The Structure of Clematis

Clematis is a stunner when its blooming. The attractive star shaped leaves really make a statement in the garden. And it comes in various colors with and without stripes. It's blossoms also stand up better against the strong West Texas winds than my roses which often end up covering the ground in shades of pink and white.

Once the flowers are gone round seed heads form and they, in themselves, are worth checking out. The ball-like seed heads are architecturally attractive to view and exist throughout most of the summer.

I'd grow clematis simply for the seed heads. The plants never seem to grow much taller nor bigger year after year and I suppose that's because of the semi-arid landscape here.Still, they're worth having in the garden.

Climbing Clematis

Spring came to my garden while I was away for working. The clematis are doing well this year and are covered with buds.

 I planted two varieties at the base of a Climbing America rose bush several years ago. They really haven't grown as tall as I expected but the blossoms are so lovely I don't care.

 I think the purple one is H. F Young but I can't remember what the white one was. The number of blossoms this year is another sign that perhaps we've finally come out of the severe drought cycle and returned to the normal precipitation cycle in West Texas.

Budding Out

The end of March is almost here and the garden is seeing its first signs of color. The three varieties of daffodils have started blooming in the beds.

It's always a nice treat when bulbs, forgotten from the previous seasons, reappear to show off their glory. 

The trees have also all flowered. I'd forgotten how pungent the fruit-less Cleveland Pear tree's blossoms could get. But then they only linger around for about 2 weeks, thank goodness. Pretty flowers, stinky smell.

The pink blossoms of the dwarf peach tree are small but lovely and make a nice contrast with the shiny green leaves.

The clematis already has several buds on it. The gladiola bulbs have broken ground as have the lilies. Yesterday was a productive day in the garden. Planted a small Gala apple tree near last year's Yellow Delicious apple true. They might be planted a little too closely but we'll see. My tiny backyard is getting rather full and there won't be much planting space for large bushes and trees soon. Despite that, I'll probably try to cram another dwarf tree in a bare spot by the back gate. I was also able to divide several Pincushion plants, Salvias, and Tickseeds and replant them. Next month I'll need to divide up some of the Iris and daylilies to donate to the Garden and Arts Center's annual plant sale.

My plans for taking additional photos today was derailed by strong winds so I'll defer that to another day.

A Lull in the Gale

The early hours of this morning were marked by loud, howling winds. I'm a light sleeper so it probably bothered me more than others in the neighborhood. However, it was a nice surprise to find that by 11 am the wind had slowed down enough that I could go work in the beds without flying dirt and gravel hitting me. It was a bit chilly but as the day went on it got rather pleasant. I guess the wind changed direction or something because it didn't seem to be more than 15 miles a hour. So, for the first time in over a week I got to play in the dirt. Wahoo!

This trumpet vine is so lovely and a survivor. It's on the east fence and battles winds, which repeatedly rip it off the fence, and the neighbor's dogs which jump up on the fence from the other side. The winds cause it to get all tangled up and not drape over the fence where it can stretch out and grow... or perhaps my neighbors don't like it and are pushing it back over the fence? Who knows. I originally planted it on this part of the fence to help anchor it as the dogs and wind were causing the fence to lean back a little. Whatever the reason, it's such a lovely plant. Love the apricot-y color with the yellow center.

Actually took this photo the evening before, when there was a lull in the gale. Isn't this a gorgeous blue?

This cheerful pink dianthus came back and is nestled underneath some other plants. The color is actually a lot brighter than in the photo.

Okay, this is the front bed clematis that needs to be transplanted in the fall. It really followed the say that it leaps in the third year. It's covered with buds and the three mini-trellises are not enough to support it. The bed is a very small strip between the garage and walkway and is only about a 1 foot deep, so I can't get a big trellis in the bed. I THINK this might be the H. F. Young Clematis but don't quote me on that. That's the only clematis tag I've found so far going through the containers filled with old plant tags.

I THINK this is the Bridal Wreath Spirea plant I planted last year. It's so lovely with all its small white clusters of flowers and it's a shame it only blooms for a short time... which unfortunately for this year is during high winds when I can't really get to enjoy it like I wish I could.

There's a lot more blooming in the strolling garden and I hope to get more pictures up this coming week.

To move or not to move?

