July 2010 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

It's so hard to believe that July is already half over.  For some reason half way through July I always decide to start moving plants around, must be because of the bare spots left from annuals that are finished or plants that never grew like I hoped.  I spent hours outside yesterday pulling out spent Foxgloves, Poppies (I saved lots of seeds though!), cutting back Salvias and Veronicas hoping they'll have another flush of blooms before the end of summer.  I also finally planted a few plants that have been waiting for an open spot.  One is a new Agastache 'Cocktail Peach Margarita' with peach flowers and such a wonderful scent.  I only wish it served margaritas while I sat outside to smell it.  There were three different types of butterflies visiting while I was working away.  A Western Tiger Swallowtail, Painted Lady and another one I had never seen before.  It was medium sized black with blue and white on the edges of its wings.  It might have been a White Admiral.  I noticed that the Swallowtail was attracted to our neighbors Willow tree.  I was especially happy to see such a variety of butterflies since last year I hardly saw any at all.  Many of the flowers in the butterfly garden are just starting to bloom so hopefully we'll see even more.
Here are some of what's blooming this Bloom Day:

Rose 'Don Juan', I wish the real deep color of red would show up in a picture.  Most of the rest of my roses are between blooms now.

Agastache 'Pink Panther',  I've gotten a real soft spot for Agastaches lately.

Monarda 'Blue Stocking' is not quite the color I thought it would be.  I thought it would be more blue, but it's actually a pretty deep pink color.

Clematis 'Little Nell' has such tiny flowers, I've fertilized it recently in hopes that it will turn the leaves back to green.  Monarda 'Jacob Cline' is blooming behind it.  The hummingbirds have already started battling over it.

A new Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' is supposed to be a rebloomer.

Daylily 'Mini Pearl' is such a pretty small one.  It really brightens up the area around it.

While these aren't the biggest or showiest flowers, I'm happy to see them because they are on the Beautyberry bush 'Profusion' I planted last year.  I was afraid it didn't get enough sun where it was, but it seems to be doing really well.

And because the Larkspur is prettier than I ever could have imagined and so tall I had to add another picture of them again.  Blooming up against the house is Clematis 'Jackmanii'.  The window boxes are full of Petunias, lobelia and Alyssum this year - and it smells so good by them.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day takes place the 15th of each month and is hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Visit her to join in or see what is blooming around the world.

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.