Saturday morning, my Clematis ‘Guernsey Cream’ began it’s show — once again, the first large-flowered clematis to open in my garden. This year the blooms came more than a week earlier than last year. Lovely whenever it blooms!
The first blossom of C. ‘Guernsey Cream’ — just opening
C. ‘Guernsey Cream’, Fully Open
A cluster of C. ‘Guernsey Cream’ blooms just two days later
Yesterday, Clematis ‘Will Baron’ showed its first blossom,
but it was hidden inside the tangle of vines.
C. ‘Will Baron’, acting shy
I think the next to bloom will be Clematis Josephine.
Here it is in luscious bud.
C. Josephine showing off her fat buds.
Yesterday, I looked UP and realized my Clematis montana ‘Vera’ was blooming about 40′ up in its support system — a 90′ Port Orford Cedar! Very difficult to get a good photo when the flowers are so far up, especially without a telephoto lens. I hear they have lens attachments for smart phones now. I’ll have to look into it.
To make up for the poor quality of the C. montana photo above, I am adding photos of two beautiful Clematis montana I encountered in the last week or so.
My daughter Mireille’s sweet C. montana
An unknown C. montana I snapped today in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. Beautiful!
My Clematis recta purpurea is not blooming yet, but the rich purple leaves and stems are certainly putting on a show!
Oh, the richly colored leaves of C. recta purpurea!
Are your clematis starting to bloom, too?
Clematis in Seattle 
Kathy Dunn said,
May 12, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for the report on the conference! I just brought a C. Recta Purpurea home from the West Seattle Nursery today in my bicycle trailer. The foilage looks really nice. I have been wanting it for a while and they were kind enough to order it for me.
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clematisinseattle said,
May 15, 2014 at 2:08 pm
Oh, you won’t regret buying Clematis recta purpurea! It’s a beauty and very unusual with that dark plumy purple foliage. Mine is about three years old now and over six feet tall and ready to burst into bloom with loads of small white fragrant flowers — that look wonderful against the dark purple leaves.
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