Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I finally achieved what most gardeners can do in their sleep

At last, my clematis bloomed. People in the northwest have clematis vines that are threatening to eat their houses. They are incredibly easy to grow, unless you are me.


I have no idea what kind it is, as I planted it almost four years ago. I moved it a few times, then finally settled it next to my 'Moonlight' climbing hydrangea. Everyone tells me that 'Moonlight' needs no trellis and can climb anything but I seem to have acquired a specimen with a lazy mutation. It can't climb without assistance, so I have jury-rigged a system. The Corokia cotoneaster in a pot next to them is doing wonderfully. I think maybe I'm just vine-ally challenged.
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10 comments:

  1. Ricki GradyMay 21, 2013 at 10:52 AM

    ...or you only rise to a REAL challenge, like the corokia.

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  2. LindaMay 21, 2013 at 2:05 PM

    Oh my Clematis are pretty dangly wimpy , Something else to blame on my sandy soil.

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  3. HeatherMay 21, 2013 at 2:16 PM

    I have sandy soil too! Can I blame it on that? This is a very exciting development.

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  4. Scott WeberMay 21, 2013 at 2:59 PM

    It was definitely worth waiting for :-)

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  5. LindaMay 21, 2013 at 5:29 PM

    Absolutely !

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  6. EmilyMay 21, 2013 at 10:42 PM

    I grew Schizophragma hydrangeoides "moonlight"--that's your hydrangea vine, right?--at my previous garden. I had it planted against a limbed-up fir tree and I thought the craggy bark of the tree would be a great substrate for the vine to grow on. It was, but not at first. For at least two years, I had to hold the vines tight to the fir with stapled-on bands of that stretchy green tape. During this time, the vine also didn't grow very much. But, after that, it really took off. It was like it needed to be able to attach and to stretch up to get enthusiastic about growing. It grew about 6 feet a year after that--right straight up the tree--and needed no more help to attach itself.
    --Emily

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  7. HeatherMay 22, 2013 at 8:46 AM

    Thank you so much for telling me this! That gives me hope.

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  8. HeatherMay 22, 2013 at 8:46 AM

    Maybe, if I'm patient, I'll get TWO blooms next year! :)

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  9. HeatherMay 22, 2013 at 8:48 AM

    Is Corokia tricky? I've been so neglectful of mine. My mother-in-law purchased one at the same time and hers is four times the size now. I should ask her what she's doing . . .

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  10. Jason KayMay 22, 2013 at 3:28 PM

    Vine-ally you got the Clematis to bloom! When we moved here there was a clematis on a south facing wall that would not bloom even after I sacrificed my finest bullocks and rams and made a burnt offering. Then I planted another clematis on a west facing wall and it blooms like gangbusters. Who knows why?

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