How long do you keep clematis seedlings inside? I have a couple that are looking puny. They are so small I think I will pot them up and watch them a few weeks. It may go down to 40 tonight.
What are some of your best Clematis?
Don't want to interrupt, but I like General Sikorski.
Sorry about the quality of the pic, my 5 year old got the only picture of it last year.
What a beautiful picture of General Sikorski!
Here is a shot of Henyri. It has even more blooms now.
Henryi is putting on a show! That's what we all hope for!!
I gotta get one of those!
It's so nice to see lush clematis vines in October even though these photos were taken in spring.
I might sound like a broken record, but here is one of my favorites this morning. He is taller than I, so I had to hold the camera over my head and hope I got the shot. John Huxtable doesn't seem to realize it's fall !
Gorgeous at any time but in October it's twice as lovely, Louise.
He is beautiful. How old is he - was he a slow starter?
Dathen
He was planted in spring of '07. He went to about 3 feet in '07, 4 feet in '08 and about 9 feet this year. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give him an 8 for speed of growth. Bloomed nicely every year.
Oh thanks pirl for bumping this one up, too tired to read it all now but I will have to come back to it.
Just came across this picture taken this past April in a local public garden.
Barbara Harrington, Semu, John Huxtable, Lady Betty B, the list goes on. Barbara Harrington is a stunning clematis for my zone. She is full of blooms now. I have lots to post if time ever allows.
Kathy
Venu - I missed your last post on John. That sounds like very good growth speed. If mine comes up next year and just sits there, I may have to find another spot to plant him - I do love his looks.
Everyone seems to have John but me. At least I have one as a husband!
(why does that sound all wrong?)
Hopefully you'll have another John next spring.....a clem, not a man :)
That John's a real looker Venu!
He's such a flirt too!
I bet!
I love the Evergreen Clematis armandii, for it is hardy in our winters, it can stand heat/ dry spots, and its scent is incredible in the spring.
My mother says it smells like a cross between Gardenia and Jasmine.
The only problem with it is, it is very vigorous, so do not not plant it unless you have the space, as it will take over.
My one has now grown down my washing line and smothered a south/west facing wall, and is growing down the other sides now.
Regards from England.
Neil.
Neil! Love your posts in the recipe forum. My ex-MIL was from Cheltenham and I visited for 3 weeks in 1978 and loved your country.....your vine is gorgeous. What zone are you considered? I WILL be making your Yorkshire Pudding ! Kim
My dearest, KimmyCoCoPop thank you for your comments. I am most glad you like my Clematis I will enclose another picture.
However I do not trust your zone maps or anything about them. For my Clematis is said to be hardy in zone 9 but the temperature dropped to Minus 16.2 ℉, and my Clematis was covered in snow as were my tree ferns, yet it did not touch them at all.
So I asked this as it seems there are a few problems with the system.
Your Zones that members use confuse me, I understand the nicely coloured maps, but they are irrelevant and totally meaningless!
I live in the U.K. (London), so that only adds to more confusion, this is from wilkipedia, regarding Zones!
Possibly the largest drawback is that they do not incorporate summer heat levels into the zone determination. Sites which may have the same mean winter minima, but markedly different summer temperatures, will still be accorded the same hardiness zone. An extreme example is the Shetland Islands and southern Alabama, which are both on the boundary of zones 8 and 9 and share the same winter minima, but very little else in their climates; in summer, the humid subtropical climate of Alabama is about 20 degrees Celsius hotter than the oceanic climate of Shetland, and there are very few similar plants that can be grown at both locations. Due to its maritime climate, the UK is in AHS Heat Zone 2 (having 1 to 8 days hotter than 30 degrees Celsius) according to the AHS (American Horticultural Society), whereas Alabama is in Zones 7 to 9 (61 to 150 days hotter than 30 degrees Celsius). It is by consequence most relevant to combine the hardiness zone with the heat zone to have a much better picture of what can be grown in such or such places.
Another problem is that the hardiness zones do not take into account the reliability of the snow cover. Snow acts as an insulator against extreme cold temperatures, protecting the root system of hibernating plants. If the snow cover is reliable (then present during the coldest days), the actual temperature to which the roots are exposed is not as low as the hardiness zone number would indicate. As an example, Quebec City in Canada is located in zone 4 but can rely on an important snow cover every year, making it possible to cultivate plants normally rated for zones 5 or 6, whereas in Montreal, located in zone 5, it is sometimes difficult to cultivate plants adapted to the zone because of the unreliable snow cover. But snow cover is a most unreliable event, and although a colder zone might have more snow in theory, just a single dry winter will remember the gardener or farmer how deep the soil can freeze in his/her region.
