You better do it early Sunday before that snow comes in...lol You guys are gonna get a lot. We are suppose to get about 6 inches.
I can't stand it!
Stop trying to be so cheerful!
Goodbye, miserable February and hello March. Maybe it will come in like a lion!
Well this snow storm is like a lion. Does that count?..lol
Yes! The local forecast is 3 - 5" Sunday night and they add another 3 - 5" on Monday. We've had snow on top of daffodils quite a few times but I'd be happy to only see snow only in photos in the future.
I had to dig up 4 clematis in the hurry before the large truck run over them, put them in a pot with lots of dirt around. When the treecutters leave will rearrange the garden, maybe some of the clems will go in the back, since it will me mostly sunny. Here we have 45 F, this morning, I hope the raing will hold for a few days, so the guys can finish. Etelka
You did well by digging those clematises in the nick of time. The clem's should love the sunshine.
We're at 32 now so that's good news for us and they've lowered the amount of snow we're due to get tomorrow and into Monday.
Decide how high you want the stump to be. You might want to tie a ribbon or make a mark on the stump so they won't forget the height you want.
What goodies did you make for them today?
-2 when I got out of bed, with a hangover and far too early!!!!
dem2rd, souer krout juice is good for hangover , just saying
I was out trimming back some Clems, and saw a lot of growth coming on. So I only trimmed back to where I saw that. I got more things trimmed, hydrangeas, and some bushes like the butterfly bush.
I hope this cold snap does not hurt them now.
It won't hurt the clematises. I cleaned up a few more in the last week and that includes some Jackmanii's that had begun to sprout. It's enough of a jungle when they grow so they're better off being cut back.
April is the time when Butterfly Bushes get a haircut here though I've done it earlier some years with no harm.
Hydrangeas should be fine since they haven't yet leafed out here.
Well April is only a few weeks away...lol I dont now if the butterfly bush is even alive after the storm we got last summer that bent it over. Oh well if not I can always plant something else there. or nothing at all. It did get way over grown in that spot. The hydrangeas I only trim back the old blooms to the new leaves I see coming on. And cut out the old wood. I have so many. I was growing my own from cut branches for a while there, then I got way too many I was giving them away.
Hydrangeas are a big job and eat up time in the garden when we have to remove the old wood. Many times I skip a year but most often I cut them back after bloom if they're too big for the spot. I also took too many cuttings and sent most off to others.
Butterfly bushes do take up a lot of space! We got rid of most of ours long ago and only have three, which is fine with me. I keep cutting lower branches and still they get too large. The smaller ones (ha, ha, ha) were removed after they hit the gutters!
It's so disappointing and so annoying. I won't buy more regardless of the promises that they're low.
I dont think trimming hydrangeas is any more of a problem than roses, in fact I think it is worse.
After trimming the roses I had to get on long sleeve shirt, special gloves to pick up the trimmings. Did I mention I took those roses out this year...lol 10 years of roses was enough. Not enough sunlight even with taking out many tress. I have to look for part sun plants for that flower bed.
Agreed! Of course, it all depends on how many you have.
IF you like Knock Out roses, they can take "some" shade. Investigate first! The blooms will never be that of the teas or floribundas but they are blooming machines and not at all fussy about how they are cut back. Many times I don't cut mine back at all and they still keep on flowering.
I'd have lovely roses if the deer would leave them alone!
That is what I had, Knock out roses. I was not all that impressed with the blooming in the partial shade. They wouldn't bloom for nearly a month sometimes. And the ones by the deck got so tall and stragley. So any way, bye bye roses. I am trying more of the partial shade shrubs and flowers now. Less work.
I'm glad I'm not the only one into less work.
I got the Manure down today around the Clematis today before the rain came. I got 4 of the 5 she had, I should have bought all 5, I will get that last bag when I go back for the natural lawn fertilizer. All I can find is the small bags of Epsoma. Not everyone carries it.
Things are sure putting out growth here in NJ. I cant wait. This is going to be a late spring but maybe that will mean longer blooms in the summer.
It's a good time to put down manure. If you have an Agway near you, they carry Espoma products. Did you use any Epsom salt yet? I'm still cutting mine back.
Hoping for a warm spring since cold springs don't give us a good clematis season.
Not yet, the weather has not been all that well. As you know.
