Love white blossoms. Here is my new white blooming clematis in a sort of tub with one other clematis and two gorgeous abutilons.

This is the fallen white flowers from the ligustrum (about 18 feet or more tall shrubs) all over the bricked courtyard. It is the best shaded area which I use for my blue hosta especially.

Since it began blooming, my two dogs are sneezing all the time, and my nose is running. Pollen counts are super high around here. But COME ON SPRING.

Can you believe that we turned on the HEAT last night, it was 40 degrees this morning? What the..........

Sorry if I won't let go of the thread, but I was enjoying my walkabout of the garden during a lull in the rain yesterday. Oh it was still raining, but I had to see what was happening out among my beauties.

And here is a shot which demonstrates how low the garden area is, and why the all-over mulch with landscape fabric beneath was a good idea. Those ferns naturalized from several old hanging baskets that I threw beneath the sasanqua one fall a couple of year ago. They liked the soft muck, and now they are really pretty. That's jasmine covering the chain link fence, give it another year and it will be dense.

Not much to show yet in hostas, but the big magnolia is in bloom, flowers are the size of my hand. That picture was taken a week ago, now 1/3 of the flowers are on the lawn.
Bernd

Very very nice, Bernd...beautiful yard too. Your mulch is in great shape.and I like the curve of the beds.

Are you growing Clematis in a pot? If so, any special variety? How big is the pot? How do you overwinter them? How long have you been doing this?

I heard the gardening guy on the radio say you had to improve the soil about 4 ft. down, so I only have Sweet Autumn, which has escaped and naturalized here. That's a little too much digging for me.

bk

Spring's unfurling in NJ.

Sum and Substance in the morning. Still in the fifties and sixties but lots of sun this weekend.

I think this Jacob's Ladder (Stairway to Heaven) is really cute. I think it will make a nice companion plant for hosta. It has the green and white variegation tinged with pink and grows about 1-1/2 feet tall and 1 foot wide. I bought this plant last year.

Bk, I've been looking into getting clematis for my garden. I don't know if you are aware that there are actually dwarf clematis that are especially suited to growing in pots. That way you wouldn't need to be digging your soil too deep if you preferred to put the clematis in the ground.

Bkay posted"
"Are you growing Clematis in a pot? If so, any special variety? How big is the pot? How do you overwinter them? How long have you been doing this? "

Yes, all 3 of my clematis are in pots. The first one is about 6 years old now, sort of dies down in the winter, but hasn't died on me. It shares the big ole pot with a white jasmine (spidery star shape, not the Confederate jasmine), and a black eyed Susan vine. I suppose that protects it. There is an obelisk in this container (cone shaped metal trellis), and when we have freeze warnings I stuff the cone with pine straw. If I remember, I threw a sheet over the whole pot that really cold winter we had a few years back. That clematis is I think a Henryii, but it is the deep purple one with 4 to 6 petals. All 3 types of plants in that pot have been blooming for about 2 months....the jasmine had buds before but they opened about 3 weeks ago.

The other container I got two clematis from Brushwood Nursery delivered this spring. So I have no track record with them. I give you a link to a page on the Brushwood website which describes diamantina. Right now it is not in bloom, but it is slower growing than the other one, and I have no pictures of it--looks like a purple fuzz ball. But the clematis florida sieboldii is blooming prolifically right now. Flat creamy white petals surround a deep deep purple cenral area, has a delicate vine which will soon be at the peak of the trellis in its pot. Both clematis were classed as hardy to this area. I added two different flowering maple or abutilon to make a quartet of plants in this comtainer which is not as tall as the first huge terracotta pot.

I used the same mix of potting soil for them as for the hosta, and also more crab shells. I know I have pictures of the flowers somewhere, so let me check......The bloom is the florida Sieboldii.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis diamantina

Well, heck! I found the blooms and it did not stay up there. Let me try to post it again, BKay.

BTW, the terracotta pot is pretty deep, and I have added cow manure over the years. If the vines have deep roots, they have the space grow. The other tub with the new plants in it is as wide around but nowhere near as deep. I'll keep that in mind when I must uppot them.

I have both of my clematis planted about a foot deep and there is sand, rock, gravel under that. I don't buy the four foot deep rule. They do like having their feet in the shade though.

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Jon

Hey, Jonny, those clematis are beautiful. I just installed a new 80" high, 24" wide trellis for my 4th-year-in-the-ground Nelly Moser. I hope my new trellis is big enough for her. Is that white & fuschia beauty a Nelly M? How big is YOUR trellis beneath that gorgeous girl?

Esther,

I'm sorry I didn't keep track of the names. The trellis is half of an arbor that had a broken top. I picked it up cheap. I took 2 four foot rebars on each 'arbor' and hammered them in plum. Each end is maybe 5 1/2 feet high by 2 feet wide. I pushed the 1/2 inch rebar into each side of the 'arbor' which is made of hollow square tubing.

On the other side of the bird houses is the other half of the arbor end with the same treatment. Climbing hydrangea is growing up that side (no flowers on that yet). The clematis covers the arbor end, but it looked nice before it got covered up. It has a design with iron birds and leaves on it. Now that the clematis is covering much of the bird houses, I actually have birds nesting in them. Soon the bird houses will be completely covered and then I will just trim the clematis to open up the houses themselves.

Bought the birdhouses. Made the supporting post with brackets. I think it's pretty clever.

Jon

PS- The pictures are from last year. We are not this far along yet. It will be another week or week and a half before I get blooms.

This post was edited by jonnyb023 on Mon, May 6, 13 at 10:10

Don't you just love vines? My first big vine at this residence was the Confederate jasmine on a 4x4 9' tall post in the front yard near the street. Directly opposite the front door as well. It took it about 3 years (after The Plant Thief was caught and I got it back because of the pink spray paint on the trunk) for it to cover the post. Then the vine began covering the flag staff and the bird house on top.

There was a mockingbird who set up housekeeping in the nestbox, I'm assuming, because I sure cannot SEE the house any more. It continues to disappear into the jasmine. And perhaps other birds nest there as well, I see them flying into it.

Sure do miss all my years of photos, cannot show you how that jasmine looked when it began growing, straight out of a nursery pot. Thankfully it is not invasive.

Jonnyb.. What a beautiful clematis . It sure is very healthy and happy with what ever you have done. Does it bloom in the spring only or is it a summer bloomer too? Mine must not like me as they never seem to grow full like yours does.

Must have been a d%^$* Yankee that stole your Confederate Jasmine Mocc.

Almosthooked, they both bloom only in the Spring. The big one gets more Sun and it took a few years to start putting on a nice show. The other is shaded over half the time and, is nice, but not as full of blooms as the bird house clematis. They like to feed, but aren't too fussy with what.

Jon