Early Summer Bonanza

Top 2. Jun 4, 2001 8:43 PM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Clematis

In response to message posted by Kirk_Johnson:
So do I, Kirk - although this year I began with mine neatly spread out. We had a windstorm that blew it around and I gave yp after that. But you and I have enough room for romantically tangled clematis. Graham's garden is really very tiny - although fromn the amazing number of plants he grows and from the beauty of the garden you'd swear he had all kinds of room! But in his garden I suspect a tangle of clematis would mean two other plants he would have to give up growing. ;-)

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 3. Jun 5, 2001 2:33 AM

» GrahamL - Clematis

I would just love to know the dimensions of your respective gardens, so I know once and for all what I am up against here!? Kirk, you let yours grow and will into a 'romantic' tangle. Well, I did try that of course, but the result was far from a happy one.

My natural inclination is just to the let the plants grow as they wish, but here that's a recipe for disaster really. I have one clematis right now which is causing a real headache. Clematis jouiniana 'Praexcox'. It's has flowers like a Wisteria in colour, but the downside is rather course foliage in my opinion. It flowers late in the season and is totally herbaceous, which means it demands some sort of support and tying in.

Right now, it's growths are nearing four feet in lengh and growing in all directions, covering a Photinia. Casting shade onto newly planted hellebores, so action is required. The problem is how to tackle it? I built a wooden frame behind this clematis some years ago, but now it is totally inadequate and needs another bigger support. Ah, well time will tell which way this particular battle of wills goes!

-- posted by GrahamL

Top 4. Jun 5, 2001 10:50 AM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Clematis

In response to message posted by GrahamL:
How large? I have about 2 1/2 acres available to garden (minus the spots occupied by house, bran, garage and gazebo - although I can always plant vines on the gazebo.) I havemt' gardened all of it because my husband has this thing about lawn. But very gradually I've been sneaking in more garden, slightly widening borders and narrowing the grass into something more path-like.

And the area directly behind the house near the greenhouse seems to want to be a garden even though I've done little to encourage it - we do need a path of some sort there. But several aquilegia sowed themselves there and it makes me start looking at the area speculatively. ..

But with my clematis especially I act like I need to gardenwith a shoehorn. One one arbor alone I have a climbing New Dawn rose, a sweet autumn clematis and 'Duchess of Edinburgh' all twining together. That's the arbor where I had quite patiently separated everything out until the big windstorm which blew everything off the top of the arbor. Getting it backinplace (especially the rose!) was difficult without harming the vines so I simply left them to what Kirk calls a romantic tangle rather than risk stressing them anymore than they had already been stressed.

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 5. Jun 6, 2001 12:05 AM

» Kirk_Johnson - My Garden

I live on 15 acres, but most of that is forest, meadow, and marsh. The area that I live and garden on is about the same size as Carol's.

Most of my clematis are varieties that aren't very vigorous. I have 'Nellie Moser' climbing on the Akebia arbor, but compared with the Akebia, Nellie is a well mannered lady.

I had an old Clematis montana 'Rubens' that I let twine together like a thatched roof over a gate, it was killed during a bad freeze one December because it hadn't gone dormant. I planted a new one a couple of years ago, it has its own arbor made out of wire fencing; it is at one end of the arbor and a Clematis jackmanii is planted at the other end. The arbor is about 5 feet away from the roof of my bedroom. The idea is for the two clematis to snarl themselves together into a romantic thatch that will eventually spill onto my roof.

-- posted by Kirk_Johnson

http://www.harborside.com/~rayj/house2.j...

Top 6. Jun 6, 2001 12:15 AM

» Kirk_Johnson - My Clematis Arbor

Here is a link to a photo of my clematis arbor as it looked in 1999. It is more 'romantic' now.

to see a website about my garden, go to
http://www.harborside.com/~rayj/

-- posted by Kirk_Johnson

Top 7. Jun 6, 2001 2:25 PM

» Carol Wallace - Re: My Clematis Arbor

In response to message posted by Kirk_Johnson:
I just planted a new C. montana rubens. (Along with four other clematis. I love growing them through shrubs, so they rarely take up any space of their own.

What is the tree in the foreground of the first picture? I can't make out the details but it resembles a tree I was admiring in Chicago this week.

Do you build your own arbors and trellises like Graham does?

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 8. Jun 30, 2001 6:37 PM

» Carol Wallace - Pruning

I don't know why, but your comments about pruning just sunk in. I'm glad you finally discovered the joy of it. I LOVE pruning things, making sure that the shrubs get pelnty of good air circulation, and shaping them nicely. I swear it's one of my favorite occupations. I feellike a scculptor - but with the aim not of shaping things into tortured forms but rather to make them look like themselves, only not so congested. You get into a rhythm after a while and it's almost zen-like.

-- posted by Carol Wallace