Wow! Just gorgeous.
Clematis in time for Derby!
Violet Charm waiting for a friend, Comtesse de Brouchard to show up.
Thanks digigirl. More Edouard Desfosse
The Clematis Tree
Here is Friendly Fire iris with a few Clematis friends
Ernest Markham waking up with the sun. He's FULL of buds and so are his friends in this section: Jakmanii, Trumpets, Honeysuckle & Wisteria
Soulja you have one of the most awesome collections I have seen!! I do not have nearly as many as you but I am inspired!!
I appreciate that MarieOrtiz. Training these vines up the pergola, through the bushes, weaving them into the lattice, creating patterns with wire along the big fences, spinning them onto Spiral Obelisks & antique trellises and creating topiaries is very meditative and ancient practice in Asian countries and I love to do it for hours and hours.
All your pics are just YUMMY!!..I too love the Obelisks etc in the garden and half the fun it gently guiding vine to places that you want them...your gardens are so tranquil...Thanks for sharing...Jeanne
Absolutely beautiful! I really really like Haku Ookan. And your "gang" looks great together.
thank you Jeanne. I've been dreaming up this thread for a year and a half.
Since I am so impatient, I made it my mission to search the ins and outskirts of town, as well as the internet for the most mature plants with the heartiest stems. Next year should be a blast and I will try to get on the garden tour which happens in a few Louisville neighborhoods in late spring, early summer. My blurb in the guidebook would describe my garden as half Japanese with a pond feature and half cottage with emphasis on Clematis, Irises and Daylily.
I also have a veggie patch based around an arbor with upside down tomatoes, basil, cucumbers & peppers with grapes growing up the side. Of course it all started with an herb garden made using good ol' fashioned Kentucky Whiskey Barrels reeking of the bourbon we are famous for. I always say, you could get drunk on my basil. That was inspired by a trip to the gardens Stratford-Upon-Avon UK early last March. This bed will end up nearing Fall with no barrels visible at all and hopefully a wall full of Clematis & other vines as it's backdrop.
Thanks so much goldfinch.
Shawna - Your garden in this photo is AMAZING!!! What a cool layout! I love the whiskey barrels and how you laid out the walking areas! How big IS your yard???
Your pond looks very calm and relaxing! It must be a joy to work out there! I would be in my yard all day but alas I have one of those 8 to 4 jobs. :-(
I love all your vines! In your photo "the gangs all here", how close did you plant all of your clematis?
Thanks. Part of "the gang" shows off 2 (farthest left) that I just bought at my local grocery store (!), still in pots on the bamboo table. (what a Cheater!) Nice ones though huh? pretty massive for $15. The others are actually in the ground. {:-D
Another view of the herbs from last july. (I haven't even touched the front yard yet Becky). I had to put lattice in around the herbs & iris/bulb beds to keep the dogs out but opportunity knocks & I am slowly filling it all in with vines....
The building on the right is what my friends call The Cabin. It's my art studio/grow room. The rock bridge is a 2 ton shelf from the Lake Cumberland area in southern Ky. My yard a few years ago was just basically a gravel pit with a few scrub trees and some Naked Ladies....
Wow. Can I come live at your house?
You've done an incredible job with your yard. I love, love, love that herb garden. I've got some herbs in pots but no dedicated area like that. I'd love that! Do you plant new ones throughout the year so that you always have some to use, or do you just let them bolt and reseed themselves?
You've done a beautiful job, Shawna! My heavens! ... your artistic eye and vision flowed right into your yard! Amazing!!! I love everything about it! I was looking at your herb garden and wanted to suggest a ground cover for around your pavers. There is something called creeping thyme. See this link:
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/design/articles/thyme-the-fragrant-ground-cover.aspx
It would look very pretty and since it is also a herb ... it would fit right in that area!
I want to see some closer shots of the flowers (bulbs?) behind the herb garden. How much property is your yard? The reason I ask is because some folks can trick the mind into thinking there is more space depending on how it is laid out and presented. (Though your yard look pretty large.) I just want to see it all! It gives me ideas on what to plan for my additional garden rooms in my backyard. I had a 3-tiered herb bed which is now my Butterfly and Hummingbird Zen garden. Some of the herbs are still showing up in that bed!
At night my yard smells of Brugmansia fragrance, Moon Flowers, 4 O'Clocks, and Jasmine. That's my newest kick ... fragrant flowering plants.
I also love your waterfall and stream that runs under the little bridge to your studio. How cool!!! What a relaxing retreat!
girl if you can dig holes and spin compost bins, come on!
My method: whatever dies, gets replaced with something new! hah! I had to replace some thyme, lavender, artemesia, tarragon. Annual herbs that I use alot for cooking are reserved for the middle barrels: basil, dill, parsley, fennel etc. But I just put in some more taller perennials like Bee Balm & Catmint between the barrels to accompany my sage & salvia and some others to attract bees & butterflies.
I also have a night garden along the west side of the pergola with different moon vines as well as 4 oclocks, Lilac Datura & Devil's Trumpet. I light candles in the lanterns and wait for the night moths with a cold Corona after working all afternoon in the "day" garden.
Here's my moons from last year. I know we're off the subject of Clematis now but trust me, there are a few more on the way!
pretty fun.
oh gosh Becky I was waiting to find the perfect creeping groundcover to plant between the tiles which are leftover from a remodel of a mudroom / foyer. I had just enough left for the path between the herbs & the best daylilies. The tiles are sunk in yet loose and I made the mistake of planting all this mossy fuzzy bright green ground cover but it all died BECAUSE IT'S FOR SHADE!!! as my friend came, saw, and said. Alas, we learn. Thank you for the link!
