Blooms of Mid-July, Part 2
Following up on the last post, here’s a run down of the blooms in the rest of the garden: the Left Bank (the smaller part of the front garden that lies west of the driveway) and the shady back garden.
gardeninacity
Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
The Joy of Clematis
Book Review: The Plant Lover’s Guide to Clematis, by Linda Beutler So there is good news and bad news about this book. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Turns out that the correct pronunciation is CLEM-a-tis, not cle-MAT-is. Which means I’ve been saying it wrong my whole life, no doubt causing …
The Great Wall of Purple
The Jackman Clematis (Clematis x jackmanii) reached its peak on Sunday. I can tell because that’s when the first purple petals dropped to the ground. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year we extended the trellis all the way up to the rain gutters, and the Jackman Clematis took full advantage of the …
Clematisipation
The blooming of the Clematis jackmanii, with its mass of royal purple flowers, is one of the summer highlights of our garden. This year promises to set a new standard for clematis profusion at Garden in a City. Until this year the Clematis grew on an 8′ trellis against a west-facing brick wall. The vines …
Blue June
By the first week of June our garden has taken on a more tranquil character. The orange, red, and yellow exuberance of the tulips, narcissi, and poppies has spent itself. Now the garden is full of the bulky greens of summer-blooming plants not yet ready to put on their show.
My Clematis: What I Call A Quality Problem
Let me start by saying that I am a very modest person. Ask anyone who knows me well. However, at the risk of appearing to be a braggart, I have to say this: my garden has an absolutely honking enormous Clematis jackmanii. And it’s getting bigger. Above is our Clematis in a photo taken this past …
Question of the Day: What Vine Should I Grow on this Tuteur?
When I installed the new tuteur in the Driveway Border I was very excited. However, it turned out to be a disappointment. Instead of standing out as a flowery vertical element, the tuteur was obscured by all the giant plants surrounding it – Tithonia, Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum), etc. What’s more, I had envisioned …
Looking for a Few Good Vines
I am done with morning glories (Ipomoea tricolor). Last year I got only about half a dozen blooms total, and this year seems only marginally better. The cool summers, I suspect, are a big part of the problem. These are tropical vines; they want heat, but they’re not getting it. And so here we are …
From Both Sides Now
So you have to be careful about what you say to Judy. One day I casually mention that people really liked her overview shots of the garden and maybe she should do more of those. Next thing you know, she’s sitting on a windowsill on the second story of our house, both feet dangling over …
How to Get Bountiful Clematis Blooms
If you press me, I will admit that people admire my Clematis jackmanii. This admiration has led several, including neighbors and friends, to ask me how to get more plentiful Clematis flowers. Sparsely blooming Clematis, apparently, is a not uncommon problem. The thing is, I really don’t know why my Clematis jackmanii blooms so happily. …
gardeninacity 