I love clematis but only grow a few.  If I could only grow one, it would be C. ‘Arabella.   Based on its performance in my garden over the past five years, ‘Arabella’ is one of the easiest and most satisfying to grow.  I let it ramble and scramble through my perennial bed and don’t cut it back at all.  So far this has worked out well and I get lots of lavender blooms from spring through summer.   I first encountered this lovely vine in Lyndy Broder’s garden.  Lyndy grows hundreds of varieties of clematis and uses shrubs and trees as supports for many of them.  This technique also makes for a more interesting and colorful display over a long period of time.

I always look forward to visiting Lyndy in her garden at least once during clematis season and this spring I made two trips, one on April 23 and one on May 7. (the season lasts longer than this)  Her garden is a testament to which clematis are best suited for hot, humid climates.

On my April visit there were several native clematis in bloom including Clematis crispa, a native to the southeast. Lyndy says that this is one of ll different clematis that are native to Georgia.  C. crispa , also called the swamp-leather flower, ( it is found in marshes and swamps) has small bell shaped flowers that range in color from pale blue to lavender to pink with white insides. Growing 5 to 6’ it is easy to incorporate into a garden setting.

Clematis ‘Ville de Lyon’ is a large flowered type of clematis, growing 10 to 12’ tall and is reputed to bloom from summer to fall. The velvety looking red flowers have pink centers.  Lyndy says this beauty has just a smidge of texensis blood which may account for its red color.   Trained against a conifer with blue-green foliage, it stands out in the garden.

I also like the way Clematis ‘Caroline’ and Clematis ‘Yaichi’ dress up ordinary hollies.C. ‘Caroline’  a Fretwell introduction, has pale pink flowers and grows  to 6’ tall.

Because it blooms on new growth,  you will get the best blooms if you cut it back hard at the end of winter.  C. ‘Yachi’ is from Japan and has clear purple flowers with a reddish purple bar.

Other clematis I enjoyed include Clematis montana ‘Grandiflora, C. ‘Betty Corning, and C. ‘Strawberry Kiss.’  Trees of note include Styrax japonicus ‘Pink Chimes’ and a selection of the Chinese fringe tree called Chionathus retusus ‘China Snow.’

Lyndy’s List – This was a list from 2011

C. ‘Arabella’ (integrifolia) blue-mauve, blooms April-Sept., use trailing on the ground

C. ‘Betty Corning’ (viticella) pale blue, blooms May-August, climber 8-10’

C. ‘Duchess of Albany’ (texensis) bright pink, blooms April-Oct., climber 8-10’

C. ‘Etoile Violette’ (viticella) dark purple, blooms April-Oct., climber 10-13’

C. ‘Henryi’ (early large) white, dark anthers, blooms April-July, climber 10-12’

C. ‘Josephine’ (early large) double pink, blooms April-Sept., climber 8-10’

C. ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ (viticella) red wine, blooms April-Sept., climber 8’

C. ‘Princess Diana’ (texensis) luminous pink, blooms May-Sept., climber 6-8’

C. ‘Rooguchi’ (viticella) purple blooms April-Sept, 3’

C. ‘Venosa Violacea’ (viticella) white with purple veining, blooms

May-Oct., climber 8-10’

As far as cultivation Lyndy recommends plenty of sunshine and a moist, well-drained soil.  When she plants she adds permatil to help ensure good drainage.  As far as pruning, if in doubt, it is better to prune less than more.

Mail Order Sources- I have ordered plants from all of these sources and found them to be reliable

www.joycreek.com Joy Creek Nursery (Oregon)

www.gardenvines.com Brushwood Nursery (Georgia)

www.woodlanders.net Woodlanders (South Carolina) for native clematis

Spring this year has been lovely so far.  While some things may be flowering a bit later than in previous years, (hard to say what’s normal anymore) blooms  have lasted and we have had some good rain.  Earlier in April I traveled to Florence, Alabama with Walter Reeves   close to Muscle Shoals, which I’m sorry to say I did not get time to visit).  We were both on the program to speak for the Master Gardeners (a great group).

While I was there I visited Phillip Oliver’s garden.  I am always interested to see what gardeners are growing in different parts of the country and the combinations they come up with.  Phillip obviously belongs to the club of so many plants, so little time; as a fellow member, I recognize the signs.

