This part of buying clems is a lot more fun than digging holes. I've decided to order Barbara H. and Prince Charles from SSV, although due to Debbie's show, she will be away from the computer until after Monday and I won't receive them for almost another week. After seeing some photos posted today, I couldn't resist. I'm putting 3 together because I have more clems than holes dug.
1. Is putting Prince Charles with Barbara H. a good idea? If so, I also want to add Purpurea Plens Elegans. They are all Group 2's and it would combine lavender, dark rose (?), and pink. I've already planted Princess Diana somewhere else. However, I also have Rouge Cardinal, but I think 4 is too many.
2. After seeing Jeanne's photo of Mrs. N. Thompson, I HAVE to have that one as well. I have a couple of niobe's I haven't planted. Will this red help bring out the red in Thompson? I've never seen these blooming in person. Am I correct in assuming that Mrs. Cholmondeley would not look good with Thompson because they are both blue?
Please tell me what you think of my choice of colors since you people have actually seen these blooming. Lowe's finally marked down the price on their liners, so I have some others that will probably spend the next year in a gallon pot, so if you have other suggestions, let me know. Like I said, this part is fun to me. (BTW, Guru, I took your advice on what to pair with EV)
Please help me decide how to pair (or trio) new clems
Sharkey..I think you mean that "Prince Charles"(lavendar colour),"Barbara Harrington" (red) and "Purpea Plens Elegans" (A dark burgandy) are all PRUNING GROUP 3's/hard prune and yes they would go wonderfully together since they are all the same pruning group and easiest on you to prune
Here is my Clematis "Mrs. Cholomodeley"
"Mrs. Cholmondeley" is a HUGE light blue clematis..here is my Pic of "Mrs. N. Thompson" ...both "Mrs. CH and this one are pruning group 2's
mrs n thompson would look great with mrs ch. and niobe....it would be very harmonious, in my opinion. each clem needs adequate space in teh group hole, or you can put the holes close together. i frequently plant in 12 inch across 18 to 20 inch deep holes, with the holes very close together.
prince charles will be pretty with plena elegans, due to the contrast in color. if you put plena elegans with a red to hot pink clem (like barbara)the unique , small blooms on plena elegans might not show up as well. they will be overwhelmed and lost in the red tones.
my prince charles looks great with rubro marginata, and while plena elegans is a larger bloom than marginata i think it would be a similar and very successful combo.
you've got a baaaad case of the clem bug.....congrats and enjoy.
and last note, beware with lowes that what you buy may not be what you get. last fall i bought several at lowes, the price was irrestible for varieties i did not have ,( blue light and miniseelik). guess what? i still do not have those varieties, they BOTH opened in the week as pink chamgange and they are in different gardens and i already have 3 or 4 plantings of pink champagne and didn't want any more. not even a favorite clem of mine.
solution: i will dig them out after they bloom, hard prune them and move them next to an existing pink champagne display so boost those......
next time i see a great, compelling buy there, i will pick it up, but grow it in a bigger pot until i see the blooms, even if it is the following year. then i can plant it once and not have to go back and dig out etc.
BTW.."Purpea Plens Elegans" would look awesome with "Princess Di"...Jeanne
Here is mine with a pink rose to show you the contrast
careful not to overwhelm the delightfully petite, victorian style, red tone, plena elegans.
And here is my "Princess Di" with "Solina" which is a light purple
These are all great suggestions and very helpful. I think I'm going to pair Prince Charles and Purpurea Plens Elegans and just change the location. I want that little beauty to be noticed. They need to be near my deck where all the foot traffic takes place instead of at the end of the house.
The south end of the house is very wide with the fireplace in the center. I have lavender plumbago planted in front of the fireplace. One of them didn't return this year, so I dug up the roots and enlarged the hole. I want to put a tall trellis behind them and I need clems that get tall and that can be noticed from a distance.
Can you please compare Ville de Lyon and Niobe for me? I've read that Niobe can either pruning group 2 or 3, but I mean as far as color, height, growing habits, etc? I have a couple of both.
