Mid Summer Moments
My 'English' roses are performing well again this year. The apricot 'Leander' has been magnificent and should bloom again in September if our summer continues to be sunny. The large heavy blooms of the standard 'Graham Thomas' is perhaps the best modern double yellow recently produced. The blooms are a lovely deep butter-yellow, without a trace of the acidic yellow usually associated with yellow roses. Repeat flowering like all the 'English roses' it is a must-have for rose enthusiasts.
Most textbooks state that the early flowering 'Maigold' rose is once-only flowering. Well, my experience is somewhat different. If spent blooms are deadheaded almost immediately, I usually obtain more blooms into late June as now, and again often in late summer. The blooms on this particular rose are copper-yellow, with the buds tinged scarlet. The weather seems to influence the colour of this rose considerably though.
Moving on to clematis and their valuable contribution in my own garden, I cannot in all honesty say they are the easiest of plants to grow. In fact I find them at best fickle and sometimes downright awkward. Still their clambering abilities are an asset beyond price in small gardens.
By mid-summer we are enjoying the many forms of the viticella clematis from southern Europe. Masses of small flowers, resistance to disease and the ease with which they climb on almost any support make them an instant hit with any gardener who recognise these virtues. I will choose one of this large family to illustrate my point.
'Etoile Violette' is a very reliable performer, which sprawls over a large berberis in my front garden. Very vigorous in habit, its deep-purple blooms with a cream eye add an air of exotic opulence and are ideal for growing into large early flowering shrubs such as this. Apart from the usual late February pruning and some tying-in when growth starts, the work is minimal. Like all clematis, however, feeding is important. A small handful of sulphate of potash around the roots in March helps in flower production.
The non-climbing herbaceous clematis seem to be a forgotten group with many gardeners, which is a great pity. I suspect that is because they require slightly more care in placement if they are to succeed. Most are very vigorous and require either lots of room at ground level to ramble or very solid climbing support. These cannot really be described as clinging plants as they need
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