Highlights in his garden included a yellow lady banks rose Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ trained over a substantial arbor, as well as a beautiful white wisteria.   I also liked his garden paths and the fact that he eliminated turf in his front yard.

Later in April I visited  NW Arkansas to speak at the Flower, Garden and Nature Society of NW Arkansas.  As a speaker, it is rewarding to present to such a receptive and appreciative audience.

On this trip, my hosts Gail Pianalto and Joyce Mendenhall not only fed (If you know me, you know that I live to eat)  me but took me to visit local private gardens including the garden of Lynn Rogers, who graciously gave me some of her Iris ‘Indigo Crown’ after I admired it in her garden.  We also visited the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks, filled with delightful plants and ideas.   A new garden started in 1997, the garden has a limited staff and a wonderful support network of volunteers.

Back in Atlanta, there is plenty to enjoy in my own garden including my Viburnum macrocephalum, the deliciously scented Rosa ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ and I am happy to report that Clematis ‘Ramona’ is climbing up and blooming atop Hydrangea paniculata ‘Tardiva’ which won’t flower for months.  There are also weeds to pull, plants to plant  and  grass (really a mixture of weeds and grass) to mow.  But for today,  I will take time to smell the roses.

Join horticulturist and long time TV host, Erica Glasener and Rosemary Bathurst (Further Afield Tours)  for a tour of select private and public gardens in the Delaware Valley.  Rich with gardens,  highlights on this tour include Chanticleer in Wayne, PA, described by the London Financial Times as “planted to perfection,” Longwood Gardens and the Scott Arboretum on the Swarthmore College Campus.  Among the private gardens highlighted are Hedgeleigh Spring, garden of plantsman Charles O. Cresson and David Culp’s 2-acre garden, the inspiration for his newest book. The Layered Garden, Timber Press, October , 2012.

Fee For Ground Tour $675.00 per person (Airfare and hotel not included) Individuals make their reservations with Radnor Hotel for special group rate

Tour includes….

• All coach transportation and driver’s tips –tour begins at 11:30am, depart from Hotel Radnor
• All garden entrance fees
• Lunch daily, welcome dinner and farewell dinner
• Visits to Longwood Gardens, Brandywine Cottage, Chanticleer, Scott Arboretum,

and private gardens in Swarthmore, PA

Fully escorted by Erica Glasener and Rosemary Bathurst and managed by Further Afield Tours  –For questions or registration packet  and itinerary email Erica at ericalg@mindspring.com or  Rosemary Bathurst at  trilliumrb1@comcast.net 404-895-5888. Deposit will reserve your space, limited to 18 participants.

Download Registration for Delaware Valley Tour June 4

Download  Itinerary for Delaware Valley Garden Tour

I don’t usually think of myself as the jealous sort but when it comes to winter flowers like snowdrops, I confess that when I see photos where these jewels have naturalized in great masses and are thriving, the  single bloom in my woodland leaves me wanting more.

Fortunately, I have success with other plants including hellebores, daffodils, daphne, euphorbia and even Edgeworthia chrysantha (having only one of these hardly seems like enough).   Supporting cast members at this time of year include poet’s laurel, Danae racemosa, Christmas ferns, hardy gingers and large evergreen azaleas I inherited when we moved to our property about six years ago.

It’s true that the weather here in Atlanta, like many other parts of the country, is predictably unpredictable, and yet, there are a surprising number of plants that brighten my garden in February.  According to the calendar, some are blooming ahead of schedule (whose schedule is the question) while others live up to the descriptions we read in books and on blogs.  Here are a few plants that please me this February.

Helleborus x hybridus, hellebores come in all shades and are easy to grow.  Ideal for the shade, they also do surprisingly well in sun, just make sure to give them plenty of moisture.  Don’t be timid about cutting off tattered leaves, in my experience the plants recover quickly.  I enjoy the range of flower colors, white, pink, lavender, dark purple, green, maroon, and these are just seedlings.    There are numerous named selections too, some with high price tags, and while I’m certain many are garden worthy, my favorite is ‘Ivory Prince.’  I have grown it for four years and despite drought and heat, it thrives.  I plan to add more of them to my woodland.  I also like Helleborus foetidus with the unfortunate common name of stinking hellebore.  Don’t worry you have to get down on your hands and knees to sniff the flowers, but not to appreciate their lime-green blooms and interesting foliage.

