wow, I do love that cleamtis, Very pretty. I have another one today that opened one bloom. I have another one full of buds, but no blooms yet on it,and I lost the tag on it, so have no idea who it is.maybe I can figure it out when it puts up a bloom.

jean

The clematis is the most beautiful of the batch although I do really love the fringe tree also.

I like your fringe tree, & the roses are beautiful. I have to admire the roses people post here, since I can't grow them :) Gorgeous clematis! I have 2 or 3 clematis, but mine aren't blooming yet.

Well, this forum is an education. I had to look up fringe tree and HF Young. Now I want both in my yard, too. I'll just have to knock down the garage, I guess.

The glowing color on HF is stunning, and it said the blooms are 6 to 9 inches! It seems that clematis is a flower that you could get carried away with, just like daylilies.

Thank you for your beautiful photos.

Christine

How nice! Thank you all for looking and yor kind comments. Jean, it is the garden gnomes again. They steal tags. Take a look at clematis on the web and you may be able to figure out what it is, or post it on the clematis forum and ask for help.

Thanks Rita. The fringe tree is at its peak right now...then it becomes a little green tree. I plan to shovel prune its brother since it is going to be too big for the space and the roses are overtaking it. This one I will keep though.

ngraham, Thank you, but it is so sad that you can't grow roses...is it the Japanese Beetles? The birds are beginning to recognize them as prey. I have read (an anecdote only) that usuing only natural fertilizers and no artificial nitrogen cuts doen on their numbers dramatically. Who knows, but I am going more and more toward the natural. Lots of compost and manure.

Christine, HF Young is one of the easiest clematis to grow and such a big reward. These blooms are every bit of the predicted size. Talk about dinner plate dahlias, this year this clematis vies for size. The fringe tree is a native that grows wild, but I actually got mine from Park seed if you can believe it. It has really done well.

I hesitate to keep posting pictures since my season started so early, but, as you can see, I haven't resisited the impulse too well.
kay

All looking great I especially like the clematis.
Linda

It's all beautiful, but the clematis is spectacular.
Val

Thank y7ou so much Linda and Val. I am enjoying the clematis tremendously this spring.
kay

Yes, Kay, the Japanese beetles demolish roses here. I just gave up on roses rather than watch them being demolished. I'm not sure about natural fertilizers helping much. I only used compost around my roses when I had them, & not a lot of that even. I'm afraid I'm not good at fertilizing much of anything in my garden, but things seem to do pretty well. Every once in a while I may go around with some fish emulsion or compost tea, but I'm too lazy I guess to do it properly.

Well Ngraham, the devilish beasts do it here too, but I usually get the spring flush first, then I get the beetles. The beetles last about a month. I take out my frustrations with a bucket of soapy water and knock the scoundrels in it, preferably while they are mating. The roses recover and I get my much more sporadic blooms during the year, and then the fall flush.

Last year they didn't touch the old garden roses but were pretty bad on the hybrid teas and decimated the knock outs at the back of the greenhouse.

The groups of roses are in three different places in the yard...it was odd. As if they couldn't come past an area about 25 feet from the knock outs.

I don't spray for the beetles. It doesn't seem to do much and it kills other insects I am unwilling to damage, so I just live with it and battle on my own terms. I am using only organics on the entire garden now. No miracle gro. Compost, fish emulsion, seaweed, manure. Bone meal, blood meal, etc...

We will see how it goes. I also am enticing the birds with plant foods, houses and as much habitat as DH can stand. I think they will eventually be very helpful with the beetle scourge.

I can't give up the roses. I NEED them.
kay