You deserve a break after tackling that bed. SS continues to impress me. Huldine looks like a pristine clematis and a nice combo with the blue.

I'm sure I've told you before, but I love your photographs!

great pics, I planted a clematis this spring and can't WAIT for it to grow in and fill in like yours! hope and inspiration and patience. :)

WOW!!!!! You have really earned a break and a long rest, too, but it all looks fantastic. The weeds has about took over my beds, at least all but one.I cant handle the weeding no more in this horrible heat and humidity, besides I am past 80 and a lot of Back and hip problems and that shoulder keepscausing a problem, too.,I usually stay out long enough too pullllll up a few handsful of weeds, then got to go get out of the heat and rest the back, too. SCULPTED SEASHELLS is a very pretty one.
and so is OTTIS MAGIC. and I really like those tall pink flowers, too.

jean

Ok love the daylilies and the pics of the beds, but your clematis is gorgeous! I bought several a couple years ago and have managed to kill half. I don't know what I'm doing with them! I know some you have to cut back hard and others not - I guess I'm doing it all wrong. Do you cut back your Blue Angel hard?

Black-Eyed Bully is becoming a favortie of mine too.

Ottis' Magic and Sculpted Seashells are really lovely, but the clematis arbor is just dazzling. Good job on the weeding! The weeds and the grass really got ahead of me this year. Between rain, out of town trips, and a horrible stretch of humidity, I'm not getting much cleaned out. I usually have at least a couple of beds weeded and looking and neat, but this year there's not one bed here that looks well tended. This is probably a wake up call that I have too many beds to really maintain given my work schedule.

Thanks all for the comments. I signed off last night early as my eyes were steadily closing and I zonked out.

This year I'm hoping not to downsize as much as resize. I find gardening to be a great source of exercise after our long winter. I believe the seedlings are taking up too much time and space so some will definitely go this year.I still have several double plantings of the same cultivar and then there is the ones which look so much alike that one will leave. Not to mention the clumps that need dividing but that will now wait till August/September.

Clematis: I cut all of mine back to about 6 inches or less in the spring for the first 3 years of having them planted here. I give them a dose of alfalfa tea in the spring and makes sure they have mulch to keep the roots cool and hope that Mother Nature provides enough rain. These are all planted in sunny locations with a minimum of 7 hours of sun each day hence the need for mulching. Clematis like water but has to be well draining soil. Next year I'll only cut them back to 12 inches above the soil. I did notice that Blue Angel did not grow as tall as it did last year.

I'll check out the others posts this afternoon once I finish my housework which is my least favorite task.

Julia

Julia,
Thanks for posting such a great pic of Ottis' Magic. That one deserves more press as it's such a good one for as old as it is. Good bud count and opening w/out hanging up and a bit of an edge, in a cheapo nineties cultivar, plus it's the first to open in my garden. Truly an oldie but goodie.

Heidi

Clematis belong to 3 different pruning groups, groups 1, 2 an 3 or sometimes referred to as A, B and C, or sometimes just labeled "prune lightly" or "prune hard".

Regardless of pruning group, they should all be cut back to about 12 inches above the ground in late winter for the first 3 years to promote health and good branching.

After 3 years, you need to know what group your clematis is in. Three pruning groups are too complicated for me so I prefer to just remember "prune hard" or "prune lightly". The "prune hard" types bloom on new wood, grow incredibly fast, and should be cut down to 12 inches every year in late winter. The "prune lightly" types bloom on old wood, and in general, you should just prune out dead wood and unsightly growth. So this is one plant that when you purchase it, you need to save the tag. All clematis like cool roots and sunny tops. So be sure to mulch.

If you have a "prune lightly" variety and you keep on pruning it "hard", the plant will be healthy, but you will not have good bloom. If you have a "prune hard" variety and you prune it "lightly", over time it will get woody and the bloom will decline.

thanks for the clematis info. I knew about the 3 groups but ignored them promptly after reading about them when I bought the clematis. I had too many other things to do and forgot which clematis needed what so I never pruned them and some died and other look awful and some look good.
I will have to find my garden notebook to know which ones I have where and be vigilant in the future to give them what they need. They are in full sun and mulched and in good soil. Thanks!

I've never grown Stachys so it's nice to see a garden picture of it.....My favorite daylily is Black Eyed Bully although Sculpted Seashells takes a very close second....What a job you had weeding. Must be satisfying to see it all done.......Maryl