Some new ones blooming!!

Thanks Julie, your display is going to be awesome! (we posted at the same time!)

Blue Light was ok last year when I planted it..but wilted this year..I think I put it in too much shade....Thanks for the info..Jeanne

Here is my Niobe.

Festoon Confetti Evipo036. The flowers are so delicate!

Here is a larger picture of the plant so you can see how tiny the flowers are.

Gosh, everyone's blooms are gorgeous! I can't wait for my "ConfettI" to bloom. I have her paired with Rose, "Don Juan".

Here are a few more of my blooms.

This is Clematis, "Wisley".

I can't remember if I already showed "Etoile Violette". If I didn't, here she is. If I did, sorry about that!

Clematis, "Victoria"

Shirley, your Etoile Violette is beautiful! Certainly loaded with flowers!

Thanks so much, goldfinch! I've had "Etoile Violette" in my garden for over 10 years. Clematis get more & more beautiful with each passing year!

Here's my "Comtesse de Bouchard".

shirley, your etoile violette is fabulous. what support is it growing on? how old is it?
mine is a good plant, but yours is fabulous. i just hard pruned mine as the blooms were waning and ruined from so much rain and stormy weather.

Thanks niobe. "Etoile Violette" was one of my very first Clematis I ever bought. It is growing together with Rose, "New Dawn" on a garden arbor. Here is a picture of "Etoile Violette' taken in June 2005 for comparison.

smashing with the white rose. will remember that. smashing. great combo.

Actually, "New Dawn" is a very soft baby pink Rose that sometimes looks white.

Shirley your Etoile Violette is stunning! I am so glad you shared that pic - that is one of the clems I planted on my pergola so I am hoping in the next few years she will resemble yours! Soooooooo pretty!!

Goldfinch - your Niobe is awesome!!! I think I really need to get one of those now!!!

Thanks so much, Dawn! I hope you'll enjoy your "Etoile Violette" as much as I do!

Shirley1md - Your "Etoile Violette" is stunning. I love it!. I have The president still blooming. I have to cut back some of the group 3's so they maybe put up new sprouts.

Thanks se_eds! Don't forget to feed & mulch when cutting back your Clematis.

OH MY Shirley...those are just stunning hon..Your gardens only get more beautiful with each passing year...I didn't know you were growing Climbing rosa "New Dawn" as well...I have her combined with "Comtesse de Bouchard" and am thinking I need a dark purple pruning group 3 on the other side..to show up more...Jeanne

Thanks so much, Jeanne! Yes, I've had Rose, "New Dawn" for many years. I love your combo of "New Dawn" with "Comtesse de Bouchard". "Etoile Violet" is a tried & true Clematis, but I would think that "Polish Spirit" would also look beautiful combined with a light pink Rose.

Here's one of my Henryi. This one blooms over a several month period for me.

Gorgeous!

My Henryii got eaten by earwigs this season. Hopefully when the weather cools down a bit, Henryii will have another flush of blooms that are not gnawed this time!

Thanks Shirley. Earwigs love both mine. Luckily they didn't eat/damage all the flowers, just some in the beginning of the season.

Does anyone have any experience with Guernsey Cream Clematis???? Nelly Moser is stunning. I have so many, but lack that one. Think I better order it. I'm addicted.

here is guernsey cream. it really blooms, from year two or three...magnicficant blooms that open with a pistachio color, and fade to white, then cream. long lasting flower.
i have several mature displays of guernsey cream, and traditionally i did not prune it al all, viewing the early bloom period (old wood). however, based on the nudge of debbie (silver star vinery) , this year i hard pruned one of the plantings and , it did indeed bloom again. this photo shows the variation of color from start to later in the flowers.
this is a low maintenence clematis that rarely suffers form wilt or other forms of stress, even with little care.