A lot of stores carry Espoma, but just not the manure one.
I saw a few that I still need to cut back. If they are putting out growth should I cut farther back then that last area of growth? How about the Montanas? That is where I have been stopping.
Try Agway for Chickity Doo Doo (what a pathetic name). It's lightweight, has some odor so keep the bag tightly closed, and it works well.
I cut back until I see swollen buds. If there "out of sight tall" I cut back to 3' just so I can have blooms at eye level and not 20' up a tree, like Candida has been!
NO pruning for any montana until after they bloom. Feel free to remove anything dead now.
HAPPY SPRING! We survived the winter!
OK thanks. I think it is all in order than with the trimming. I will find Agway tomorrow and see if the have the Chicki Poo Poo...lol
My clematis look very nice, they all having buds on it. Daniel Deronda is 4 feet high and full of buds. Happy first Spring day, here in Augusta today was a nice day, so I spend the afternoon out spreadin the Black Cow manure all over and trimming some of the plants. I have been painting my picket fence, since the guy that was pressure washing them made a mess of my garden so I told him not to come back to paint, I will do it myself. Done almost 40 feet of it, 100 feet to go, both side. Etelka
Marie - we used to buy the standard manure but now it's too heavy to lift and even worse on my back to drag around from one clematis to the next. I'm so glad I found the Chickity product via a friend.
Etelka - your fence is looking good! Pressure washing does remove loose paint so at least you should have a good surface for your new paint job. Jack has been sanding down the fireplace trellis that he moved to the basement and he did buy the paint so it should be back in place in about two weeks.
I understand that back thing. I was working cleaning out the beds and all that bending and lifting, .It took me 2 days and 2 full pain pills each night to get over it...lol
I just aint what I use to be...lol
A very heavy box of bulbs obviously arrived yesterday because I saw it on the front steps this morning. They'll get potted - easier on my back.
The lifting is a killer! Cutting back clem's is so easy.
Arlene, do you remember how much your poo poo was, I am checking on line and they say 27.00 for a 25lb bag. I am going to call Agway also. I found out where they are but did not get there today.
I wound up at Tractor Supply instead.
I wonder when Bill from Calidiumsbulbs4less will be shipping the bulbs this spring?
On the photo above there is a label and if my eyes are focusing correctly it says $9.99 for two pounds. That is more expensive than typical manure but that weighs too much for me. I imagine I could easily lift the 25 pound bag of Chickity Doo Doo (I feel strange even typing those words). Call Agway and ask the price. No point wasting the gas.
Bill ships keeping the local weather in mind. Just Email him and he'll tell you when yours will ship. If you want an earlier shipping date I believe the burden is on you if they get too cold in transit but check with Bill to be sure.
Thanks, I did call and she sells it by the 25 and 40 lb bag, 14.99 and 22.99. Not bad. She did not recommend putting it on the lawn though.
Hech, I was calling it Poo Poo...lol
I wonder why she didn't think it should be used for lawns. It's more potent than typical manure, which is around 0-0-1, being 5-3-2. I'd have thought lawns would love it. Maybe I'll put some on an area of lawn I'd like to change to garden just to soften a curve. We can see what happens.
The price seems good to me.
I read reviews about it and they said it stinks real bad, but if you water it down it is ok. The reviews said it did a great job on the lawn better than melogrante ( how ever you spell it ) I was thinking she wanted to sell me something else.
Well we got one more snow storm coming through. I hope the plants that are showing growth and the daffodils can handle it. I dont know about me though...lol
You and I will suffer through the storm just as all the plants will. I have old photos of daffodils covered with snow and they did fine.
Milorganite did nothing to keep the deer out of our lawn and gardens and didn't green up the lawn. I have a huge supply of goose droppings packed for the dump. How I wish it were good for the lawn!
The Chickity Doo Doo does have an odor but it's no worse than regular manure.
Very windy today!
Just dropping in to say thank you Pirl for the bump up of my post regarding my screen resolution problem over in the Dave's Garden forum. I was feeling pretty invisible.
Looking forward to all this groups clematis news and pictures as the season progresses. All mine seem to be doing fine despite my completely dropping the ball part way into fall chores. Funniest thing today. I went back to adjust the fallen sideways container Niobie is in and consider how to go about cleaning it up, since I failed to prune her at all. It seems a young couple of Bushtits has decided this is the perfect spot to start a family. They're so busy going back and forth building their nest, it's a hub-bub of activity.
