I guess I'm really looking forward to spring. This is a June 1, 2006 pic. I'm leaning towards this Clematis being Niobe. Are there any distinguishing features between Niobe and Warsaw Nike. I am in zone 5. The plant has reached 5-6' and I get one full bloom in June and at best a much smaller volume of blooms towards fall. The clematis is planted on the west side and receives full sun. Thank you very much.
I think it looks more like "Niobe" because the colour of the bar on yours..a Close-up pic is generally better...to id ..one must take into account not only the color of the Tepal but the anthers and of course the bloom period which you satisfactory suggested that it 'tis definitely of the pruning group 2's! "Warsaw Nike" has more of a red bar and yours looks like a lighter pink in comparison with your tepals...Jeanne
a beautiful niobe. one of my favorites.
Thank you. The Niobe has been one of the most dependable in terms of returning and blooming.
Your clematis is just breath taking! Wow! Love it!
niobe is a good rebloomer for me if cut back after blooms start waning. takes some guts but makes good second show if you do.
niobe was it Polish Spirit that you said would rebloom if cut back as well? I can't remember??
ploish spirit will rebloom for me too, but second flush smaller and fewer than niobe. main thing i will note about polish spirit is that in the first few years the blooms are a lot smaller than in later years. this is true with all clems to some extent, but for me, polish spirit was a surprise the first year i got bigger blooms. big for a vitacella. it was a nice surprise.
That is great to know - thanks so much. I will be going into my second year with both EV and PS. I can't wait to see what they do up my pergola this year!!!
OMG. I HAVE to have this! I have never grown Clematis. My mom can't get any to grow. Any tips?
Hmmm my only tips...
1. Plant the plant about 2 inches deeping than the pot....
2. Fertilize with rose food or tomatoe food (from what I have heard) in the spring and
3. Use a good composted cow manure in the spring at the base of the plant
Mine have done very well with this practice and nothing else....
Did the hole very large and deep. Mix together peat, bag manure, rose food, any other organic or peat type of stuff.
Fill the very deep bottom of the hole with the mix, added the plant food that deep making the roots want to reach for it - producing large root systems. add back some of your original soil from the hole with the remaining mix and fill to the level you need to add your clematis. Use a chop stick or other item to gently pull the large root systems apart and soak too - so they don't have to untangle themselves. But be gentle. Put in the hole and fill around the root ball with the real soil and the amendments. Water well
when i plant clems i first fill the hole with water and let it drain. then do it again. then fill a third time and place the root ball/plant in the "swimming pool" as it starts to drain again(will drain slower this time as you have saturated the whole area around the hole thru the first two fillings and drainings) anyway as it starts to drain again, refill with hole with water and then after the 4th draining is well underway, begin back filling the hole with your amended soil , carefully placing the clem plant so that it will be planted an inch or two below the previous root line, and separating tangled roots (note:herbaceous non vining clems and finely rooted species clems such as intricata or my angel etc.... should be planted like any other perennial just to the current soil line, not deeper and do not need such a prolonged soak)
this saturates the whole area, allows you to double check drainage of the hole and ensures the root ball is completely saturated. some people soak the root ball in a bucket of water before planting, which i used to do, but i switched to my "swimming pool" method a few years ago as i could multitask saturating the area, checking the holes drainage and soaking the root ball all at once.
i frequently dig, or have a helper dig, my clem holes weeks before they arrive and mix all the soil from the holes on a large water proof tarp with the amendments in advance of the plants arrival. this way when they arrive i can plant promptly as the big chores are out of the way. the water proof tarp can be folded back over the pile of amended soil to keep it from washing away in the interim period.
this method has made planting easier and given me a higher success rate in general than i experienced when i had less of a system.
here is a nice polish spirit from last summer, planted with a terniflora on a hawthorne tree. the polish spirit is planted further away from the tree than the terniflora so i can take some care in early spring that it is not overcome by the terniflora.
Okay Niobe I would love to see more larger photo's of your whole yard. It is just beautiful.
Me Too!!! More pictures of whole yard, please!!!! Lesley
thanks guys. the yard is a 18 year project. been thru a lot of mistakes and over the last few years just try and simplify all the landscaping except the clems. that means shrubs shrubs shrubs.
if this is the driveay shot, you'll notice terniflora clems at the entrance
oops that wasn't a driveway shot
shrubs shrubs shrubs
i try and build tiers of shrubs , such as
or another shrub grouping
have shady areas
Wow, and I thought I had a large backyard! It's really beautiful.
rocky areas
thanks guys. it is a unique property, just 2 acres/ 18 years ago it was an dense woodland except for a small lawn and house. we have cleared much of it. as you can see i keep the clem gardens kind of hidden from main views. altho there are some around the house, not as many.
here is the hugest , oldest terniflora
and lastly
What a gorgeous yard and gardens! It's a lot of work to keep up 2 acres of land, but lots of opportunities for growing various types of Clematis.
Where all those rocks excavated from your property? They certainly make a beautiful wall for growing vines on!
CG, not only are your lands beautiful, but your hostas are FAB! I love big blues.
the rocks in the pic were excavated when on old stone bridge right in front of our property was replaced with a more modern one. the country wanted to buy an easement and we negotiated to get half the rocks from the bridge they tore down. it was a mother lode of rock. we have many other rock walls that were built from the rocks. we hired a man form bulgaria who worked with my husband, who had just retired. they were like 2 cave men for 2 summers.
we also have versalock retaining walls where i have a lot of clems. this big rock wall i have thought about starting clems there eventually, but i rarely go down there and have hesitated to start a new high upkeep area.
initially i was going to put sedum of all types in the wall, which i have started, but it is very shady (the pic i posed was a spring pic before all trees are leafed out). there is a lot of sedum in the wall now and i will continue to asses.
am trying to have everything as low maintenence as possible except the clems. thanks for your comments. appreciate them. just starting taking pics last year.
You were very lucky to negotiate getting those big boulders! They are beautiful! Bet your DH learned a lot about building stone retaining walls! I certainly understand why you are hesitant to start another area with Clems. Sedum are lovely and are drought tolerant. Have you investigated if there are shade loving varieties of Sedum? I have Sedum, however, they are in full sun, which doesn't help you much.
Keep taking pictures because we are thoroughly enjoying them!
Note: I need to take more pictures myself!
thanks shirley. i do some sedum research, i have about 60 varieties around here, but i lose interest and never remember the names. i do start a lot of it from pieces..they are so easy to root. everything about them is easy, compared to clems at least. i do like sedum angelina at the base of clems. it works well ..and again just one plant can make 30 in one season! no one could make a living with sedum...too easy to propagate!
Sixty varieties of Sedum! That's incredible!
Thanks so so much for sharing! Your yard is so beautiful and has a little bit of everything to enjoy. I love it. So many different textures and colours to your shrubs.....impressive!
i buy every sedum i see that i do not have. have a bundle of the tags vs a list and if in doubt root thru the tags to see if i have it.
sedum is so amazing a plant.in severe drought it closes something called the stomata, which is what happens in cold weather,, it just shuts down and handles the drought. most can take a variety of shade, sun, water or not. they like poor soil for the most part.
however, many many of them do well with adequate sunshine and look better with it.
and when i buy one, i just tear off pieces, stick them in some dirt and the root immediately.
i like to put the sedum in containers, at base of clems and edge of borders too. here is a birdbath i converted to an urn a couple of years ago (pic from last summer) and keep planted with sedum.it winters over each year, but i am always sticking new bits and pieces in it, it is like a tapestry.
sedum it is a good secondary obsession to clems as they are so easy and fool proof!