Other factors that affect plant survival but are not considered in hardiness zones are soil moisture, humidity, the number of days of frost, and the risk of a rare catastrophic cold snap. Some risk evaluation – the probability of getting a particularly severe low temperature – often would be more useful than just the average conditions.
astly, many plants will survive in a locality but will not flower if the day length is inappropriate or if they require vernalization (a particular duration of low temperature). With annuals, the time of planting can often be adjusted to allow growth beyond their normal geographical range.
Then last year we were classified as Zone 9, now due to the bad winter weather, we are now classified as London, England 8-9?
Then most users have a Zone with a/b in them, according to the net I quote:
The 2006 map appears to validate the data used in the 2003 draft completed by the AHS. Like the AHS map, it also did away with the more detailed a/b half-zone delineations, this refers to the new U.S.D.A. map!
So we are rather confused here in poor old England for many reasons.
Firstly most people (apart from the youngsters), refuse to use Celsius as they use Fahrenheit , T.V. and Radio stations usually do it in both!
We have Pounds and Pennies, they have Euros. The EEC insist we have Beer in Liters, but we still have Pints, yet Petrol (gas) is in liters not Gallons! They have Kilometers we have miles, they insist our food is weighed in Kilos, but most grocery shops still do it pounds and ounces as well, then are Cricket pitches are measured at 22 Yards, yet we are supposed to use centimeters, not feet and inches.
Yours a very confused Englishman!
Regards from London.
Neil.
OH MY Neal now I'm so confused but that was very interesting how do you ever keep any thing straight ? ;0)
Gloria from cold zone 5 Michigan
Dear Gloria, the Romans made straight things in the first Century when they invaded some of our Island, but not all of it.
So the Roman roads are straight, but our roads are curvy all over the place, which is much more fun than straight roads, especially on a very fast motorcycle!
We were quite happy till the European union, then; our potato's were too big and we were told to stop growing them, our bananas are not straight enough, are farmers were not allowed to grow food as we produce too much as we are efficient, so they will pay us not to grow it or rear it.
Don't laugh we have been told we will be paid not to rear pigs, or indeed milking cows, cereals or grow anything!
Here is a letter to the Secretary of State I sent, for this is what we have to put up with, as well as other things.
Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State..
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
16 September 2009
Dear Secretary of State,
My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs.. I would now like to join the “not rearing pigs” business.
In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.
I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?
As I see it, the hardest part of this program will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven’t reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority courses on this?
My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.
If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases?
Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don’t rear?
I am also considering the “not milking cows” business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current DEFRA advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares, on my computer at the moment)?
In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits. I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.
Yours faithfully.
Regards from England, Gloria.
Neil.
Neil, thank you so much for sharing your letter. I needed a good laugh and you restored my faith in that "WHAT?!?" is worldwide.
Dear venu209, I did in fact get a letter back from them, which said:
Dear Sir,
your points have been noted, and your letter will be passed on the the relevant department.
Then it was just signed by someone for the Secretary of State.
I have no idea what the relevant department is, oh well at least it has caused a laugh on DG, so that is nice.
Regards.
Neil.
Well I got a laugh but may be you will be rich soon for not doing any thing wouldent that be nice !!! good luck on your non work search lol;0)
Gloria
Neil, you added such fun to this already interesting thread. Thanks for posting your letter... such a good laugh! Evey =)
Hi everyone, to answer the OP I would have to say that the best clematis for me have been my Ville de Lyon, Polish Spirit and what I had *thought* was a Ken Donson but now I'm not so sure. (I just hate when the tags get lost, now I keep them all written in a notebook just in case!) I have a few that just seem to barely make it, like my jackmanii and Nelly Moser, I suppose they are just not planted in the right spot.
Nancy
With regards to propagating...My trellis fell down and broke my new rubro clematis. (I am new to clematis, this is my first one). I put the broken part in water. It started to root so I put it in a self watering pot. (Actually a soda bottle cut in half, the top half inverted, with soil in the top and water in the bottom. It made more roots and grew leaves. I brought it inside during the hot weather. The cat played with it, fraying the stem. I put it in the garden, planting it almost horizontally with the leaves above ground. The leaves have stayed alive (and are still green). This is obviously the wrong way to propagate clems. Rubro must be very hardy to survive this ordeal.
The original plant which was broken at ground level sprouted new growth and climbed the trellis. It is also still green.
With regards to the cat, she seems to like vines. My jasmine was moved to a hanging pot. I discovered that she HATES neems. I spray any accessible plants with very dilute neems. She has her own cat grass (oats) and catmint plants. I just rescued a dwarf palm while walking my dog on garbage day. It is the new favorite and gets sprayed with neems frequently. I need to find a high place for it. I check my pet health books to be certain that I avoid or hang potentially dangerous plants. Luckily she doesn't eat the plants (except for tarragon and garlic chives), just bats them around. She makes up for this nuisance by catching flying insects inside. (She doesn't go outside.)