Euphoriba wulfenii has been around for a long time and in my garden it moves around, a new clump appears and an older clump disappears.  Its texture, the color of the foliage and the chartreuse flowers all contribute to this perennial favorite.

Edgeworthia chrysantha , paperbush or Chinese rice paper plant, has survived in my garden for about 3 years, in spite of drought.  The unique fragrant blooms are a delight (blooming now )  and the spring and summer foliage are welcome in my shade garden.   I must admit that I am drawn to the cultivar ‘Rubra’ with its red tinted flowers and think it would be a welcome addition to my garden.

Lecojum aestivum, called summer snowflake, is beginning to bloom in one part of my garden but elsewhere the foliage is just emerging.  Just reminds me that microclimate and source, (some of these I dug up from an old abandoned garden and others I ordered from Brent and Becky’s bulbs) play a role in when plants bloom.

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ flower heads dried on the plant, appeal to me and offer a different perspective on the winter garden.

As a horticulturist I feel especially fortunate that two of my best friends live in the Pacific NW, in particular Seattle.   Over the years (I usually visit at least once a year) we have hiked mountains and visited gardens of all types, in every season.   I should mention that while these friends don’t know much about plants (they like to make up names for plants we see when we’re hiking), they are both appreciative and most important, always willing to join me on a tour or plant adventure.

On my most recent visit in mid-January, 2013  we visited one of my favorite public gardens, Bloedel Reserve, located on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle.   It had been years since my first visit which was in springtime and I was excited and delighted to see what the garden offered in winter.  “To provide refreshment and tranquility in the presence of natural beauty” to  quote the founder of Bloedel , Prentice Bloedel, when talking about the mission of the garden,  sums up how the garden made us feel as we strolled through the 150 acres which include a Japanese Garden, a moss garden, a reflection pool and the Bloedels’ former home.

Winter is a great time to appreciate the design of  a garden and  this northwest treasure shines in January.  The cold weather didn’t deter us although, a few more layers would have been a good idea (what did I expect in January in the NW?) and everywhere we looked there were beautiful scenes.  Rather than talk about why this is such an appealing garden I will show you some of my favorite images and hope they will inspire you to look at winter with a new or renewed appreciation.

http://www.bloedelreserve.org/

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gordon Hayward, one  of the featured speakers at the upcoming symposium The Inspired Gardener , at the Atlanta Botanical Garden on Saturday, February 23, 2013, co- sponsored by the Georgia Perennial Plant Association and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 

http://www.georgiaperennial.org/events/2013/2013_brochure.pdf

I first met Gordon a number of years ago when we taped an episode of “A Gardener’s Diary” in his Vermont garden.  I was inspired then and now, as I know you will be too, when your hear his lecture and see the beautiful images of his garden and others that he will share with us.  What follows are highlights of the interview and photos of his garden, taken by Gordon. 

Your lecture on February 23 is about integrating the home and garden.  Tell us why you think this is important? 

This lecture comes out of Hayward’s fifth book (he has written 11 design books), YOUR HOUSE YOUR GARDEN, published by WW Norton, Spring, 2003. The American Horticultural Society named this one of the top five garden books for 2004.

Too many Americans are perimeter gardeners, that is, comfortably gardening tight to the perimeter of the house and to the outer perimeter of the lawn. In between these two is a sea of amorphous lawn. People walk past their gardens, not into them. This style of gardening does not engage. With this approach to “design” we keep plants at a safe distance. This is a lecture on how to break out of this anonymous, safe, predictable pattern.

As garden designers, we are, above all, making places for people. Of course the individual plants are central to our work in a garden, but they are in the service of engaging people. By extending the spirit of the rooms of our house out into the garden wherever possible and practical, we link inside to outside, house to garden. We find we live in a house in a garden. And if we create a garden that looks good from inside and out 12 months a year, the garden refreshes us daily year round.

 

 

Are there any particular experiences that you had as a young person that you attribute to determining your career path and/or love of plants and gardening? 

