Clematis Collection

BY SKEETER

 Before we talk about Clematis today, I want to show you something I had been hoping to see here in my GEORGIA GARDENS. The Red Honeysuckle and Yellow Jessamine blooming simultaneously!

 The bright yellow Jessamine has since faded but I was so happy to see the two playing together!

 I have never had luck with Clematis in the past. Looking back, I have learned that I may have been too quick to assume the vine was dead. Thus, they were more then likely pulled from the ground before they awoke from a Winters Nap. I have learned my lesson. Here you see Ernest Markham. This one is located on the left side of the Garden Swing.

 Here you see a Multi Blue mingling with another Honeysuckle vine. These are located on the right side of the Garden Swing.

I love this shade of purple. I hope in time that the Honeysuckle, Multi and Ernest shall meet in the middle and mingle a bit. May have to update these beauties next year.



On the same vine, a bloom a bit older showing a whiter center. Or is this a different vine? Could be, as I planted several last year and I may have lost track of a second one in this area.

 Clematis 'Allanah' a hybrid is located in the Semi-Formal Gardens. It climbs a Shepherd's hook to a Birdcage. 

 After a drought year with me, they all appear to be happy. I hope to add more in time but for now, this is my CLEMATIS COLLECTION, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Greenbrier

BY SKEETER

 I do not like Greenbrier here in my Georgia Gardens. And it is most difficult to eradicate. Just look at the nasty roots of this vine! This is the root to one vine that keeps going and going and going. Compare the size to the standard clay brick!

Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox), AKA: Catbrier, Sawbrier (Click HERE for more) is a pretty vine but most pesky here in my gardens. The only way to rid yourself of this pain is to Pull/Dig the Tubers from the ground. Then if you leave one little sprig, you will soon have another vine!

The vine also bites back! This stuff thrives under heat and drought conditions, which our gardens seem to deal with yearly. I try to pull it as soon as I see the stuff popping up from the ground. The older it gets, the more difficult to pull with the thorns. Believe me, the little thorns bite as much as the larger ones you see in the picture above, even with gloves. Ouch! This is one evergreen vine that I despise even though, the wildlife enjoy it. Please, No GREENBRIER, In the Garden...

A Glorious Arbor Entrance to the Vegetable Garden

I have a few arbors in the garden that have been screaming for their time to shine on the blog. Literally-they are saying look at me! My time to shine! Today we'll talk about the gigantic PVC arbor I built as an entryway into the vegetable garden. I built this PVC arbor from 6" PVC pipe several years ago. It is about 10 wide at the base and about 16-17 feet tall at its peak. I pieced together PVC parts to make it all work to form a large arbor and glued the parts together with construction adhesive. I couldn't get that stuff off from my hands for days. It is really really strong glue. Prior to putting the arbor together I painted the white PVC with a deep green color using the Fusion spray paint made for plastics. Once the arbor was in place I secured chicken wire to the arbor so the vines would have a place to cling to as they grew up the arbor. It has been about five years since I built the arbor and the vines are finally providing me with a show.

The left side of the arbor (south side) has a 'Tangerine Beauty' crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) growing on it. The north side has a 'Pride of Augusta' (Gelsemium sempervirens). Both vines bloom at the same time. One side is orange and the other is yellow. I highlighted the yellow side in my vegetable garden post from last Wednesday. Today is the crossvine's (orange) time to shine.





Crossvine is a cousin to the vigorous trumpet creeper we see blooming all along the fencerows in Tennessee during the summer. Crossvine is purported to be less aggressive. I cannot vouch for that because I do not grow the trumpet creeper, but I can say the crossvine is a very manageable vine that can grow in the shade or sun. Bloom will be much less in the shade however. My vine grows on the northern side of mature oak trees and is somewhat shaded. It does get some sun but probably not as much as it would like. Nonetheless it blooms wonderfully every year.







Can you see the chicken wire attached to the arbor? I do have to do some training of the vines to ensure they are growing up and around the pillars but once the vines have a solid structure I should have to only trim errant stems. I need a ladder to reach to the top of this arbor so training and trimming is not something I do often.





