A noun. A verb. A blog.
Here’s a combination to remember! A burgundy-red Clematis (perhaps ‘Nike’? [Ed: My clematis-loving friend Marie suggests it might be C. ‘Mme. Julia Correvon’) clambering over a Japanese maple and then up through the “smoke” of a golden smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria Golden Spirit aka ‘Ancot’). Wow-ow-OW! Let me show you my shoes. I was walking in […]
I have lusted after Clematis tangutica, the late-flowering beauty with the common name golden clematis or sometimes orange-peel clematis due to its thick petals (really: sepals). And I have planted Clematis tangutica. And, like many of the clematis I’ve grown, I have killed Clematis tangutica. You can imagine my surprise, then, when researching this post today I […]
The one with the red star and the feathery foliage is Ipomoea quamoclit Oh, botanical names. How you confuse us! These two climbing cousins have a network of colliding names. One (with star-shaped flowers) can be called cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit but also Quamoclit pennata). The other one (with multiple tubular florets) can be called […]
A tantalizing establishing shot of the clematis collection chez Marie Before she left it all to move to Northern BC, oh!, was I lucky to visit Marie the Gardenbug to wander awestruck through her early-July garden – including her collection of over 200 clematis! Yes, that thought deserves two exclamation marks. If not more. We […]
Clematis alpina ‘Pamela Jackman’ is in the Group or Type 1 or C (oops!) A pruning group. (Sometimes, a proofreader would be handy, too.) Clematis are usually classed as Type A, B or C (aka Group 1, 2 or 3), each with different pruning requirements. I know what the requirements are. Trouble is, I can never […]
The grapelike fruit of the hardy kiwi Actinidia arguta ‘Ananasnaya’ at UBC Botanical Garden, Vancouver If you aren’t a fan of the fuzzy skin on kiwifruit, you’re in luck. Not only are there smooth-skinned species, but they’re hardy in our climate. The one above was photographed in B.C. However, Actinidia arguta is available from at least […]
Oh, how I love those mouthful names: Ampelopsis brevipedunculata Its pretty, many-coloured blue and purple berries give porcelain vine its name. I had one of these members of the grape family – the one with the variegated leaves – in the wrong spot in my garden. Please note the use of the past tense. It’s […]
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a few things that got lost in the shuffle of the too-many-things-to-write-about growing season. One of them is Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora – also widely but erroneously known as C. ternifolia, it seems through a printer’s error shortly after its discovery in China; C. recta and […]
Full disclosure: On this Blooms Day in the Microgarden, it’s mostly green. However, you can see my opening statement of columbines; some blue Aquilegia alpina and an unnamed pink of the granny’s bonnet form. Both prefer the cracks in my paving stones, where their feet stay cool and moist. All efforts to get the alpinas […]
Clematis and I have a thing. It isn’t always good. It isn’t always long. But, you know, I just can’t quit them. This time of year, the love affair begins, when the garden arch in the back is decked with the blue wings of Clematis alpina ‘Pamela Jackman’ (above). It’s a lovely little clematis that […]