I grew up on an orchard (family-run) in northwestern Connecticut, which my brother runs today. Perhaps it was the straight lines of beautiful apple, pear and peach trees, well pruned, drooping with fruit, that got under my skin. It was a beautiful and hard working place with fabulous views of distant dairy farms and fields. Every summer from age 13 I worked part-time for friends of my parents in their gardens. I designed my first woodland walk at age 14. Every summer my brother and I would visit our paternal grandmother and our Aunt Rachel in Oyster Bay, Long Island for two weeks. They had a lovely, small garden as did my uncle Gordon who was also a good gardener.

The other story here is my parents and theirs’ stayed put and Mary and I have done the same. A good garden only comes with time and sticking to it.

Are there any people that were mentors for you when you first started out in the garden design business?

I taught high school English for 15 years, during which time I gardened for myself, and, increasingly, for clients. In the early 1980’s I wanted to turn full time to gardening so I asked Howard Andros, a friend then in his late 70’s, if I could meet with him to discuss plants. We met every Sunday morning at his 200 year old home in Walpole, New Hampshire for a year and a half. Howard grew up in Jamaica Plains, near The Arnold Arboretum. At the age of 11 he was following EH Wilson around the Arnold Arboretum on his Sunday morning tours. Howard went on to become a landscape designer and gardener in southern Vermont and New Hampshire for 45 years and became the major supplier in the country for the double bloodroot.

My other mentor was The Hidcote Manor Gardens near Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, the famous gardens designed by the American, Lawrence Johnston. My wife Mary, who grew up on a farm literally across the fields from Johnston’s great 10 acre garden, and I lived in her village for a year during 1978-1979. Not may days would pass between visits to Hidcote, in all four seasons. In 1995 we bought a cottage about 5 miles from Hidcote.

What is the most important thing you recommend to someone that is a beginning gardener?

Visit gardens every chance you get. When in a garden, as much as you can, avoid value judgments because they shut down learning. Accept the garden on its terms. Take time with your visit. Conscious, thoughtful seeing will teach you a great deal. And ask “Why?” of everything you see. Compare the garden you’re in with others you’ve seen. And look to layout, mood, how atmosphere is created, how parts relate inward to the house, outward to the larger landscape. Then, as you begin to design your own garden, follow your own nose; trust your own instincts, consult your house and, as you do, lessons learned from gardens you’ve visited will help you solve design problems.

If you don’t already have patience, learn patience, or marry a fellow gardener who has it. I did.

How have you and your garden evolved since your first started gardening?

My view of our 1 ½ acre garden is now much more comprehensive. When Mary and I started making this garden in 1984, we were putting one foot in front of the other. The garden was our laboratory, the place where we taught ourselves about plants, design, maintenance. While we certainly had a sense of how we would create coherence across all the different areas we were creating, we were learning as we went. Now, after nearly 30 years on this ground, we’re seeing how parts relate to the whole. We’re also more patient with ourselves and the garden, and we’re willing to make wholesale changes. We’re not resting on any laurels. We tore up a 25 year old bed last year (40’ x 50’ or so) and have totally replanted it in the new naturalistic style, just to try our hand at it. Our garden has been our workshop, our place to learn about plants and design. We’re working 30-40-50 hours a week in the garden to keep it fresh, and to teach ourselves new things every day.

Mary and I also promise each other that every day we will walk into the garden, not to make guilt-producing work lists, but to walk and sit and appreciate a garden we’ve been developing for 28 years. At the outset we pretty much worked and worked and worked. We still do, of course, but we take more time now to appreciate. Howard Andros taught us that.

What is the best thing, for you, about gardening, what is the most challenging?

The best thing about gardening is the satisfaction of a job well done, the satisfaction of sharing the garden on open days with other gardeners, the satisfaction of supporting local organizations and charities as they hold fund-raising events in our garden. There is also the satisfaction that can only come from sticking with it, going out every day for 28 years to improve the garden, to keep the place up. But there is also the deep satisfaction that the garden, along with my writing,  design work and lecturing, has given me an opportunity to express myself through my garden and to share that with many others.

But the satisfaction that trumps everything is the fact that Mary and I work so well together in this garden and that we have created this together. I treasure that fact.

The greatest challenge: This gardening business is a humbling affair. There is no end to what you can learn, what you should know. There is no end to what work you should be doing to get a garden right. And so the greatest challenge is to be patient with yourself.