Guru, you're correct about Lowe's. That's why earlier this month when I posted a photo of my first EVER clem bloom and thought it was Dr. Rupple, everyone told me it was Nelly Moser. I still have the tag from last yr.
ville de lyon is more steady and blooms for a longer period of time for me. my niobes give a lot and are spectacular, in fact of the favorite clems here. if had to do one, and it was a prominent area i would do ville de lyon.
niobe can die back , and if you are a gardener who does not like to prune back it can be not as attractive when that happens. if you do prune back unattractive, dry foliage (no matter what the pruning group) as i do, it can be empty a couple of times a year. for a bright color red clem, ville has the least die off at bottom, least tantrums and most blooms for longer period. of course that may just be my garden, but i have had niobe in the ground almost as long as ville and this is my experience year after year after year with the two.
i did not keep my lowes tags, and wouldn't complain anyway, this is a risk you take buying anywhere, but buyer beware there on id's. i am growing more fond of pink champagne, and maybe as some o f them mature it will come off my "don't bother" list.
Maybe try keep like colours alike.....so they don't too different against one another but enought to keep them looking different. Shapes etc.....To be honest with you I am not a big fan of the bi-colour clematis but I think if you go that route then stick in the same colour scheme....JMO. Stick with two at a time and not three and be sure they are in the same pruning group! A must!
i mix pruning groups sometimes......if the base of the clems are identified and collared off and they are labled, you can easily see which vines belong to the p3 and which do not, and cut the p3 vines off, working your way up, cutting 6 inch pieces and removing them. some of the pieces can be left in for birds or the wind to remove.(if they re too intertwined to remove without damage to the vines of the p 1 or p2 clem) if you choose to do this, place the p3 collar and clem plant in the front of the p2, and slightly to the side. (or to the side of a p1 clem)
in northern zones a p2 frequently is treated as a p3 due to damage of vines in the winter. and may folks who want to delay blooming of the p2's treat them as a p3 as well.
sawn, you treat your 2's as a 3 don't you? i think i remember you mentioning that???? i do too when damaged vines might compromise the spring health and vigor or they are super unsightly. i think clems feel better when groomed up , just like we humans do.
Guru, I've been using collars as you suggested. The fence I told you about is going to house both groups, but it won't be a problem because of the collars, as you said. That's where I'm putting some of the better liners which I have pruned back that I don't have anywhere else to plant now. (Some are in one-gallon pots) I'm also putting one or two more mature clems there so that I won't have to wait so long for blooms, such as Polish Spirit. The "show stoppers" or whatever you want to call them--my special clems--are planted elsewhere in a prime location. I always make sure they are in the same group when I pair them, but with the collars, I can see where that's not even totally necessary. In another year, I should have lots of clems worth photographing and posting, as you people do.
In one area, I made the mistake of putting three white wooden trellisses that were only about 4 ft. tall--not expecting as much growth as I'm getting. I planted a Candida liner w/niobe about a month ago and Candida is already a ft. above the trellis with large buds about to bloom. Now that I have the lever loops, I guess I can train her to go sideways and back down. I'm afraid to bend her right now, though. I thought about using some of my old shark fishing line to string between these trellisses, but it might look tacky. (Is it normal behavior to assign gender to my clems? It's just become a habit.)
Just had a visit from one of my sons. My one-yr. old granddaughter LOVES my flowers. I'm going to teach her the names of my clems after she learns to say "Grandma."
oooh your g baby sounds cute.
sharkey you can also put bamboo canes, or natural sticks behind the 4 ft trellises that are too short. i have string between a couple of arches to get the vines spread out, only looks weird for a couple of weeks.i use natural brown twine for this. over the years i have done everything you could do to create the right supports. i love natural thin tree branches used as a tripod too. you have to improvise for sure as they growth starts and you didn't expect it. also bad is a small little clem on a huge support that will take years to fill in.....