Niobe, those are gorgeous. How tall does it get?

here is a shot that shows the height of guernsey cream at age 5 years. it has what i would call a mounding growth habit vs a tall , tall climber. not a sprawler, it will climb....but it likes to grow wider as well as taller. the photo is from a clematis that is really not pruned much, just snipped obviously damaged pieces. i can't speak too highly of this clem. it needs little attention and gives much spring beauty. when the pistachio colored ones open, it is like a trip to the tropics.
the plant does well in semi shade, in fact that will help retain the pistachio color a few days longer. the cupped shape to the early flowers broadens out as they age from pistachio to white to cream. in the final creamy stage, the flowers are slightly recurving (like a perrins pride) and last quite a while (better than other whites for me) if not storm or rain damaged. as with most clems, avoiding
leaf watering and watering from the ground only helps the blooms last longer.
hope you can find some good plants. i lucked out 5 years ago and a local nursery had bought some quite nice plants and i kept buying them as the season wore on and they became less expensive. i have never since seen it available in any local nursery, but i know it is available from the best mail order places. recommend silver star vinery as first choice.
in this photo, guernsey cream is growing on a climbing hydrangea on an old dead tree "totem". i trim the hydrangea pieces that start to grow outward to keep it close to the tree and that seems to help the two plants co exist nicely.

also should have said that photo was a blooms just started and doesn't show just how many blooms guernsey can have. it is very floriferous. literally thousands of blooms.
here is another one that mounds on a shorter obeleisk closer to my house, all photos taken spring 2008.

Just Beautiful! So lush and healthy looking.

I could put it on an obelisk. What do you do when it tops that frame?

it just gently folds over and gets wider. the one i have on an obelisk is about 5 years old, (was one of the photos i posted) it just has a gentle, mounding habit that makes it seem like it has not outgrown the structure. it is a 4 foot structure.snipping damaged vines, or more aggressive after bloom pruning would help keep the size in check. even the one i am growing on the tree is not over 6 feet tall, but it is wide. it is also an easy plant to layer because of this mounding habit, and with a layer piece every year you can create a nice bushy display. it the obelisk can be in a raised bed, the training vines would look luxurious as they spill over the sides.
i have one on one side of an 8 foot arch, and while that one has gotten to about 7 feet, the bottom is very full and only a few pieces have grabbed upward. quite different form the empty bottom of many clems!!!
can not speak too highly of my luck with this clem.

Tie Dye from Silver Star Vinery -

That's beautiful!!!

The one I got from SS promptly died. :~(((( And I was sooooo looking forward to it.

Debbie

She has about 10 blooms and her first summer. Can't wait until next year. I need to put a white rose with her.

tie die, second full year

I love your tie dye! Mine would have been in its second year this year, but it did not show up at all. I was told to wait because it might surprise me nest year. I sure hope it comes back.

Tie Dye is a real beauty. My old ones ( 2 yrs.) bloomed very well this spring. Now the morning glories are taking over the clematis vines. Does this hurt the clematis? If so I will rip them out. I want the clematis and MG vines are annuals.

I have three new ones from Wal Mart this year and they seem to be growing well.

Proteus put on a great spring show and then died off from clematis wilt. I gave it a gallon of Epsom salts in water, then a few weeks later poured a watering can of Bayer's Rose and Garden solution over its leaves, vines and roots. It is growing nicely now and can gain strength for the next 6 weeks before hard frost kills it.

Thanks to the Clematis forum, I am learning more and more about the queen of vines and hope to enjoy more blooms next spring.

if the MG vines are smothering the clematis they will harm it. if a few are growing in a companionable fashion, no harm done. this duo can add to the first two year's display while waiting for the ramp up curve with a clem, but pulling out seedlings and policing the MG so it is not smothering the plant must be done on a regular basis. some feel it is not worth the trouble and risk to the clem.
descretion advised is the best advice.

Thanks niobe for your advice. I have removed the Morning Glory vines. I think they help to promote wilt. All vine that had MG's around them are now free and have had a shot of Bayers Advanced Plant formula. This is excellent for fungus, insects and gives a three month fertilizer boost.