Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Hops are one of the few plants that I’m allergic to – either the oils or the coarse hairs brought me out in a rash when I had to prune a vigorous vine that had overgrown its space.
I’ll not hold it against them as they’re attractive plants with shapely leaves, and it’s safe to say they weren’t out to get me. Or fairly safe, as it could be a tactic evolved to stop creatures messing with them. Continue reading “Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ (Golden Hops Vine)”
Lathyrus ‘Spencer Mix’ is sweet pea seed blend that includes white and dark flowers, and clear shades of pink, red, lilac and purple.
Sweet peas are sun lovers, but like their roots in cool, moist soil. They are usually grown for cutting: the more assiduously you pick the flowers, the more the plants will produce. Continue reading “Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Mix’”
While I was gathering pictures for yesterday’s post on rambling roses, I found this red climbing rose. It’s rather spindly, but no less romantic for that – full of flowers, and naturally arching.
Shared for Cee’s Flower of the Day.
One of the things about walking close to home is you see new things – this beautiful, white clematis, for example, growing almost in a heart shape around the entrance to a stone-built terraced house. Many a wedding venue would love to have a photo op like this! Continue reading “White Clematis Growing Around A Doorway”
Today, I’m offering you a picture to dream over: Clematis ‘Perle d’Azur, Rosa ‘Rêve d’Or’ (the pale apricot climber) and Stachys byzantina with a pink moss rose and papaver at RHS Rosemoor.
Clematis and roses have been planted together in cottage gardens for centuries.
The art of combination planting is to mix plants that will extend the flowering season (just how many buds are there on the moss rose?); be harmonious in colour and contrasting in height and texture (the soft lamb’s ear, the prickly roses) and in flower shape. The lamb’s ear brings its spires; the poppy, cups; the roses are rosettes, and the clematis are single, open flowers. The clematis provides height and a mass of purple-blue, which goes so well with the pastel pinks and apricots. There’s a climbing rose too. For good measure, the roses throw scent into the mix. Continue reading “Classic Combination Planting: Clematis With Roses”
This picture, taken at Gresgarth Hall in Lancashire shows how a vigorous vine such as a rambling rose or a Clematis montana can be encouraged to grow against a tree.
The soil at the base of a tree is often dry and impoverished. Dig a hole for the plant two feet (60cm) or more away from the trunk of the tree. Mix in a little organic matter such as leaf mould or compost to enrich the soil
If the plant came in a pot, gently tease out the roots over the hole. Mix the soil that falls from the container in with the planting soil too. Plant the rose or vine aiming for the soil level to be about the same as it was in the pot.  Water in well.
Use a sturdy cane ladder to train the plant back towards a lower branch of the tree. Â The smaller canes the plant came with can be tied or woven in to the ladder.
As the vine grows, weave the pliable young stems around the cane, tying them in if needed.
If wild animals such as rabbits or deer visit the area and may be tempted to nibble the lower stems of the plant, use chicken wire to protect them.
Susan Rushton 