I have a few evergreen vines—Akebia longeracemosa 'Victor's Secret' and Lardizabala biternata, to name two—that look great year round. But for those that die back over the winter to return in the spring, August is when they really start to claim their territory, take for instance Clematis tibetana var. vernayi...
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It looks so delicate, with those little leaves.
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But it can cover the trellis, the Metapanax delavayi and the Schefflera delavayi all in a single season. Luckily I love the yellow flowers—they're just forming now—and don't mind trimming it back once it's done with it's take-over.
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The Lonicera x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet' is finally performing this year, crawling up the Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate', after not doing much it's first year in the ground.
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I love how this bloom is dropping down to check on the bromeliad bunch hanging below.
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Naturally it opened after I took this photo (it's open, over on my Instagram feed, if you're curious)
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Passifflora 'Snow Queen' has abandoned the undersized trellis I gave her to grow on, and is now using the Grevillea miqueliana for support. That works for me, I love it when my plants mingle.
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Passiflora lutea is having a banner year. Maybe it will become the thug I was warned it could be, after all.
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It has more vines than ever, and they've made it up to the top of the Trachycarpus fortunei earlier than ever before.
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I'm hoping maybe they'll grow so long they start falling back downwards, so by the time the tiny yellow flowers come around I'll actually be able to see them.
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Then again, it looks like the vines are scheming to jump over to the top of the chocolate mimosa so I may be out of luck.
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The Bomarea sp. also decided to bloom way up at the top of the Trachycarpus. See the orange? Next year I'm going to make sure to train a couple of it's vines down lower, so I can see the flowers.
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Passiflora 'Amethyst Jewel' always has multiple flowers in bloom.
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It's also trying to take over, reaching out to grab a hold of whatever it can.
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Ceanothus? Check.
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Agave? Check.
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It had reached over the fence and started up the neighbor's Cornus controversa 'Variegata' but I wasn't sure how she'd feel about that, so I grabbed it and pulled it down while I still could, before it twined around multiple stems. Of course I broke the stem in the process, so it came inside and went in a vase on the mantel (far right).
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It's even opening it's flowers!
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The Passiflora 'Sunburst' in a container by the stock tank pond is growing like crazy, but no blooms yet...
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Maybe I should do something really bold and fertilize it. After all it is in a container and the soil is probably pretty depleted.
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Long-time readers may remember years ago a piece of that P. 'Sunburst' stayed behind when I dug the plant to overwinter it (it's a Zone 10 plant, so not hardy here, or so we thought). Once again it's staged a return from that bit of root. This is the first year it's made it to the top of this little trellis by the beginning of August. I hope for blooms, only time will tell.
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There's also a Passiflora 'Snow Queen' growing here, she hasn't bloomed yet either.
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Since I've already shared a photo of the vase on the mantel, and it is Monday, the day many bloggers share images of vases filled with flowers from their gardens, I thought I'd share a few of the other stems in the house. In the bathroom there's a stem of a NOID Crocosmia.
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The dining table has two vases on it. One with fern fronds left from a birthday bouquet, joined by a few sarracenia pitchers. The other full of Moluccella laevis stems...
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And a few of what I think maybe Carthamus tinctorius, these too are left from a birthday bouquet. It's about time to start cutting and filling big vases with Moluccella laevis, as the lower part of the stems are looking tatty outside, and I LOVE them indoors...
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Weather Diary, Aug 4: Hi 94, Low 64/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
It looks so delicate, with those little leaves.
But it can cover the trellis, the Metapanax delavayi and the Schefflera delavayi all in a single season. Luckily I love the yellow flowers—they're just forming now—and don't mind trimming it back once it's done with it's take-over.
The Lonicera x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet' is finally performing this year, crawling up the Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate', after not doing much it's first year in the ground.
I love how this bloom is dropping down to check on the bromeliad bunch hanging below.
Naturally it opened after I took this photo (it's open, over on my Instagram feed, if you're curious)
Passifflora 'Snow Queen' has abandoned the undersized trellis I gave her to grow on, and is now using the Grevillea miqueliana for support. That works for me, I love it when my plants mingle.
Passiflora lutea is having a banner year. Maybe it will become the thug I was warned it could be, after all.
It has more vines than ever, and they've made it up to the top of the Trachycarpus fortunei earlier than ever before.
I'm hoping maybe they'll grow so long they start falling back downwards, so by the time the tiny yellow flowers come around I'll actually be able to see them.
Then again, it looks like the vines are scheming to jump over to the top of the chocolate mimosa so I may be out of luck.
The Bomarea sp. also decided to bloom way up at the top of the Trachycarpus. See the orange? Next year I'm going to make sure to train a couple of it's vines down lower, so I can see the flowers.
Passiflora 'Amethyst Jewel' always has multiple flowers in bloom.
It's also trying to take over, reaching out to grab a hold of whatever it can.
Ceanothus? Check.
Agave? Check.
It had reached over the fence and started up the neighbor's Cornus controversa 'Variegata' but I wasn't sure how she'd feel about that, so I grabbed it and pulled it down while I still could, before it twined around multiple stems. Of course I broke the stem in the process, so it came inside and went in a vase on the mantel (far right).
It's even opening it's flowers!
The Passiflora 'Sunburst' in a container by the stock tank pond is growing like crazy, but no blooms yet...
Maybe I should do something really bold and fertilize it. After all it is in a container and the soil is probably pretty depleted.
Long-time readers may remember years ago a piece of that P. 'Sunburst' stayed behind when I dug the plant to overwinter it (it's a Zone 10 plant, so not hardy here, or so we thought). Once again it's staged a return from that bit of root. This is the first year it's made it to the top of this little trellis by the beginning of August. I hope for blooms, only time will tell.
There's also a Passiflora 'Snow Queen' growing here, she hasn't bloomed yet either.
Since I've already shared a photo of the vase on the mantel, and it is Monday, the day many bloggers share images of vases filled with flowers from their gardens, I thought I'd share a few of the other stems in the house. In the bathroom there's a stem of a NOID Crocosmia.
The dining table has two vases on it. One with fern fronds left from a birthday bouquet, joined by a few sarracenia pitchers. The other full of Moluccella laevis stems...
And a few of what I think maybe Carthamus tinctorius, these too are left from a birthday bouquet. It's about time to start cutting and filling big vases with Moluccella laevis, as the lower part of the stems are looking tatty outside, and I LOVE them indoors...
Weather Diary, Aug 4: Hi 94, Low 64/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.