Drip System, at Last!
Each clematis has its very own emitter!
Life is good. My friend Sean helped me (uh, well, actually, I carefully watched him) put in a drip system for my clems and all my pots. I am in heaven. With the dry spell we’ve been having, I have NOT had to spend hours (sometimes DAYS) watering. YayHA! Thank you, Sean. He showed me how to tweak the system myself, and I plan to make some tweaks this weekend. Hmmm, we’ll see how that goes.
Soon I’m Off to the International Clematis Conference in Germany
Where are the clems?
(2011 Belgium Conference)
Yes, it’s true. There actually is an annual international conference where clematis enthusiasts from all over the world gather together to immerse themselves in clematis for a whole week. Later this month I will be heading to southern Germany to attend my third conference (the other two were in Portland, Oregon, and Belgium). Now, I know you are probably imagining us sitting around in a stuffy conference room listening to erudite lectures about obscure clematis. Oh, no, each day all 60 or 70 of us visit two to four gardens and nurseries together–punctuated with rest stops for delicious food and drink, amid comraderie in a multitude of languages. But just imagine our consternation when, once in a while, we visit a garden with no clematis! Though we are able to enjoy the garden anyway, we are mystified that a gardener could actually neglect to weave at least one clematis into the garden design. We might even find a little time for one of those erudite clematis lectures, too. I plan to take lots of photos and hope to post from Germany, so keep a lookout (I’ll be in Europe from June 27 – July 11).
Bloomin’ June
My garden is in transition now between last of the large-flowered May-June bloomers and the beginning of the later-blooming clematis. Every day I find another clematis in bloom — what an exciting time! Here are just a few of my beauties:
Clematis Caroline, just starting her show.
Sweet Little Clematis Hakuji
Clematis Ekstra
First Blossom of Clematis Etoile Violette (must be 5″ wide!)
Clematis Fair Rosamond, winding down
Clematis Fugimusume
First ever bloom on my new Clematis florida
Clematis Josephine, still going and going
Clematis The First Lady (she’d look lovely with the dark purple Clematis The President )
Clematis Margot Koster
First of Many for my Recently Moved Clematis Pagoda
Lounger (non-climber) Clematis recta purpurea
Clematis Sonnette–adorable!
Clematis in Seattle 