we are in the midst of a glorious spring. all the clems are vigorous. but i keep thinking we are behind other years. i went into my bloom charts for 07 and 08 and by now i usually have several more clems blooming. right now it is only guernsey, markam's pink, alpina pink flamingo, another atragene i can not remember the name of, and pink champagne.
in prior years i have had gillan blades, nelly, miss mates. pope jp II, henrii, niobe, john warren and snow queen also in bloom at this time of year.
so we are significantly later, which i do not mind at all, but i think it is interesting to put some facts with the feelings. either it is cooler on average, or the hard winter produced a longer wake up time. so maybe the few i do not have showing yet will be along soon. i think we are going to bloom , on average, 2 weeks later for all early large flowered clems here at Hardwick Hall.
is zone 5 the only area experiencing this?
sometimes i feel like idiot tracking blooms, glad i did now and will make sure to note the differences this year. the weather , cool nights, plenty of rain and sunny days is a nice spring. and we have not had the late frosts that have damaged fresh vines in prior years...so i think this is the ultimate spring , even if it is blooming a little later.
09 versus 08
Well I don't know for sure but yes I do agree - it sure feels like things are behind. Several people have mentioned it to in my area. Normally we are further ahead by now by at least a few weeks! Strange isn't it?
I'm seeing a distinct difference here in Zone 8b - Central Texas - but with the opposite result. Our temperatures here are running about 10 degrees above normal and have been that way all spring. Nelly came and went three weeks ago and so did the first spring rose flush. We've had a bit of early rain in April, but nothing on the horizon for May so far.
I was just about to post the same thing, mocatmom! Mine have started earlier this year.
I think in my area all things have been slower this year,I have just started this year with Clems so I can not say these are later than last year, but I have had Cannas and Dahlias up and alot bigger in years past. I am just getting to set out Dahlias in past week. The temps were too cool earlier and then we had temps in high 80's. I know that I will be having alot later blooms on these.
It has been a strange spring here. in this part of zone 6.
well it will all be summer soon everywhere. that we know!
in clems we trust!
We have had a lovely long spring without a 'heat wave' that often 'blasts' the different flower blooms so I've been loving it. Whether or not plants are on schedule for bloom times, I will have to look at my photo album to compare. I think it's about the same, though.
In general, we down here in our part of Cincinnati (south east Zone 6 a along the Ohio River) seem to be about 2 weeks ahead of Columbus in the garden. At least it seems that way when I make my trips up there to visit my sis (in UA). Other more northern parts of Cincy are more on par with Cols, though.
we are still running a couple of weeks late here based on all previous years tracking. we are having a real spring with not one hard frost since things started growing, but nice cool weather. rain no too frequent. am watering the baby clems, but most of the big established ones are doing fine on mother natures rain cycle for now.
My other flowers are behind last year. (I keep notes in my calendar, ie. tulips start...) The seeds that I started seemed slow, also. I started more varieties this year than previously, so I thought that it was just inexperience. However, people on the Mid Atlantic Veggie forum, had similar experiences with their seedlings. Late March and early April definitely were colder than last year. Perhaps that made the difference.
I think things are behind in NC as well. I usually have more roses blooming than I do this year Most are still in bud just sitting ready to burst. My Iris have been slow I still have two clems that have not even come up ( may be lost ) and My Armanni has not bloomed. It has been faithful and fabulous for the past eight years. I miss it . We had a late snow here. The only snow all year. I actually shoveled snow one week and mowed the lawn the next.
yep, altho we have not had any hard frosts for 6 weeks, it is a real spring and things are going to be later. i like that.
plants are loving it. here is john warren, only a few buds open and usually it is fully open by first week may.
posted a close up of one on my hardwick hall thread a couple of minutes ago.
by the way this is my favorite clem flower of all time, but not plant. plant can really take some time to get some size on and can get damaged easily, but the blooms......no words for the beauty.
Oooh, yes, an elegant bloom on that John Warren!
She is a beauty and I can see why this would be your fav bloom! So big and so pretty!!!
we have just had really heavy rain most of the night. glad the john warren have not all opened yet, not sure if there is any damage out there, too wet to go check. but thunderstorms and soaking rains, this should bring up the last of the sleepy clems. at least after this i will be less optimistic on their reappearance.
Hello Everyone I need some help !.Canarby and The General have still not emerged, But it finally occured to me to test the ph. Canarby soil was 4.5! I have red clay soil here and have to do a lot of amending before I plant anything but I don't know how it got so acid. I put 1 tbsp. of lime in a gallon of water and watered with it. Any other suggestions? General Sikorski was just slighly acid so it got the same treatment. Someone posted a beautiful picture of General Sirkowsi and I wanted to save mine even more.I guess I could just buy a new one but I hate to admit defeat.
clems can take a range of ph.
general s can show very late. takes rests.
carnaby usually more spring reliable than general s.
i would patiently wait for the general and i would carefully dig into the hole with carnaby and see if it is very low, eaten , rotted or gone.
what was ph before?
Thank you Clematis Guru I have dug up Carnaby TWICE. I lack patience. The root looked healthy not mushy or anything. I placed a rock in the bottom of the hole sprinkled a little bonemeal then a little soil and then my clematis. I did put it a little deeper than I had it. I think the ground had settled and its crown had been barely below the surface. I have not dug up the general I put it at the base of a rose that has very sparse folage but attractive flowers. I thought it would cover the bare lower portion of the rose.
the general will be around when he feels like it. one of mine has not made an appearance, one did and then wilted a stem, but other stems are are showing. i find it a vexing clem, but of course it is welcome to it's place here in the gardens.
i have had some clems get really deep over a winter, seems to be only the ones i plant in the fall, on the first year in the ground that this happens to.
nothing else you can do re carnaby, except make sure it has had spring fertilizer, and again every couple of weeks.
it will probably show soon. pretty reliable clem.
Well I am glad that harsh rain didn't get the rest of your blooms for JW.....I can't wait to see the whole plant in bloom!!!
Thanks Clematis Guru. Will try to be patient.
even tho it has been a pretty spring, things are opening slowly which i guess is plant smarts as we are just clearing a cold snap that has us down into the 30's for two consecutive nights. those 65 and 70 degree days are nice for working outside
however!
i had a couple of roses not come back, and some that did. but they are growing so slowly...guess it is the cold as i have followed the regime of 3 in one, fertilizer etc for them religiously. and i put in several more climbing roses to make up for the lost ones a couple of weeks ago too. new dawn, they all seem to be doing well, just not taking off yet.
can anyone that grows both clems and roses in a northern zone comment on the slow growth of the roses and whether it is normal for them to grow more slowly than the clems in the cold early spring weather? they are all growing (except the ones i lost) but seems like they haven't taken off. a couple are starting to set buds, but very early stages on that.
Im not in the North but I do grow antique roses and a few shrub and David Austins. No Hybrid teas or Floribundas. Are your roses on there own root or grafted? If you get roses on their root they may die back to the ground but you are much less likely to lose one. I have someone with a tree auger come and dig my rose holes( red clay soil). but roses are still labor intense I dont like to lose when I spend money and energy on them and I even moved three last year ( due to construction) and didnt lose one.
i have mainly bought jackson and perkins climbers, do not think they are own root. with roses i am like the ordinary person with clems, as in, "you know, the purple one"...like them as a support to clems and the flower contrast but really uneducated on them.
if these do not do well and flourish this year and next year i will have to investigate a foolproof climbing rose for the property, not bargain shopping or being impulsive as my rose purchases have been!