Bushtits:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bushtit/id
Really bad pictures since I didn't want to disturb them. Second photo does include one of the tiny birds, not that you can really tell. So much for pruning the clematis. They normally build in the bamboo. Learned my lesson on timely chores. LOL Niobie is not going to be a thing of neatly pruned beauty this year.
You're quite welcome. Many of us run into that invisibility problem!
So now you have Bushtit Niobe - a new variety! Keep taking photos. Niobe is one of those clematises that are in between groups. Some will say to only prune lightly and only if needed while other sites say to prune it drastically every few years just before new growth begins or prune it back by half in alternate years. I'm happy to remember to take my vitamins morning and night so keeping track of alternate years would be asking too much.
Many/most years I don't even prune mine. Happy clematis growing and Bushtit watching.
A good reminder of the proper pruning. I have read different things too, but actually your rendition makes the most sense. Personally my Bushtit Niobe always seems to be at the very end of the list of things to deal with, and has thus far received "half baked" pruning. Each time I stand there indecisively and do the best that seems appropriate for the moment. So far so good. And it really shouldn't be. She is still in the same large wash tub I planted her in years ago, and still needs to be pulled out and all the soil replaced. Same as before..maybe next year. She still has shown no signs of harm, though obviously she could potentially become quite a monster of a clem if only I did things right.
What I really need to do is figure a better way to support her higher up. She runs up to the top of that support which is only about 5 feet high, then she starts reaching for the cherry tree limb that's a good 20 feet above her. Many years she gets pretty high up before she flops to one slide, then forming a giant question mark. The hollow of the question mark is the spot the Bushtits picked for their new home.
But the Bushtits may have had to pick a new sit after this afternoon. We had a huge wind come through and it defiantly distorted the shape of their almost completed nest. I had doubted the wisdom of their site choice, and now I see why. So it may be the starter home was just practice. Tomorrow will tell the tale.I had snapped a picure yesterday early, showing how far they had progressed in only a few more daylight hours.
It's so amazing how these little bitty birds and my Anna's hummingbirds ( year round here) build their tiny nests out of garden fluff, old seeds and spider webs. I do always save their favorite things over winter, even if it seems untidy to some folks. One larger patch of Japanese anemone seed fluff is routinely nest building supply central, but boy it looks bad about now.
I did notice one picture from before of dear Niobe. It's right at the same spot where I posted the picture of the nest starting. Looks a bit neon..think the camera had trouble with the color. But it dose show how nice the old gal does in less than ideal circumstances.
I was looking at native plants for my area and noticed this Clematis columbiana.
http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Blue%20Purple%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/atragene%20occidentalis.htm
The DG listing is not helpful , seems unpopular or over looked. Reading the info listed on the site I posted, it seems a natural for my woodland garden. A real plant and forget sort of thing.
Anybody here know more ?
We both do the "half baked" pruning! Now I do have more clematises in the Niobe area so once I get to that garden I'll remove any growth that doesn't show any budding for leaves. You might want to add amendments like manure (dried is good), Epsom salt, and top it off with compost and a nice drink of water.
Maybe you could cut it in half as opposed to rigging up support or you could use that nearly invisible mesh...http://www.americannettings.com/product/trellis-netting/ You'd still face getting up into the cherry tree to secure it to the tree.
I have the question mark, too! The Henryi decided to leap onto the Hickory tree (planted by the squirrels) and it did become an interesting look even if I'm the only one to notice it. You can see how fast the clematis took the tallest limbs of the Hickory downward to form the question mark.
Maybe it was a practice nest or maybe they're just new at the art.
I do have dog hair saved (after his bath) for the birds but we've had very strong winds and I can visualize it being anywhere but the intended nests.
I'm sure the plant is more overlooked than unpopular. Perhaps you local County Extension office could be of more help than DG has been for you.
My first bloom of the year! Gurnsey Cream.
Beautiful. Thanks for posting!
I told ya that I had bought some bulbs in Walmart in Feb. I decided to bring in some large pots and plant them so I could have them growing by May. Thank goodness I did, the Canna's were growing in the bags.