was very WET. Too wet. Yikes !
No problem with the screen name. I know it's long, but when I had to pick a name, I was thinking if I posted in the forums, I want to prevent people telling me to just take the truck/car over to____and pick up____. I'm in a very bus friendly city, and a block away I can catch a bus going any direction , every 10 or 15 min. Going car free has been a freeing experience. It's only getting garden items that takes thought, once my farm-/feed store moved away on me.
Everybody on the bus starts talking when I get on with a bunch of plants like I did this last weekend. Fun. :)
So where's the " Can't believe I did this to a clematis thread ?"
LOL
Check out my poor little Niobe. She got lost in things, and I'm in the process of redoing the whole back garden. Here she ended up awaiting her special place, with chaos still around her.. Seems healthy enough. We're living on the edge though. ;)
The blooms are fading, but see how nice the leaves are and new growth is fast right now.
What beautiful roots you have there !
This message was edited May 22, 2012 8:40 PM
Oh, I did find the thread and left directions to this thread and the post #. I thought for a bit and remembered the forum, it was easy after that. If somebody named Raven shows up, you will know how that happened. This seems like a good place for her/him.
Gosh, I've read this group long enough I'm sending folks to you already, yet you had no idea I was here. ;)
Here is the area Arlene, as you can see there is not much space and how the over hang of the house keeps it from getting any water. Maybe just pots would work better.
Citybus - I do know a few people, all gardeners, who gave up driving. While I can't imagine my husband lugging home 52 bags of pine needles on a bus, I give you credit for persevering.
"Poor little Niobe" doesn't look poor in flowers or little. Mine is more of a puny Niobe than yours. I spotted the fact that your Niobe gets flamingo offsets. Mine have never done that.
They're "Louise's roots", not mine. She grows great clematises and gave me the one in the photo, Rooguchi.
I do recall Raven or Ravenn and hope the person joins us here. We know there are many who lurk but don't post so let's hope all who lurk will join us in our chats. It's fun to share experiences, ideas, and thoughts. Thanks for directing folks to us, citybus.
Marie - if you're not anti water crystals I bet they'd work fine either in pots or in the ground to keep your clem's damp. I'm just guessing that it's your deck, right? A nice big trellis could work beautifully on the blank wall. If Louise would post the photo of her gorgeous trellis it could be the answer for you.
Glad you are here, CityBusG....Weeze, love the photo of your cat....very handsome, & surely not under house arrest for long! Marie, that looks like a tough area to plant in.....maybe pots would be better.....
No sooner did I say Patricia Ann Fretwell didn't bloom, then it bloomed. Not what I expected but next year should be better.
Piilu also hasn't opened and neither has triternata Rubromarginata, Climador or Perle d'Azur. How can they be so lazy when the others are doing so well?
The good news is, I think Etoile Rose seems to have survived the onslaught of tree workers after the major tree in the back was lost to the storm last year.
Marie, what about long planters the same wood as your deck?
Hi Citybus! I lurked for a while, then got very chatty, now have little to say again... Most of my clems are new, in various stages of potting up or being planted. Most likely I won't have many blooms to show off, if any, this year. But just you wait... After all the tips from this forum I expect great success sooner rather than later!
Pam
Hi Everyone,
I forgot to identify the red clematis in my last post it is c. 'Allanah'
Citybusgardner- Welcome, Join us! Share and learn with us. Just like Pirl my c.'Niobe' is also a runt compared to yours!
Venue209- I do believe my mystery clem. is H.F. Young, thank you. Don't you suspect the mislabeled problems are in large part due to shoppers misplacing them?
Thanks for the ID for Allanah, Lee. I'm convinced my Niobe will never fill the trellis where it's growing so I've added two more, Blue Moon/Claire de Lune and Elsa Spaeth.
How I wish all labels were stapled to the nursery pots in nurseries as they do at one local nursery (photo attached). The problem with the nursery is that they plant plugs but charge $32. a pot. I don't buy clem's there.
People, to whom plant names do not matter, seem to just stick the name tag in any pot and then we buy a plant believing it to be something it isn't.
Silver Moon doing well this year....
