The Pond in August.

First I wanted to thank everyone who stopped by to comment on my last post.  We went on a vacation to Southern California about a week ago and the sun and the beach were relaxing and made me excited to get back in the garden again.  I did love seeing the gardens there and was surprised at how many plants I recognized after seeing them on many blogs that I follow.   I took quite a few pictures at the Mission San Juan Capistrano and will share them on another post. 
When we returned home the temperature was up in the 90's so it was a little hot to garden, but while I watered I saw how things were doing and realized that a weed that used to appear in one area of my yard seems to be taking over everywhere.  After doing some research I found that it's called Oxalis corniculata.  My Mom told me to try plain old vinegar on it.  Has anyone tried this?
I also realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the pond this month and thought I share them in this post.

Water Lily 'Charles de Meurville' has it's first bloom of the year!  The water lilies have really been slow this year and I'm beginning to think they may be done for the season already.

The girls were playing behind the pond while I watered.  Sweet Pea made them crowns of ferns and Hosta leaves to wear.

Fuchsia magellanica is blooming like crazy and has spread up towards the waterfall.

Turtlehead (Chelone) is a little past it's prime, but I thought I'd take some pictures anyway.

Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' is still blooming, although the flowers are much smaller.

Hydrangea 'Limelight' was added right before we went away and dried out a bit, but it looks like it'll be fine.

Bugbane (Actaea racemosa) was moved again earlier this year and seems to like it's new spot behind the pond.

This view is similar to the one at the bottom of my blog.  I did a lot changing since then.  The flowers that were here before didn't bloom until the end of summer leaving not much of interest the rest of the year.  I'm hoping the Japanese Blood Grass will keep filling in between the Heucheras.

I'm hoping to get out and do some cleanup on the front yard this weekend and am looking forward to going plant shopping soon.  

Fertilizer Friday - May 28th.

May has been an unusually wet and cool month for us. We've had a total of 4 sunny days, the rest have been cooler and rainier than average. I'm definitely hoping that June brings us some more sun and dryer weather. Part of living in the Pacific Northwest means we have to put up with a lot of drizzly and gray days, but it sure pays off on the sunny days of summer when it's not only clear and bright but there is so much green around us as well. On these rainy days I try to remind myself of that. Some days that helps me, but right now I just want to go outside and garden.
As well as hoping June will bring better weather, I can already tell the garden is going to be at it's best then. Peonies and Poppies are about to pop, Foxgloves are beginning to flower and rosebuds are bursting. The Hydrangeas seem to have many more buds than usual. I can't wait!

Persian Cornflower (Cenataura dealbata) has it's first bloom with lots more on the way. I love these flowers. I'm going to have to see if I can divide this one.

Pincushion flower (Scabiosa)

I wanted to show just how much work the ladybugs have gotten done in the week they've been in the garden since I posted about releasing them here. This one is working on 'Honey Perfume'.

I couldn't believe Strawberries were already forming. I better start putting the beer traps out for the slugs before they discover these berries.

Very exciting to see pears forming on both of our little pear trees. These are on the Littlest Gardener's tree.

I planted this Ninebark (Physocarpus) 'Coppertina' last Fall for the foliage. I didn't realize it would have these cute pink flowers. This shrub is growing like crazy. I've read it can be prone to powdery mildew, hopefully I won't see any on this one.

For some reason I've been buying lots of Dianthus this Spring aside from starting a couple of different types from seed. This one is called 'Spotty'. I love the clove scent the flowers have.

Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' fully opened.

Awhile ago I posted about being surprised at a Clematis that I thought was supposed to be something else. Well I finally solved my mystery. This is 'Piilu'. It has very bright pink flowers with a ruffly edge.

My newest Clematis 'The President' came with one lonely bud that looks a bit tattered. I'm hoping it will brighten up this back fence once it begins to grow.

Visit Tootsie at Tootsie Time to see who else is "flaunting their flowers" this Fertilizer Friday.

Fertilizer Friday - May 21st.

Another week has flown by and it's hard to believe it's already Friday again. The last couple of days we've had some crazy weather. It started off beautiful this week, but as the week progressed we've had some heavy rain showers and quite a bit of wind. Some of the plants got a bit beat up between the rain and wind. I'm just waiting for a nice quiet day to get out and do some work now.

In the front yard the white Lupine is blooming with more Allium 'Purple Sensation' as well as daylilies and lots of Columbines.

Foxgloves are really close to blooming now and I'm excited to see just how many there will be. I've found lots of little seedlings which I'm leaving so they can bloom next year. Baptisia is on it's third year here, and it has begun to leap.

I showed rose 'Abraham Darby' just opening a couple of days ago and now it's in full bloom. There are many buds coming too.

The birdhouse behind the pond has Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' going crazy on it. This is one of my favorite and easiest Clematis. I had tried to tie it up a little, but the wind really blew it around. The Chickadees are busy flying in and out feeding their babies so I'll fix it when they have moved out.

'Ville de Lyon' will open more, but I was so surprised and happy to see them starting to bloom I had to take some pictures.

Clematis 'Miss Bateman' is blooming great too. Clematis 'Alionushka' is the other vine growing and it was also blown over by the wind. I spent part of yesterday going around and tying plants up. The Snowball bush (Viburnum opulus) is so loaded with flowers that they are bending to the ground. I've cut quite a few to bring inside.

Another Clematis 'Crimson King' was doing great. This picture was taken a few days ago, but after the wind beat it up the flowers and quite a bit of the vine are very droopy, I think some stems may have been broken.

Penstemon heterophyllus 'Electric Blue' is a new one that I just planted. It's just started to bloom, maybe it liked the wind.

Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' was moved to a sunnier place and already looks much less leggy than it did in the previous spot.

I appreciate all the comments and am doing my best to get around to visit everyone. It has been very busy around here with little time to get on the computer let alone get in the garden. After this weekend things should start quieting down, and I'm sure looking forward to that.

To see who else is "flaunting their flowers" visit Tootsie at Tootsie Time who hosts Fertilizer Friday each week.

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.