The Blooms of June 2018

December 9, 2018 at 1:55 pm (clematisinseattle, Spotlight on Clematis)
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June in my garden offered a plethora of colorful, diverse, and interesting clematis, including the last of the large-flowered bloomers, early blossoms from July bloomers, and three beautiful clematis bell flowers, two of which are home-grown seedlings of the dainty scarlet bells of Clematis texensis.

C. ‘Tartu’ still going strong in June!
C. ‘Morning Mist’ with C. ‘Proteus’ in the background.  One flower of C. ‘Morning Mist’ measured 10 inches in diameter this year, the largest clematis blossom in my garden.
The plummy C. ‘Lord Hershel’.  Not being a climber, this one lounges around on whatever it can find unless you truss it up.
C. ‘Fujimusume’ is one of my personal favorites.  Satiny sky blue!
C. ‘Proteus’ glows in a fabulous muted pink.  Who could count the petals?
My own fantabulous C. ‘Fond Memories’ blooming in June.  Ahhhh.
Above, the complex blooms of C. ‘Crystal Fountain’, also known as C. ‘Fairy Blue’, just beginning to open.  
And here they are, fully open. Beautiful either way!
C. ‘Caroline’ (pink) cavorting with the big double lavender blooms of C. ‘Vyvyan Pennell’
The purple-leaved C. recta ‘Purpurea’ flouncing in the garden and emitting its delicious fragrance.  The mauve blooms of  C. ‘The First Lady’ poking up in the back join in the fun.
C. florida ‘Sieboldii’.  I have two plants of this clematis.  Both were sold to me as C. florida ‘Sieboldii’, but they look quite different.
This one has a smaller, darker center. Both, however, stop visitors in their tracks.
C. ‘Polish Spirit’ already loaded down with flowers and buds, though it’s still only June!
Clematis Climador ‘Koenigskind’ is free-flowering on a compact plant.
A classic from the late 1800s, C. ‘Perle d’Azur’ always delights the eye.
Show stoppers C. ‘Etoile Violette’ (dark purple) and C. ‘Betty Corning’ (mauve bell) just beginning to strut.  They bloomed together for more than eight weeks during the summer, starting in mid-June.  I guesstimate that each of them graced the old dead plum tree that supports them with 3,000 – 4,000 blooms through the season.  Amazing!
Clematis ‘Princess Red’, a Japanese hybrid of the American native, C. crispa.  The dark pink color might come from a bit of C. texensis (a red-flowered US native) in it’s DNA. What a gorgeous flower.
An elegantly shaped dusky pink flower on a C. texensis plant that I grew from seed received from the British Clematis Society.
Also a plant I grew from seed, this one is similar to a well-known texensis hybrid, C. ‘Etoile Rose’.  Mine I think has more of a twist in the petals.  Proud mama.

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A Delightful Surprise!

December 2, 2018 at 5:32 pm (clematisinseattle, Spotlight on Clematis)
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My Clematis napaulensis, a species clematis that is one of the few winter bloomers in the genus, is loaded with flower buds!  WAHOOO!  This plant is wintergreen rather than evergreen, pushing out fresh new apple green leaves in October, then blooming in January and February.  By summer it looks exactly like dead sticks, so masking it with a summer-blooming vine is wise. 

A small branch loaded with buds. Most of the rest of the vines are too high up on the arbor to get a good photo without dragging out the orchard ladder.

C. napaulensis has graced the arbor on the north side of my house for about seven years now.  During that time this recalcitrant plant has bloomed only twice with just two or three flowers, once in January 2015 and again in 2017.  I’ve often wondered whether it’s in too much shade, but unfortunately not much information is available about what conditions this plant really wants.  Ah, but, lo and behold, now in late 2018–tons of buds!  I am so excited!  I can hardly wait til they open in January!  

The blooms from 2017.  C. napaulensis is a gorgeous winter bloomer with creamy petals that roll up to show off the long purple stamens.  I hear tell that it’s also fragrant!

Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’, the Other Winter Bloomer

C. cirrhosa ‘Freckles’, a reliable winter bloomer in my garden, started showing off about a month ago.  Actually, it blooms sporadically throughout the year, but really begins to swagger this time of year.  Looking carefully at the flowers, one can easily tell that C. ‘Freckles’ and C. napaulensis are kissing cousins!

With its crisp green leaves and lovely red-spotted blossoms, C. ‘Freckles’ is particularly beautiful dangling down from a deciduous tree or shrub.  
Heartening to see fresh new flowers when most of the others have begun their long winter slumber.

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