And finally here you can see the complete arbor in its glorious context. This arbor is a big presence in my garden and I really like it not only for its presence but for the fact I can grow up-a nice luxury when I run out of room on the ground....


in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Roadside Beauty

By Skeeter

While driving through Georgia on my way to Tennessee recently, I could not help but notice all the roadside beauty. Just look at this beautiful Ivy type plant so pretty and lush green. I wonder how long that truck has been by that fence? It looks as though this vine is starting to strangle the truck. Hum....
You are laughing with me and not at me because being a Southern Gal, I know exactly what this invasive stinker is called, Kudzu. The Vine that killed the South! Also known as the "Foot a Night" and "Mile a Minute" vines!Kudzu is Native to Southern Japan and Southeastern China. It was brought to the US as a Forage crop and Ornamental plant around 1876.The Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers to plant Kudzu from 1935 to early 1950's to reduce Soil Erosion.The Southeastern United States are the perfect climate for it to thrive. With less freezing temps, the vine continues to grow and is now out of control and taking over everything in its path!
The Department of Agriculture listed it as a Pest Weed in 1953. It is growing all over the Southeastern US and a sure sight with interstate travels. I found this information along with more on the Wikipedia Website where more information awaits your interested minds.
As I travel along the interstate, my imagination spots creatures within the Kudzu to pass the time of travel. I see Bears, Dinosaurs and all kinds of interesting things which my mind allows. In this picture, I see an elephants head and trunk, do you? I do find it beautiful at times but wonder how long it will be before it completely takes over the South! I am happy this ROADSIDE BEAUTY is Not, In the Garden....

Does your imagination spot any creatures in the kudzu?

Gas Woe

I am not happy about the price of gas today but that is not my only Gas Woe. I am going to reveal an ugly secret hiding in my garden!

Just what every gardener wants to see in their yard right? NOT! This big old ugly gas tank provides us with wonderful heat during the winter months. Heat is good during the winter but the tank is not something I care to see on a daily basis.

What is a gardener to do? Well, use their imagination and create a solution to hide the big Silver Bullet.

I had an old piece of wooden fencing lying around without a use. The Saint dug two post holes and cut a 8 foot fence post in half for me. We put the posts into the ground secured with a bag of quick-crete. The next day, we put the fencing in place and hammered a few nails.

I wanted to plant some type of vine that would grow quickly along the fence, thus hiding the ugly gas tank. I selected Trumpet Vine! This is a 12 foot piece of fencing so the sales person at the nursery suggested two plants. I took the bait and bought two when one would have probably been fine. Darn sales people!

See that little banana tree in the middle Tina?

Trumpet Vine (Campsis Radicans) is native to the southeastern United States. It grows really quickly and can be viewed as an invasive plant in the garden. The leaves are really pretty with their bright green color and pointed ends.

In time, I will dig out saplings and plant them along the chain link fence behind the tank to cover the neighbors privacy fence. That task will take place once we are out of drought conditions. I have enough to water now!

The Trumpet Vine grows well in my garden with little care and provides me with beautiful trumpet shaped clusters of blooms. I prune it in the spring to keep it away from the tank because the Gas Man needs a clear pathway to the tank.

This is year 3 for the vines and look at how many blooms came with this grouping!

In this picture you can see the pollen has been moved about by a pollinating buddy of mine. Probably a bee but the hummingbirds and butterflies really enjoy this flower as well. They were another factor in me selecting this vine as my fence cover.

Trumpet Vines can be grown on Arbors, Trees, Telephone poles as well as Fences. Their invasive way must be kept in mind as they will become heavy in time such as the Wisteria Vine.

Look at the yellowish throat of this red-orange bloom! She is a real beauty in the garden and has been putting on a show for several weeks.
I see Trumpet Vine growing along the banks of the lake as well as the roadside here in Georgia. It loves full sun and does not seem to mind the drought conditions we have been having the past few years.

I believe I chose a perfect solution to my GAS WOE, in the garden...