Great placement. It's so nice that Silver Moon accents the gray cedar shakes of your home and leads the eye to the Japanese maple. That's the perfect plant in the perfect spot.
It's so muggy out here!
Thanks, Pirl.....my house was dark brown when I planted that clem, but I like it a lighter color....time to paint again unfortunately!
Painting is now a major investment. I like the lighter colors.
All these friendly faces !
I'm just finishing up my lunch and need to run, but will be looking forward to finding all of you this evening. Thanks for such a nice welcome.
We'll probably be here, CB!
I've been looking for Silver Moon... No one seems to have it right now. According to Hummingbird in Maine it will bloom with as little as 2 hours of sun. I wonder if it would be as floriferous as Marilyn's?
I've gotten mis-identified plants mail-order, too. Quite a surprise when they bloom...
I so love seeing all these new clems. I got 2 more yesterday. Proteus Clematis and Snow Queen. Both say part sun so they wont work there. I am always on the hunt for new ones.
I am going to try my Banana trees there in large pots. I saw some nice real large pots at the Deals store for only 6.00 each. More potting soil and pots. Next project.
Marie
I have Proteus in full sun with no problems. Haven't tried Snow Queen.....
I'm here CB :) It was such a pleasant evening, I didn't want to come in. Is this the trellis you're referring to Pirl? It would work for you , Marie , in the tight space. Attaches easily to the house, no man needed. I "think" I got it at Plow and Hearth, less than $100.
Lee, you're welcome. Pirl can attest to my eye for HF Young. Retail centers surely have the problem of mislabeled plants due to customers plucking the tag out and then sticking it anywhere, but that doesn't address the mislabels from mail order. I can't recall receiving a mislabel from mail order, but I suspect it has happened, it's just that my memory brain cells have started to fizzle.
Marilyn, my eye went to the JM right away too! Great looking clem.
Ok, then I will try her in full sun. Thanks.
Oh i cant attach anything to this new siding that I am still paying for. It would have to be free standing. Hubby threw out one that I coudld have hit him over the head for. It would have worked great there. Oh well I will just have to buy another...lol
This message was edited May 23, 2012 8:42 PM
I've had Proteus in half sun and now it's in full sun. Still waiting for blooms but I just moved it in November so maybe I'm being too anxious.
Does it seem to do better in full sun Arlene? How about the Snow Queen since it is white?
Make sure he pays for the new trellis, Marie ;)
A couple of new, at least new to me, cultivars. Twilight and Violet Elizabeth in the early morning sun. Oh, yes, and the newest hosta, lol
Which is the one in the middle? That color is beautiful and different.
I forgot to mention that I bought Niobe, Violet Elizabeth, John Paul as very young plants. so far only 3 have shown new growth . But the tags fell off the pots and I dont know which ones they are. I also bought Midnight Showers, I hope that is the one I planted over the old cedar tree, and Elsa Spaeth.That one I dont remember where I planted either...lol
This message was edited May 23, 2012 9:20 PM
This message was edited May 23, 2012 9:21 PM
Violet Elizabeth, although I would not describe the color as violet at all. It's more of a dusky pink. Definitely unusual, got it from Klehm's last year.
Proteus hasn't yet bloomed in the new location so I'm sorry but I can't report on it. I don't have Snow Queen. Whites, in general, aren't harmed by the sun...at least not here. Candida, the Duchess of Edinburgh and Henryi all take the sun quite well - no problems - no early demise of blooms. Nelly Moser is the only one I have that really wants part shade or she fades quickly.
Beautiful blooms, Louise. The hosta is nice!
Venu. I see in the pic of Hosta with clem, you also have that dreaded creeping charlie. How do you keep it under control?
I have received my Brushwood order, John Warren and Madam Julie Correvan in good order today, no blooms. All morning I have been spreading the grasshopper bait Nolo and hope that will reduce my problem with the Lobo Grasshoppers. I have some new babies in the prennial garden, Salvia Belize and my only daylilly is bloomin. For some reason I have not had any luck with day lillies and last year I gave away all but one. This is a beuty.
The clematises look very good. They're better off arriving without buds or flowers to direct the energy to the roots. Good luck with the Nolo. I remember your problem with the grasshoppers.
