Whats Looking Good in February 2014

Last year I bought several more Clematis with a project in mind of planting them into the Jasmine Hedge by the pond and into various shrubs and trees. One of them was a second Clematis Armandii which I planted by the base of my Acer Brilliantissimum late last year. Anyway, it seems to like it there as it is starting to quickly climb up the trunk and branches.....and also flower.

 

Hi Hsuh, well for a clematis that will flower in September onwards and is easy and reliable you could try Clematis "Bill Mckenzie". It seeds quite freely and will even be happy on a North wall and there are other members of the tangutica varieties that will do the same. The Clematis cirrhosa varieties can flower early as late September and will continue throughout the Winter. You could try, if you haven't already, Clematis cirrhosa purpurasecens "Wisley Cream" and/or "Freckles" which, like "Armandii" are evergreen so you've always got some interest in that direction.

 

I must stop drinking the "exotic" tea that Ziggy sends me as I managed to post some pics of Crocus on the "Northern Lights"thread......

So here we go again, hopefully in the right thread. Crocus being the ever faithful flower that comes up every year at this time of year I thought I'd try to get a little closer with the lens. This white one is the only one that appears despite my planting a fair few number of the white variety over the years. There are a thousand or two that come up through the soil in the borders but it's the blues and yellows that are predominate. The light blue seem to self seed very easily in the lawn and down by the pond, while the dark blue and the yellow seem to self seed only in the borders.

 

Thank you for that "moral support", Sheal!!!

 

Hi Kristen, well, it wouldn't be daft to plant a Clematis by a tree at the same time as you plant the tree..............just unwise!!! You're right, the Clematis is too vigorous to do that. My Acer Brilliantissimum is around 12' tall and around 15-20 years old so the Clematis Armandii will be okay climbing up it although the Armandii is fairly vigorous. I'm interested to see how the Clematis Armandii [as it's evergreeen] fares when the Acer is in full leaf during the Summer. I guess it will strive to grow into the sunlight and poke it's way through. I'm also planting into the Jasmine Hedge and the Lilac "Madame Lemoine" with different varieties to see what effect they give.

 

You???????????..........Never!!!!

You're right, the dark blue is more purple .......but then I'M not fussy


I'm not adept or professional at gathering seed but I'm more than willing to put some effort into it, Kristen. No promises but it's another project/challenge among all the others!!

 

Very strange how what you think would be an "easy" plant to grow turns out to be.......not so easy!!! I might source some white Crocus bulbs and see what happens just out of pig headedness!!

Great pics, yet again This is a great time of the year when you can get excited just looking at the first new flowers knowing/hoping what's to come