Clematis Center

Clematis Center
Clematis sp.

I think that almost every botanical photographer sooner or later turn their lens’s eye towards the center of a Clematis. I find them a very photogenic group of plants. I am not sure of the cultivar of this Clematis but it was blooming on August 24th of last year. There are two things I always consider when growing these vines. One is ‘hot top, cool bottom”, which means I try and get the root area in at least a semi-shady location. The other thing is to figure out if your type of Clematis blooms on old wood or new wood. Once you know that then you can prune it properly, not cutting off the potential flowers. I have always found that a Clematis is either very happy where it is growing or they really struggle. There doesn’t seem to be too much in between. I have been enjoying growing different cultivars using various shrubs and dwarf trees as there support. It is a lot of fun.

I have a lot of work to do today, finalizing some orders and writing a proposal (first of the year!). I also have to make some phone calls. We are hoping to resume full operations next week but that maybe a little optimistic. I am really hoping for either an early or normal spring.