Clematis in Seattle

The quintessential spring plant sale every year in Seattle is the Washington Park Arboretum’s Sale, and I was there last night for the opening day of this three-day event.   The sale has many vendors with interesting and unusual plants, and the Arboretum itself sells plants from its greenhouses.

And wouldn’t you know it!  T&L, a wholesale nursery specializing in groundcovers and clematis, was there!  Yikes!  I just finished getting all my plants, including clematis, in the ground.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, I took a deep breath and decided to severely limit myself to bringing home only two of the 30 or 40 varieties they had on offer.  Since I first saw it  with its 8-10″ two-toned pink blossoms at a garden tour in Portland, I’ve wanted Clematis Fireworks.   I also found Clematis Kiri Te Kanawa, a beautiful blue double hybridized by one of my favorite clematarians, Barry Fretwell.  Hmmm, now I have to decide where to plant these two June bloomers.  A few other plants also demanded that I take them home, and even my husband bought three plants himself (his taste runs to gunnera and other odd plants).

My eagle eye also spotted Clematis recta purpurea, I think somewhere in the vicinity of the Langley Gardens display, and Clematis recta ‘Lime Close’ (aka Serious Black) at Sundquist Nursery’s stand.   In earlier posts, I’ve described both of these purple-leaved clematis with fragrant white flowers.

The Arboretum Sale goes through tomorrow (Sunday, April 28), so if you’re in the Seattle area, head on over there. 

Oh, and then there’s the Master Gardener Plant Sale at the Center for Urban Horticulture next weekend!