Clematis Fujimusume | Clematis in Seattle

The Blooms of June 2018

December 9, 2018 at 1:55 pm (clematisinseattle, Spotlight on Clematis)
Tags: Clematis Betty Corning, clematis caroline, Clematis Climador, clematis crystal fountain, Clematis Etoile Violette, clematis fairy blue, clematis florida sieboldii, Clematis Fond Memories, Clematis Fujimusume, Clematis Koenigskind, Clematis Lord Hershel, Clematis Morning Mist, Clematis Perle d'Azur, Clematis Polish Spirit, Clematis Princess Red, Clematis Proteus, Clematis recta Purpurea, Clematis Tartu, Clematis texensis seedling, clematis the first lady, Clematis Vyvyan Pennell

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. ‘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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The First Lady–May’s Clematis of the Month

May 23, 2016 at 5:29 pm (Clematis of the Month, clematisinseattle, Spotlight on Clematis)
Tags: clematis caroline, clematis cezanne, Clematis Climador, clematis crystal fountain, Clematis Fireworks, Clematis Fujimusume, Clematis Josephine, Clematis Lord Herschell, clematis louise rowe, Clematis Morning Mist, Clematis Ramona, clematis rebecca, clematis rhapsody, clematis the first lady, Clematis Utopia, Clematis Vyvyan Pennell

TheFirstLady

So many of the large-flowered clematis in my garden are blooming extremely early this year, as much as six – eight weeks ahead of schedule. But whenever they choose to bloom, they look wonderful!

During my frequent strolls through the garden, I enjoy observing clematis in all their various stages–and, yes, sometimes I even talk to them. This spring, Clematis ‘The First Lady’ talked back loudly, showing herself off to great advantage. I purchased this clematis two or three years ago as Clematis ‘Rhapsody’, a clematis for which I had been hankering for some time. Once I saw the first meager bloom, I knew I had purchased a misnamed plant. But not until this year, when the poor clematis had built up enough strength to drag itself up out of the heavy shade of a big Fatshedera into the sunshine, did I really see what a gorgeous flower my mistake clematis produced–large lavender blooms (one flower actually measured 9 inches in diameter!), with contrasting burgundy stamens, ruffled edges, and textual ridges in the middle of each pointed petal. Elegantissimo! I was able to identify it as Clematis ‘The First Lady’ and seriously considered deeming this tough and beautiful plant Clematis of the Month for this month.

The First Lady3

Serendipitously, yesterday my yoga teacher described to me a clematis a friend gave her as a cut flower. She has a fine eye for detail, so I was able to identify her unseen clematis from her description as Clematis ‘The First Lady.’ I showed her a photo on my smart phone to be sure and impressed both her and myself with my quick ID. That clinched it–Clematis ‘The First Lady’ is Clematis of the Month for May in my garden this year!

TheFirstLady2

Clematis ‘The First Lady’ is an American clematis introduced into commerce by Arthur Steffen in Long Island, New York, in 1989. Mr. Steffen’s company is also responsible for introducing, in 1932, another gorgeous and famous American clematis, now grown throughout the world, Clematis Betty Corning. The beauty of the name of May’s Clematis of the Month is that you can choose your own favorite First Lady to be represented by this clematis. I know who mine is!

Below is a smattering of the many other worthy candidates blooming in my garden this month.

The satiny blooms of Clematis Louise Rowe

Clematis Rebecca

Clematis Ramona (lavender) with Clematis Marta

The ever-stunning Clematis Josephine

Clematis Cezanne

Clematis Fireworks

Clematis Utopia

Clematis Fujimusume–such a gorgeous blue!

Clematis Morning Mist–one of these blossoms measured 10 inches!

Clematis Climador (also known as Clematis Königskind)

Clematis Caroline (pink) with Clematis Vyvyan Pennell

Clematis Lord Herschell

The bells of Clematis Sonnette (also known as Clematis Peveril Peach)

Clematis Crystal Fountain (also known as Clematis Fairy Blue)

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Bloomin’ June!

June 14, 2013 at 7:06 pm (clematisinseattle, Spotlight on Clematis)
Tags: clematis caroline, Clematis Ekstra, Clematis Etoile Violette, Clematis Fair Rosamond, Clematis florida, Clematis Fujimusume, Clematis Hakuji, Clematis Josephine, Clematis Margot Koster, Clematis Pagoda, Clematis Proteus, Clematis recta Purpurea, Clematis Sonnette, clematis the first lady, Clematis Vyvyan Pennell

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: