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 new space for climbing.
I planted Purple-Flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus) last spring. It didn’t do much last year, but this year I’m quite pleased with it so far.
Our edible gardening is a bit of an afterthought. We have a small bed in the front garden devoted mostly to herbs and a few tomato vines with some annual flowers mixed in. The tomatoes and annual herbs were planted late this year due to the cold spring.
So on the Sunday before last I bought a hummingbird feeder. It was something of a Father’s Day present to myself. The Wild Birds Unlimited store was having a 25% off sale so it would have been foolish not to buy one.
Right now is the showiest time of the year for two very worthy but perhaps unspectacular shrubs: Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) and Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa).
Book Review: Planting for a Post-Wild World, by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West.
Both absorbing and challenging, Planting for a Post-Wild World is dense with both ideas and inspiration for gardeners who want to mix ecology into their horticulture.
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 always outgrew the trellis, folding back upon themselves as a result. So this spring we extended the trellis another 4′, so that it now reaches from the ground up to the rain gutters.
Sure enough the vines have climbed up to the roof and are now waving about up there looking for something to grab onto with their leaf stalks.
Right now the very first flowers are opening, and the vines are covered with buds. As I like to name different parts of the garden, I think I may need to come up with something for this little corner with the big vines. At the moment I am leaning towards The Great Wall of Purple.
In the Spring the front garden containers are full of Tulips underplanted with Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima). Now that the Tulips are but a memory, though, I’ve devoted some time over the last couple of weeks to replanting with summer annuals. The results are OK, but less than inspiring. Perhaps this is because I didn’t really plan the plant combinations – I was rushed and pretty much grabbed what was available.
gardeninacity 