A sunny start to the day.

After several days of downpours and cooler weather we woke up to actual sun today!  It was amazing how fast we were all able to get up this morning when the brightness of the sun lit up the rooms.  The forecast is for temperatures in the upper 70's and sun all weekend.  The garden seemed greener and happier than it has in a long time.  I have a feeling by the time the weekend is over there will be lots more new blooms too.  I'm also hoping the seeds we sowed last week will begin to sprout as well.
Today I cleaned up the raised beds where the blueberries are in the side yard, planted Sunflowers and Cosmos and Nasturtiums and did a little work on the pond.  I took a visit to Russell Watergardens earlier in the week and got some great planting ideas from the owner.  If you live nearby it is so worth going for a visit.  I'm hoping that we will visit again this weekend so my husband and older daughter can see it again.  I did a post on it last year, you can read it here.

The lighting was pretty this morning when I went to take some pictures of the newest flowers.

Clematis 'Nelly Moser' has quite a few blooms open now.

She's growing up the arbor that leads down the pond.  Right below it are Linaria that are very close to blooming.  The plants along the deck are all self seeded Geraniums 'Wargrave Pink'.  On the left Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts still bloom and self seeded Foxgloves are growing taller everyday.  You can also see the big red Rhododendron blooming down the path, it's way behind schedule.

Clematis 'The President' is starting to bloom on the trellis I spray painted awhile ago.  I love how the purple looks against the turquoise.

Dutch Iris blooming by the pond.

Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' is covered in bees all day.  In fact today there were more bees around than I've seen in forever.  Also spotted were damsleflies, Cabbage White butterflies and lots more bees.

Geum 'Double Bloody Mary'

An iris my sister gave me a couple of years ago.  She was going to throw them away!!  I was happy to take them.

Lupine that I started from seed last year.  I've started lots more again this year since they are fairly short lived.

The shed garden is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the garden.  I still can't believe this was all new early last spring.  I also can't believe how well everything is growing when many large cedars are right on the other side of the fence.

I hope you are enjoying the sun and your garden, although I know there are some gardeners in the south that are having a little too much sun.  Hope some rain makes it's way down there soon. 

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

Backyard Blooms on Fertilizer Friday.

This was one of those weeks that I can't believe is over already. I've been working on filling containers and getting the vegetables planted. I always end up with a random grouping of container plants left over that don't seem to go together. I'm not very organized with my containers like the Gardener on Sherlock Street (she has lots of great ideas, and if you haven't visited her yet you should). She has nice organized lists with what she wants for each container and then follows it, unlike me who just grabs random plants. Every year I tell myself I'll plan what I want in the containers, and every year I just feel overwhelmed with the choices and put a bunch of plants in my cart and hope that I can make them look nice. I definitely think there is an art to container planting, one which requires patience and creativity, both of which I lack in that area. Actually a couple look like they might look pretty good once they start to fill in.
While I wait for them to grow a bit we're lucky to have lots blooming in the backyard.

I love having Fuchsias hanging near the house so we can see the visiting Hummingbirds. My sister told me about a nearby hardware store that was having a sale on hanging baskets. Apparently they got one thousand too many and now they're trying to sell them off. I found 2 huge ones for $10 each, now I wish I would've bought more. This one is 'Bicentennial'.

Irises from my sister. There are several clumps in the front yard which are still several days from blooming.

Clematis 'Nelly Moser' seems to be doing a little better and has more flowers coming. I've noticed they start out darker pink and then fade quite a bit. Clematis 'Josephine' and the one I think is 'Piilu' are both starting to open.

Most of the Heucheras are either blooming or just about to. I don't remember the name of this one here. The Golden Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius) behind it is also just starting open it's sweet smelling flowers. I seem to have quite a bit of this purple and gold in the backyard now.

And a view down the path shows that the big red Rhododendron is blooming. It gets just huge and needs to be cut back every few years so not every year blooms as well. This is probably the most flowers it's had for a long time. On the right the Geraniums 'Wargrave Pink' are blooming. On the left side the Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) are still blooming, further down are Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) and Meadow Rue (Thalictrum). At the very end the purple Rhododendron is just starting to bloom.

Every Friday Tootsie at Tootsie Time hosts Fertilizer Friday. Visit her to see what flowers she and other gardeners are flaunting, or to join in yourself.

It may not feel like Spring, but it sure looks like it.

I commented this weekend to my Mom that the weather around here for the last week or so has felt like Groundhog Day (a movie in which a weatherman lives the same day over and over). The temperature has been below average and it's been gray and rainy with a few sun breaks thrown in here and there. Today it's about 10 degrees cooler than average. No, it doesn't feel like Spring that's for sure.

Bearded Irises in the backyard are blooming early. These were given to me by my youngest sister when she and her husband redid their yard. I have no idea what their name is, any ideas? It has a really good scent.

I complained about Clematis 'Nelly Moser' and the dying/yellowing stems the other day. It's such a pretty one, so I'm going to try Tina's suggestions about checking the soil and feeding it.

Rose 'Abraham Darby' doesn't seem to notice how cold it feels. I have noticed quite a bit of blackspot this year. I've been removing the affected areas and have sprayed with an organic rose spray. Even my Flower Carpet rose which never gets blackspot or powdery mildew has it. If it would stop raining I could spray it too.

The pear trees both have what looks like the beginnings of fruit! Last year the flowers all fell off so this looks promising.

Peony 'Festiva Maxima' buds are getting so big the flowers are beginning to show.

My unknown pink rose is already over 5 feet tall.

Hydrangea 'Preziosa' has lots of buds. This is one of my very favorite Hydrangeas (and I have lots to choose from in my yard ☺).

Foxgloves (Digitalis puperea) have buds. Last year for some reason I had no flowers, just lots of seedlings. These have been reseeding in this garden since we moved here and I just love when they bloom. I've moved some to the backyard as well.