I think my yard is 1/4 acre. I love your concept of "garden rooms" Becky. Little art installations and niches & nooks everywhere that hopefully flow somewhat.
I got started doing my own work and subcontracting the big stuff myself because I had a landscaping team with fancy degrees who charged thousands of dollars for what I thought I could imagine, conceive, and execute ~ better ~ for a nominal amount of money. I hired a friend, very strong guy, a teacher who has summer free time and made this whole pond for 2,300 dollars. I had alot of the rocks scattered around the yard already and had to go hunt around for others. But my friend & I did this all but for the bridge ourselves. I built the pergolas, the tall lattice fence, laid all the bricks and dug all the beds, except the round iris/bulb bed which used to be the kids pool ~ GOOD KIDS! ~ I had to get bobcats in for that because tons of sand & lime had to be removed. madness I say. I used to be a full time printmaker.... until I went to England. That was all she wrote.
NICE!!!! I can just picture you kickin' back in your garden at night enjoying the change of evening all around! I am out in my yard at night with my camera all the time. My neighbors think I am nuts to be out there at midnight or 1 am with my flashlight sneaking up and taking photos of the night creatures and night blooming flowers!
OMG Shawna....you said a few clematis....This is unbelievable. Thank you for this link. Do you have room for a Moonflower bush near your night garden? It gets pretty big, but it is wonderful. It does not vine, and can grow in a large container. Reseeds. A great night plant.
Your garden is wonderful, and I am glad you lured me into this thread. Cyrus and Camille look great too.
Hugs to you, my friend.
DO I EVER? That is another one I've been thinking about for the raised beds below the Moons on the pergola because I want hardy night bloomers (that is hardy isn't it?) Also, I just started the 4 oclocks & Datura from seed and they're pretty small still, about a foot or so. Annual + Perennial night bloomers = happy parties!
Thank you Miss Shar, I'm glad & honored that you made it over here, where the vines are gorgeous to the point of madness! It is dangerous for a girl like me to own a Clematis encyclopedia.
Here is the MF bush...
I planted seeds May 25 last year, this was taken August 8, same year. Grows very well, very quickly.
That is really nice. a killer bush. from seeds? here i go ebaying again.
and it is hardy? I'll bet the night moths would LOVE that one.
What is the name of that bush? Is it a Datura?
It is a datura, Moonflower bush. Very much like a vine in looks but does not vine at all.
Shawna, I have a few seeds, I am pretty sure. I'll send you some, and Becky if you can wait, I will absolutely save seeds for you this year. I just don't know how many I have right now and they are outside in my little storage chest or I would go check. It is a wonderful plant. I was surprised because when a friend sent me the seeds she thought they were a vine, too. Nope, it was a bush.
okay Shar, so I'm dumb, but is my 12' high Lilac Datura, (already planted just where I'm talking about ) ... a perennial Bush like yours? except lilac color? OMG duh. I already have that.... planted.... Thanks for reminding me... (?) durrrrr.....
remember what i said about taking after my great grandmother & plopping stuff in the ground with no idea what it is? okay....
Is this the bush? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/355/
I planted a bunch of seeds last year and got a few to come up and bloom, but nothing large like what you are a talking about. I think in my hot climate they may not be as hardy. These are annuals, correct?
That looks like what I have except lilac color in title & on the seed packs....
and it's 12 inches not feet like i said last post.
shar.... is it hardy? tell me or I'll be forced to look it up.
Sorry, sorry, I went away for a minute. Yes, yes, and yes. And yes to Plant files. And yes it can be lilac.
Mine is white.
Gonna send you another photo, hang on.
OK.....the first photo was at about 10 p.m.
This one was about 8 p.m. You can almost watch them bloom
This pot is large, and actually I filled it with several seeds, most of which bloomed, and dianthus is back and glorious this year. I just planted the seeds, but I find that if I had done some fall planting they would probably do much better. This was my first experience with datura, and honestly I had a trellis for it because I thought it would vine. Not so, but I really loved the plant, never fed it, really didn't do much for it, it simply grew and bloomed all by itself.
I think you might have the same thing with the lilac.
I got some very strange looks taking photos in the middle of the night. Neighbors were out dogwalking.
WOWZER! That's a Datura bush? Oh so sweet. Yum. Thanks Shar! glad I have it (!)
and thanks for the suggestion for the Thyme becky! you girls are good to me.
Tomorrow I spy a Giant Arctic Queen Clematis waiting to open and strike a pose.
There's nothing to it, Vogue.
Shawna - Do you have a Brugmansia?
I don't. Should I Becky?
Oh jeez, there's an awesome picture of Jeanne's Angel's Trumpet Brug on the other thread going right now! i guess I should have one and I guess it's natural for Clematis people to have & love them.
YES!!!! I d-mailed you.
okay, Brugamansia it is.
I'll see you all soon with the next round of Clematis Vines.
Thanks for the late night garden chat.
Becky put that pic of that moth on your finger on this thread.
pleeeease. you must!
Okay, just for you Shawna!
This Hummingbird Moth got caught in my screen porch and I had to rescue it from my cat. This was earlier this week. They are huge and sound just like a hummer when flying! It's wings feel just like that of a bird. Very strong and almost feather-like. They are the coolest moths beside the Luna Moths! (I am a Butterfly and Moth devotee. I raise and release them!)
