Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Clematis Mrs Cholmondeley, in my garden today 'This blowsy old girl makes a splendid show.' 'A (blue) large-flowered clematis that simply can't stop flowering. From tip to tip the early flowers are very large, but because of the narrow sepals and large gaps between them towards the base, one's impression is not so much of…
Continue reading ➞ This blowsy old girl makes a splendid show
Lady Northcliffe, (and as Christopher Lloyd writes in his excellent and still very current book on clematis, 'not Northcliff, (the sort of cliff that faces north)'. Also from Christopher Lloyd in his book, updated by Tom Bennett, 1989, writing on blue clematis: 'The deeper blue shades are more popular than the light. Here our choice…
Continue reading ➞ Clematis Lady Northcliffe
Rebecca, a Raymond Evison clematis (The Chelsea feature for 2008 and named after Raymond Evison's eldest daughter. Clematis Rebecca has stunning large red flowers and flowers freely over a long season.) Today I have mostly been working with, and reading this evening about, clematis. The large, summer flowering varieties are coming into bloom in a…
Continue reading ➞ Clematis, Queen of Climbers
I don't remember this particular plant looking as lovely last year, but here it is, in a shadier spot with hints of sunlight picking out the detail. I've posted about other macropetalas (Jan Lindmark most recently), so I don't need to repeat any details about staminoids and tepals, fascinating though they are. Nor do…
Continue reading ➞ Clematis macropetala Propertius
Four completely unrelated plants, though all catching my eye yesterday and each of considerable merit. Clematis alpina Diamond Anniversary, with creamy white tepals backed with a gentle webbed shading of pale purple. Early flowering, growing to 2m. A mediterranean spurge, Euphorbia Black Pearl, a compact form of Euphorbia characias, with black nectaries giving the plant…
Continue reading ➞ Pinks, lime and black… and a Musical
Now isn't this a rather delightful flower, with long mauve outer tepals and paler, twisted staminoids giving a rather full, almost double effect. Followed by equally dramatic seed heads, this Swedish introduction has long-lasting appeal and would start to climb through roses from mid-spring. Easy to prune (just a tidy up really) and off it…
Continue reading ➞ Clematis macropetala Jan Lindmark
The Teddington Gardener 