Right now my garden is best viewed close up.  This way you don’t see all the leaves I have not yet raked and the perennials that need to be cut back. One of things that  I appreciate about this season is all the different shades of green and the few flowers, including my Prunus mume (a white flowered selection) with more buds than it had last year, but not enough to impress anyone except me.  While I am a realist,   I am always optimistic, both  in my garden and in my outlook on life. 

  For me, one of the pleasures of gardening, beyond the physical activity,  is that there is always hope, anticipation and excitement.  While it’s true that plants die and weeds appear reliably every year, there are always surprises, be it blooms, blossoms or colorful twigs.  I only added a few different types of bulbs this fall but I notice that my Lycoris radiata , surprise lilies, which I planted several years ago,  some given to me by a neighbor (the plants are from her family farm in Alabama) and some I purchased, put up foliage this summer which still looks good.   I am hopeful that next fall they will finally bloom,  but I will have to wait and see. 

According to the calendar the first day of winter is December 21 but the weather here in Atlanta is still mild.  The good news is that it is the ideal time to add trees and shrubs to our gardens.  Here are a few close ups of what looks good in my garden right now.

 It’s early November and I’m happy to report that I  have already planted the bulbs I ordered, hardy cyclamen and some Siberian squill, Scilla sibirica.  I mention this because often I don’t get my bulbs in the ground until Thanksgiving.    There are still perennials I need to cut back and a hydrangea waiting to be planted but  I am enjoying the last flush of flowers and the colorful foliage, including unnamed seedling chrysanthemums and Japanese maples like Acer palmatum  ‘Sango Kaku,’   with its ever changing foliage, yellow in October and apricot in November.  Amsonia and hydrangeas add welcome patches of yellow and brown.  While I realize my garden  may appear messy to some, I like the way the plants mix and mingle in late autumn.

  On Friday, November 2, I visited Gibbs Gardens to see the Japanese maples in all their glory.  Looking at my photos, the colors are so vibrant it’s hard to believe they haven’t  been doctored.  There’s something magical about so many colorful images reflected in the water. 

Other brilliant leaves that caught my eye on the same visit  include the native Viburnum acerifolium , Amsonia hubrichtii, Osmunda regalis, royal fern and the native baldcypress, Taxodium distichum.

This past weekend (the last weekend in October)  I went camping with my family and some friends.  It seemed like a lot of work to get all the supplies together but once we got there, the show was worth it.  Our friends chose the spot, the pocket on Johns’ Mountain in Northwest  Georgia .     The weather was cool and overcast but we hit it just right for viewing fall color.  Dogwoods, maples, hickories, sourwoods, tupelos, beech, oaks; the woods were luminous. 

 For me one of the great things about hiking is seeing plants in their native habitats.  Horticultural highlights on our trip included masses of sweetshrub, Calycanthus floridus with yellow fall foliage and loads of seed pods. 

 Looking up it was a lacy canopy  of red, orange and yellow while the ground was  a carpet of mostly green and more muted colors, punctuated by bright leaves that were beginning to fall.     Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides, was abundant, its evergreen foliage especially welcome at this time of year with so much brown.

  Other evergreen leaves included galax and Heuchera americana.  In some spots the heuchera seemed to be virtually growing out of the rocks, a testament to how tough plants can be.  This made me think about all the improved cultivars that have resulted from crossing this native with other species in the genus.  I also was interested to see all the different mosses, in every shade of green and gray, as well as ferns growing out of tiny crevices in rocks and berries of different types.

   What made these plant sightings even more impressive were the huge rock outcroppings.  I find I’m already thinking about my next visit, probably not until spring but for now I feel inspired and glad we made the trip.

Fall is my favorite season in the garden.  Even ordinary plants like forsythia surprise me with their fall color.  Perennial asters, old fashioned single chyrsanthemums , (Dendranthema) ornamental grasses and of course trees such as Japanese maples, maples,  dogwoods, hickories and yet to arrive, the much anticipated golden ginkgo foliage.  Although I still have spring bulbs to plant and a few more violas,  as well as  some greens to add to my veggie garden,  I am fortunate that here in my Zone 7 garden in Atlanta, GA, autumn is kinder to plants and forgiving of gardeners.  It really is a good time to add hardy trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs to your garden.   Here are some scenes from my garden  and  from my visit to Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, GA last week.   www.gibbsgardens.com