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Friday 3 July 2020

Love/Hate Plant Relationship

Vines are my true love/hate relationship issue.
I love how they look when they are well behaved.
I hate the work and patience you have to invest in them, to have them look good just for a few days and then go haywire shortly after I have accomplished that feat !
Romantika is an outstanding DARK flowered clematis and with the right support it is amazing.
My idea was to pair this with Ilse Krohn (white) climbing rose which I did , sadly it was the rose that just couldn't adapt to the arrangement ? So that was a DISAPPOINTMENT.
My selfish complaint now is that I never get that netting up in the Spring before the vine goes wild.

How dark can you get ?
I forgot to take a long shot of how this next clematis, overtakes the simple framework I have for it against the side bed of the house .. it simply overwhelms it and I have to constantly attach it,  or prune sections of it.

I always thought this was War Saw Nike .. but apparently I have mistaken it for years now.
I have no idea what it is .. I have a few others in the same state of lost identity ?
This is Madame Julia Correvon , I have her in at least two places.
Little Lamb hydrangea is also a support for her .. constant fiddling and pruning keep her in check.
One gets morning sun, the other gets afternoon sun, they are on opposite sides of the back garden.
I shot The President (so many jokes so little time) in the shade for truer colour.
I have trained 3 of the plants to cover an old, dead, lilac tree and it can be quite a sight to see when it is in full glory .. even past it's flowering the greenery does the job of covering the dead lilac.
The "clematis tower" has a few different clematis clinging to dear life on it.

Clematis "Fujimusume" is an unbelievable , almost Wedgwood blue, one of my favorites.

Mrs. Harvey carries the same colour off, not only with Fuji, but with a bush clematis as well.
Stand By Me bush clematis below, the buds are such an intense dark blue, especially in the shade.
This seems to be a very "blue" category ?
 Twinkle is also a non vining clematis with pretty white bell shaped flowers , it can have, under the right conditions (meaning when it is really happy ?) have a pretty pale blue halo from the base of the flower.
My other vines are a mess .. Porcelain Berry, a honey suckle and my beloved kiwi.
They are in dire need of strapping down and behaving ! So that is the first job on my list when ever I get outside because it is a heat wave right now and I can't take that.
Just to get off topic , my first martagon lily is finally blooming .
I was supposed to get Guinea Gold .. but it turned out to be Fairy Morning .. a surprise to me !
It's foliage, one stalk, with such sturdy leaves was so straight and strong I was amazed and couldn't wait to see what the flower would be like.
Below is a picture of it after the sprinklers had gone off.
The details were wonderful and I was so glad the sprinklers didn't beat it up.
So here it is July ... the garden is beginning to get tired, more so because the heat dial is turned up.
It takes some early morning planning to try and get things straightened out, fingers crossed !

11 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your collection of clematis is amazing. They are one of my favorite vines. We are already in an 'abnormally dry' situation here. The garden is showing the stress. We are to have at least seven more days of 90F heat and no rain is predicted for this time. It is only July. ARGH...
That martagon lily is a beauty too. I have tried to grow them a few times without success. I do have fair success with clematis which is what makes me think they are hardy vines.

Hoover Boo said...

Your photos are fabulous.

Here the same sort of thing--the heat has arrived and now the garden will look bleached and tired until mid-October and depress the gardener.

All your Clematis are wonderful and rampancy in a Clematis--how can that be a bad thing? Most vines here are monsters but Clems are iffy because its a dry climate, and must be tenderly cared for. I envy your lavish happy plants. That Wedgewood blue induces sighs.

RobinL said...

My goodness, those clematis are incredible, especially the dark one. Swoon! I have four different varieties, but I really have to battle with the Japanese beetles over them. Not sure it’s even worth it, because they always beat me to the blooms. As for pruning our fringe tree, it’s about ten years old, and we haven’t yet. I wouldn’t call ours top heavy, I’d just say it’s getting awfully wide. At your suggestion, we have decided to do a little judicious pruning, along with a little limbing up at the bottom. That’s our favorite tree trick.

Casa Mariposa said...

I love vines, too, and have quite a few clematis. Some I know the names of, others I don't. Sometimes I want to know their names, sometimes I don't. I like the idea of just giving them a new name. It's not like they know what their names are or that it really matters, so why not just invent a new one? I have a clematis in my garden that hasn't bloomed yet and I have no idea what the flower will look like since it was liberated from its former home to end up in my garden so I've decided to name it whatever the hell I want. I'm guessing the name will be a bit sassy rather than sweet. ;o)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Lisa girl ;-) Thank you ! .. I have more stuck in some places they can't even flower (guilt trip there !) I think on the whole clematis are hardy .. some more than others and it always depends on the weather each year as well .. this is my first martagon so it was a "hello there !" moment for me LOL

Thank you HB ;-) .. I am in such a mood for Fall already .. in many ways ? LOL
I am so lucky to have a sprinkler system .. otherwise this would not be happening.
Fuji has been amazing with this blue .. it glows in the shade, I have never seen such a gorgeous blue like this in a flower .. I love it !

Hello Robin ;-)I escaped a little of the beetle , but it has been here too, those an APHIDS .. yuck ! Hey that is great to get a little pruning in for the fringe tree .. I think I got a little too enthusiastic though .. I have to watch for a little more support for it as it fills out .. but yes, they are such lovely trees !

Tammy girl hello there ! I think you are on to something there .. I like the idea of doing that too .. because I have the same situation coming up .. a small transplanted vine is finally going to bloom and I don't know what the heck it is, so I am going to pick out a sassy name for it .. the "sassy name clematis club" ? LOL

Jason said...

Wow, I didn't realize you had such an incredible assortment of Clematis, and they all look very robust and floriferous! I can see why 'Fujimusume' would be a big favorite. I'm really intrigued by the bush Clematis.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Jason and thank you .. I have a few more but you can only post so much right ? LOL
Fuji is amazing with that perfect baby blue, but every clematis has something that intrigues me .. bush clematis is easier to keep control over .. so that is a huge plus for having it.

GRACE PETERSON said...

I am also a vine person but it's mostly love with a bit of frustration thrown in. Madame Julia has been very shy this year which concerns me. I'm going to give it more fertilizer and maybe she will put on a fall show. That Martagon is a lovely shade. Such cool plants you have!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thanks Gracie .. first year that Martagon bloomed for me .. I have another one which is smaller but I don't know if it is the same kind or a different one. They were supposed to be Guinea Gold ! LOL ... yes it is a love hate relationship until I just let them have their own way .. like the Porcelain Berry vine .. now my neighbor is enjoying how it "wanders" our fence! LOL

Tanza Erlambang said...

violate is one of my favorites colors....beautiful color for me.
love to see your colorful garden

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thank you Tanza .. colours in the garden are so influenced by the lighting as well .. and strangely enough when one person sees a particular colour it may not be seen the same way as the first person .. our conception can be very individual , which makes it even more special I think !