This year I bought a few new salvias and they all look good. Your daylily looks happy enough!
Weeze, the JM is kasagyiama ... what beautiful clems....that Violet Elizabeth is gorgeous...here is Pink Fantasy which is blooming for the first time...I've had it about 3 years...very tiny leaves & blooms.....Pam, Silver Moon faces east, & was shaded by a crabapple, which I lost in Oct....
Pink Fantasy is very sweet, worth waiting for.
That daylily is a beauty, surprised you had trouble with the others, I thought daylilies were foolproof.
All the Clem pictures are so beautiful, makes me want more and more... I guess I'm not alone in this!
Now I have to wonder where you bought your Pink Fantasy from, Marilyn, because I've also waited years and just got my first bloom.
Pirl, I believe it was from Jung's, but am not totally certain....it's a dainty plant which is what I needed for the lampost that it's climbing on....
"Dainty" fits the plant. I doubt mine is a foot tall.
Pirl,
"your Niobe gets flamingo offsets" LOL :D
My poor little Niobe apparently looks better in pictures than real life. I'm not really sure exactly how to help her. She was placed temporarily in that old wash tub, awhile back. My yard is SHADE with patches of sunlight that move through the season and the day. So new unknown things go in pots and get moved around, looking for the place that they can get their minimum sun needs met.
I've left her in her tub too long, and didn't prune the last year or two either. As she sits, her old stems reach the top of that obelisk. She then starts growing leaves and blooms. Flop, flop, flop.
I need to totally replace all the soil, as it's probably so dense by now I doubt there's any texture left at all. I did pull all her competition in the tub, added several inches of mushroom compost/compost mix, to get her through the summer. I'm still not ready to place her permanently in the ground, and I see she's okay in the tub.
It's probably my location that's making the difference, not my skill. I am great at soil/compost stuff, and everything grows big. I mostly spend my time cutting things back...in bulk, not with great skill. That's were you guys come in. That and wanting to add a few new clematises. Looking at my garden, the clems have been singing the loudest to me the last couple years, so it's time to gain some education.
So I now have a notebook right here, and have been jotting down favorites . Found Bushwood..my heart pitter-patters for one that grows to 40 ft. Like I have 40 ft .. I'm a shoehorn planter as it is.
I've had Pink Fantasy for a few years (2-3) and haven't had a bloom yet. Seeing your picture makes me wish it would bloom!! Pretty.
Mari,
Regarding your dry strip by the house. I'll share my idea, just in case it might work.
A water barrel, with the standard set up, plus adding a tiny extra outlet, just a schoosh under the over flow level. This special outlet would have a controlled drip line that runs the lenght of the dry space. It would automatically water the dry area exactly as much as it rains in the rest of the garden. Once the water level in the barrel empties out the over flow, and waters the dry strip, it would stop...when the rain stops. I think this would work ??? The tiny outlet would need to be only say 1/4 inch lower than the over flow outlet. Don't want the area over watered all the time.
Now water barrels are not extra attractive, but a three sided fence to match your other fences, or a three sided lattice with clems growing on two sides would be good. I would just make sure that one side opens easily to be able to service it if needed and to use the water from the lower spout.
I've only got the barrel and the idea so far, so this is not a proven system.
This message was edited May 24, 2012 5:52 PM
This message was edited May 24, 2012 5:54 PM
Marie, I spend lots of time pulling Charlie out, but I'll never be able to eradicate it since it comes under the fence. I have very nice neighbors behind me, but they do not mind weeds and the weeds love coming over to the amended garden soil. Even Round Up doesn't seem to affect it much.
CB - glad you enjoyed a bit of flamingo humor.
After Niobe finishes blooming make friends with a pruner and cut her back to about 10 or 12" to a good bud. Then add compost and manure to the barrel (clem's almost can't be planted too deeply) and give her a gallon of lukewarm water with a tablespoon of Epsom Salts dissolved in it. She should start growing immediately.
Louise - I checked and mine is also two years old. Two years for one measly bloom and one bud! That's an issue for me. Here's the bloom I got - nothing to swoon over here. I was wrong about the height. Maybe it's 6" high, that's all. In two years I'd have expected a lot more from it. (So much for "bargain" plants!)
