Softly Purple
When I looked up at this vine and saw the colors in the dying leaves, I was enchanted. From a distance, the effect wasn't at all startling or even one you'd glance at twice. But, up close and personal it captivated me. Once again, the scan isn't quite like the leaf; the translucence is lost. You can almost see it in the leaves with the yellow tips; almost a dusky lavender blush is the best way to describe it. This is a relatively new Clematis for me. I was given a young rooted cutting a couple of years ago by my Clematis guru, Dick Tripp. After spending a year in a pot, getting itself collected, I planted it last year. It spent last year growing and continued this year, giving me one tiny flower. It seems to be happy and I'm expecting to see more flowers next year. This is one of the "Group C" or "Group 3" clematis that bloom on new wood and need a hard cutting back in early spring to two strong buds per stem.
I couldn't resist the temptation to paint a collage of late color to tempt you. See ya' later!
More Information
- Did you miss seeing the Royal Fern in its glory? See Planting for Moist Shade - Part 2.
- Interested in the genus Polygonatum? Southern Illinois University Herbarium: Flora of Southern Illinois contains detailed information.
- If you haven't seen Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair fern) unfurling stems of puce that morph to black, scroll down toward the end of my article Planting Under Trees - Part 11 to the photos.
- Destination Dogwood has a factsheet with information on several species of Cornus - all well worth growing.
- Eugene Rougea's page, Terra Flora: My Greenhouse, has a lovely series of photographs chronicling the growth of Bletilla, from nothing to flower...go see it!
Want to know more about Clematis?
- Visit the International Clematis Society site. Check out their "Previous Clematis of the Month" for mouth-watering photos and essays about some that you may know and some you will want to grow. There's also good information on planting, pruning and propagating.
- Read the Suite's own Graham Leatherbarrow's article Double Your Money with Clematis.
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