Wisteria: The Hungry Chinese Vine

One of my good friends and faithful reader of this blog from the beginning (and commenter) purchased a home a little over one year ago. The home is absolutely beautiful and apparently the people who sold my friend the home, were gardeners. What a bonus for my friend. One of the plants the previous homeowners planted was Wisteria sinensis, aka Chinese Wisteria.

This vine is not a vine for the faint of heart. Do not plant it unless you are very fierce and ready to do battle not in the rink, but in the garden with an equally ferocious set of pruners. The pruners need to be very heavy and well made because you will use them weekly all throughout the growing season. So get ready because contrary to public opinion, kudzu is not the only vine that is eating the south. Just travel down to Florida and look at all of the beautiful flowers of wisteria twining through the trees everywhere there is a spot of dirt. Yes, it certainly is beautiful-in someone else's garden or along a roadside, but not in my garden.

My friend learned from her neighbor this particular vine was only two years old. Two years old and about 20 feet tall and maybe as wide. Obviously it liked the area it was planted in as it literally took over. The vine damaged the lovely arbor and trellis it was trained to grow upon. Boards were literally ripped off the trellis and who knows what else would have been ripped off had the vine been left to grow. But alas, its fate was sealed when my friend and her husband cut the neck of the beast AND used a chain and truck to pull the roots out, at least partially.

I agree, wisteria is stunning when it is bloom. It grows fast and quickly provides much needed shade when grown on an arbor such as in this situation, but I do not recommend planting this vine close to a house or on an arbor such as this. A better wisteria for this arbor would've been Wisteria frutescens, aka American Wisteria. This particular wisteria is native and is not as invasive as the Chinese wisteria. It will be more manageable for the homeowner. A good variety which was widely available last year, not sure about this year, is 'Amethyst Falls'.

If you simply must have a wisteria and the Chinese variety is the only one available here are some simple tips I use in my garden. Yes, I not only have a Chinese wisteria, I have TWO of them. Had I known better, I may have chosen the American variety over the Chinese variety (the only one available at the time). I say may because one of my tips helps me to control my wisteria and I am not sure American wisteria would've stood up to the tip. It probably would but we'll never know now since I have already planted the Chinese variety.

It is not a tip I would generally recommend because the old adage, "The right plant in the right place" is still the best advice you can adhere to as a gardener. But what if you are a plant collector and just have to have a wisteria-regardless of the type or consequences? Well, what I have done is plant my wisteria in a less than ideal location. My wisteria does not get full sun, thus it does not grow rampantly. This is not the right way to garden, but it is how I garden sometimes. Do not say Tina recommended buying a plant and planting it in a less than ideal situation because I will deny it forever. That is not what I am saying. But, if you must have a plant no matter what, think of innovative ways to control it and maximize its beauty and strengths in your garden. Not only are my Chinese wisteria growing in part shade, but they are growing on a very sturdy arbor away from anything the wisteria may try to climb and tear apart. And they actually haven't done much of anything so far, so how smart am I? Not very.

You see, if you really want wisteria, then pick an ideal location for it and plant it. The previous homeowners of my friend's house did not pick the right spot or the right plant for the spot even though the growing conditions were favorable. In this case they should have either:

a. planted the American variety on the their house, or

b. planted the Chinese variety far away from the house and trees, on a sturdy, sturdy arbor made from 6x6's and 2x4s, not 2x4s and 1x2s. That will never work.

I am not sure what my friend will plant to replace the wisteria, but perhaps the American variety 'Amethyst Falls' might be good? Or maybe a grape vine? One she can contol with judicial pruning. I think my pick for the arbor if I had such an arbor overhead, would be either a grape vine or a climbing rose, such as 'Zephirine Drouhin'. The Zephirine Drouhin is an extremely fragrant climbing rose which repeat blooms, and is nearly thornless. The pinkish red flowers would contrast nicely with the white of the arbor. Another excellent vine which would grow great on the arbor, is the clematis. Clematis would do well and not absolutely take over the arbor and definitely won't damage the arbor. There are many colors to choose from including: reds, purples, whites, pinks and a mixture of all of the colors.

So, the next time you want to plant a wisteria, or any vine, make sure you have the right situation for the plant and know what you are planting. There are alternatives to almost every single plant you could possibly want to grow.

in the garden....