Talk about surprises. A week ago the clematis plant in the skinny front side bed started greening up. Quickly inspecting the front beds last night I was shocked to discover that same clematis has more than doubled, is covered with leaves and now there's at least 12 buds on the plant. I had not expected it to grow this fast. The two in the back are only a third this size. I guess it's true what they say about clematises [or is it clemati?] - they really do leap in the third year!

Above is a close up of several of the fuzzy buds. I thought they were leaves about to unfurl until the got bigger and more almond shaped. I can't remember which variety this one is, hopefully the tag is somewhere in the baskets in the garage so I can figure out what the name of the clematis is finally. The blooms are a gorgeous blue-purple color. The rare rain we had this morning, little though it was, is probably just going to encourage more growth.

So, here's my dilemma: Should I dig it up and relocate it to the back arbor and leave it alone? Do clematises transplant well? Any advice would be great! I don't want to drill in the brick and this bed, which is very small and runs between the garage wall and the front sidewalk, is not deep enough [as there's concrete underneath after about a foot] to put in a taller a trellis - which is why I've got three smaller trellises side by side - and, most importantly, I'm about the most unhandy do-not-do-it yourselfer out there. I originally thought about putting s-hooks into the small overhang from the garage and hanging chicken wire from the hooks. Problem is I'm afraid to drill holes into the overhang. And with the high winds we sometimes get, particularly in the spring, I wonder if the wire would be ripped away from the wall. So, what would you do?  Dig it up and move it to the back yard arbor or take the risk and rig up the s-hook/chicken wire trellis?

The Garden in March

Late tonight I heard the most amazing sound - a soft tapping on the window which increased in intensity. It couldn't be I thought but, sure enough, a trip to the window confirmed my hopes. Rain, glorious rain! A sound that's been few and far inbetween this winter. It lasted less than an hour but oh what a great hour it was. All in all it's been a decent week in the garden, despite the yo-yoing of temperatures from day to day. On Wednesday I came home to discover that a few of my daffodils have started to bloom. And those wasn't the only plants waking up from their winter slumber.

The daylilies are peeking up everywhere. Love the striping on the daylily below, which is coming up around the fringed leaves of the larkspur that thankfully reseeded itself. I am so thrilled with how the larkspur flourished in the garden that I've bought 6 more seed packets last month. Now if only the weather will stablize more so that I can sow the seeds. It will be interesting to see what colors appear on the plants, especially the daylilies next to the Larkspur. These were planted last fall and I've totally forgotten what variety they were. Must dig through the tag pile after they bloom to match up their names. The majority of the daylilies have been gifts from a co-worker whose home garden seems to multiply daylilies and irises like Tribbles. And I have been on the receiving end of that generosity. Last count that was about 50 irises and probably 40 daylilies. Everyone with a young garden should be so blessed to have a friend like this!

The Salvias, Veronicas and scabiosas are bushing up too. The rose bushes are leafing out. Trimmed off the died rose blossoms off the Knockout Roses. I know they're suppose to be "self cleaning" but all those dried up buds were so untidy looking. They are also a good lesson to me about reading the plant tag. The Knockouts have tripled in size and overshadowed the underplanted irises and daylilies, so it's transplanting time for those plants this spring.

The Clematis plants are also a lesson in verticality. The saying "First year it sleeps. Second year it creeps. Third year it leaps." totally applies to this plant. I almost ripped one out in the second year when it seemed like the plant was underperforming and would never amount to anything. Boy was I wrong. Last summer that plant went gangsters in a matter of days. I even bought two more to add to the back garden. This week, within two days, several leaves have appeared on all the Clematis vines. Ah, the promise off large, gorgeous blossoms to come.

While poking around in the beds and clearing out dead leaves, I even saw one leaf of my earliest Asiatic Lily coming up underneath the mulch. These lilies are stunners. Around 5 feet tall with deep magenta coloring. Wish I could plant more but these came from one of those bags of lilies one finds at Walmart and I've never seen them again. Hopefully mine are putting out little babies and multiplying in the bed. The only thing better than a pass-a-long plant from a friend is a free, naturalized plant already in one's garden. Here's hoping your garden is waking up from its slumber to reward you with glorious green leaves and a promise of beautiful blossoms to come.