There are two types of Clematis here 'Piilu' and 'Alionushka'. Both have big buds close to opening. 'Piilu' has never bloomed for me because I pruned it at the wrong time the year before. Planting these two together was probably not a great idea since they have different pruning needs, but I'll just enjoy them for now.

The forecast looks like mostly more of the same weather for the rest of the week, but they are saying Friday should be a little warmer. I've got seeds to start, seedlings to plant and containers filled with fresh potting soil waiting to be planted, now I just need the weather to cooperate.

Fertilizer Friday - April 30

Not only can't I believe the week is over, I can't believe the month is over! I'm looking forward to the month of May in the garden, that's when a lot of flowers in my front yard should start blooming. This time of year it doesn't take much to get me excited though. For example finding I didn't kill the Astrania that I accidentally dug into twice in the last month, a single leaf has come up again and this time I'll remember it's there. I was also happy to realize that both Autumn Sage (Salvia gregii) and Salvia 'Black and Blue' (Salvia guarantica) are coming back, both are borderline tender perennials here. I was disappointed that Echinacea 'Tiki Torch', Geranium 'Rozanne' and Clematis 'Henryii' didn't survive the winter. They should all have been hardy here and those were three that I really hoped would have returned, especially since none of them were cheap! The Salvias were inexpensive and in fact were both sold as annuals in the nursery I bought them from. Oh well, guess that's just part of the gamble we take as gardeners.

Getting back to things that made me excited was this Uvularia grandiflora finally, after about 5 years, bloomed! It's not quite as spectacular as I imagined, but still the fact that it bloomed at all makes me happy. I'm wondering if it was marked wrong and is a different type of Uvularia - any ideas?

Clematis 'Nelly Moser' seems to be up to her usual tricks. Just as I thought it was doing so well in its new spot, the vine is beginning to dry and the leaves turn yellow. This happens every year, although this year it has far more buds than usual. After reading about Nelly on other blogs I'm beginning to think it's a touchy Clematis that's disease prone.

Something interesting I found were these supposed Iris reticulata. The rest of the Iris reticulata bloomed in early Spring, these just sent up foliage. Now it seems as if a flower bud may be coming up. I planted these ones last Fall and they are all doing the same thing now.

Meadow Rue (Thalictrum) is still blooming. The Meadow Rue in the shade still just has buds.

Geranium endressii 'Wargrave Pink' has just begun blooming. This one reseeds everywhere, and seems to love the dry shade. It's hard to complain about a pretty flower that will grow in dry shade, so I usually let several of the seedlings grow.

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is a native perennial ground cover here. It dies all the way back in Fall and then in Spring comes up with these pretty white flowers.

Columbine (Aquilegia) is another reseeder that I would never complain about. I love how they are all different in my yard.

This Columbine popped up through the Hellebores.

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time each Friday. Visit Tootsie to join in or to see who else is "flaunting their flowers."

Clearing my Clematis Confusion.

Clematis have always been one of my very favorite flowers, and the fact that they are vines and can grow up taking less space in my yard has made me love them even more. But just the word Clematis has caused me confusion. My Mom always pronounced it "Cle MAT is" so that is what I always called them. It wasn't until years ago I heard it pronounced another way "CLEM ah tis".
The other confusing part about Clematis was the pruning. I guess I had been lucky that the first few I bought were types that bloomed on new wood. So, at the end of summer I would cut them down and then next summer have lots of blooms. It wasn't until I bought 'Nelly Moser' that I finally learned about the correct pruning times. I couldn't figure out why I would only get one or two blooms on it.
Now I find that I've accumulated 14 and except for a few, it's hard to remember when to prune each one. I've written out lists looked up each one and written down the pruning time. Then I've lost each list and had to start over again the next year. I thought I would use this post to keep track of my Clematis as well as explain a little about when each type is pruned.

Type 1 or A are Spring bloomers and require no pruning unless you would like to thin them or cut out dead vines.

Clematis armandii is one I had but unfortunately decided to move last summer and it didn't make it. I'm sure I'll be adding another this year, maybe the pink 'Apple Blossom' variety.

'Southern Cross' a new one last year which is zone 8 - 9, so I may be pushing it a little, crossing my fingers it makes it.

Type 2 or B is divided into two groups
B1 usually bloom May - June on previous growth, and may have a second smaller flush of flowers later in summer on current growth.

'Josephine' - grows happily in a container on my deck

'Josephine'

'Nelly Moser' - tends to die back every summer, I've moved her to a new spot to see if she'll be happier.

'Nelly Moser'

'Piilu' (Little Duckling) - pruned at wrong time and no blooms last summer

B2 bloom on last years and current growth usually continuously from June - September. Pruning should take place late winter and just cutting out tangled or dead vines.

'Crimson King'
'Henryi'

'Henryi'

'Miss Bateman'

Type 3 or C bloom on current wood only. These should be pruned as close to the ground as possible to the first two sets of buds. These bloom during the summer and are fast growing.

'Alionushka' - easy care and blooms great every year

'Alionushka'

'Comtesse de Bouchard' - new last year, bloomed into the fall
'Etoille Violette' (viticella) - blooms like crazy in hot side yard
'Jackmanii superba' - as easy as they get and blooms like crazy

'Jackmanii superba'

'Little Nell' (viticella) - new last summer, few little blooms

'Little Nell'

'Peppermint' - new last summer, crossing my fingers I see this one again
'Ville de Lyon' - another very easy one that has huge flowers

'Ville de Lyon'

I'm sure my list will continue to grow, especially since I have 3 already on my wish list. I fertilize Clematis by putting new compost around them in the Spring. If you have any other tips about Clematis I'd love to hear them as well.