Clematis Wilt

    Well, apparently there is no support group for gardeners who are down in the dumps over clematis wilt, so I will use this venue for my therapy.  Pictured above is a plant stricken with clematis wilt.  It is not MY plant, but I have witnessed this in my Pittsburgh garden where I saw it take three clematis in one season, and hoped never to see it again.  There is no turning around for the plant in the picture.  It will continue to droop, then wilt on the vine, and its owner can say good-bye before it ever blossoms. Though research is not conclusive, it appears that it is a soil-borne fungus.  It is difficult to eradicate.  

     Pictured below is the trellis that was hosting my small "Blue Angel Clematis" until a few days ago.  I was disheartened to see the top blossoms face downward, staring at their feet instead of the heavens above, refusing to climb another inch.  Each day it wilted more and finally I admitted defeat.  Snip Snip!  Back to two inches high.  No blossoms this year, but the good news is, it has a good chance of flourishing next year.  

     The next picture shows my newest clematis, the "Niobe," for which I spent a year on a wait list.   I knew this would be the perfect one to kiss the soft pink and white climbing rose that is busy winding its way up the other side of the trelllis.  A few days ago I noticed the top blossom turning downward.  Clutching my heart, I snipped that one little drooper and crossed my fingers.  While I wouldn't say it is out of danger, I have not seen further droop and it's been five days since I snipped.

But I am still worried about the future of clematis in my gardens.  I stubbornly admit that this is not fitting in with my concept of a low-maintenance perennial garden.  (I still have one that is in excellent health.)  I spoke with a gardener at Kulak's nursery, who advised me on how to best re-hab sick clematis and protect healthy ones. Spray affected plants and surrounding soil with a fungicide. Clematis like their roots to be shaded and their blossoms to be in the sun. Mulch is not recommended to shade the roots.  Foliage from other plants or rocks work better.
     My self-imposed therapy for Clematis Wilt Sufferers is to turn one's back on the ailing plant and look at something that is working.  I like the salmon poppy with the purple Baptisia.  Feeling better already.

Another garden surprise

It was a sweeter surprise than in my last posting..............  I shall be watering this hanging plant very carefully.

Surprises in the Garden

     THIS is what greeted me when I walked onto my front porch this morning.  Her shell was 12" long and she had a face that only a mother could love!  When I discovered her I saw that she had been busy for quite some time making large holes in my mulch, similar to the one in the second picture.  I believe she was on a journey to find sandy soil in which to lay her eggs. We watched her for nearly an hour, checking every two minutes or so.  Either she didn't care for my soil or she considered my presence an invasion of her privacy.  When my back was turned she disappeared and never came back.  She must have lumbered off at quite a speed for she was nowhere in sight.  I do love surprises in the garden.  If you've ever had a surprise in YOUR garden I'd love to know what it was.

Where did she go???

 If you number yourself among my very few readers, you may have noticed a slow-down in my entries.  The pace will pick up again, but in the meantime, I offer four reasons.....

1.  In January I joined a local senior community orchestra.   I began violin several years ago but never played with a group until this opportunity arose. The gap between my skill level and that of the kind, forgiving people of the orchestra is ENORMOUS.  In order to even fumble along with them at concerts I have been practicing 2-4 hours a day!  But determination has taken a fierce grip on me as I continue to humble myself with this group and surprise myself by finding such pleasure in it.

2.  The recent trip to Italy took a two week dent in my Spring gardening chores and left little time to post;   No regrets there!!  It was the trip of a lifetime.

3.  I'm discouraged by a challenge with my camera (Canon Power Shot digital), and am finding it nearly impossible to capture the true colors of blossoms.  It is as if the dial was set on "washed out" mode. This may require a trip to the camera shop and a very patient clerk.

4.  And finally, I've been moping about my clematis situation.  Oh, sad, sad SAD I am!  More about this discouraging setback in a future posting.

But rest assured, I've been edging, composting, planting, watering, weeding, dividing, and hopping from nursery to nursery for a few elusive annuals and perennials (oh, I'm feeling a post coming on that subject, too).  And despite the aforementioned clematis crisis, the spirit is alive!

Wish List 2012

It is the eve of my first nursery visit of the year and after many cups of tea and catalogues, my perennial wish list for 2012 is prepared:

Echinacea Virgin, a lovely white with a green center.
Anenome Sylvestris, to replace my pink Anenome Prince Henry, which is alarmingly invasive, as  it turns out.
Centranthus Ruber, to celebrate (?)  that I have alkaline soil.  Yep, finally had my pH tested.
Digitalis Camelot White - I had this last year, it is a biennial that sadly did not propogate, but it lent such a stately look to a spot in the garden that I must try again.
Epimedium Alabaster - I've never had an epimedium, and my only reason for this being on my list is that I caved in to a picture in the White Flower Farm Catalogue.  (Do I need a better reason?)
Geranium Sanguineum Elke, because I have an on-going love affair with perennial geraniums and this is a pretty little thing..
Gaillardia, because last  year's simply petered out on me.
Stokesia, a much touted perennial that after many years of being under consideration, might finally draw me in.
Flax Linum - Oh, dear fragile little flax.  I need to start calling you an annual.  I can't do without you and I love seeing you dance in the corners of my garden.
Rudbekia Cappucinno - I had this Gloriosa Daisy in my Pittsburgh garden but my soil rejected it because of a "wilt" factor present in my soil, a not uncommon situation with Rudbekia.  I'm ready to try it in my New York soil.
White Salvia  (a cousin of blue salvia) is lovely, but  has become harder to find in recent years.  I have one, but it has been very slow to increase to a size that welcomes division.
Penstemon Husker Red - ditto - have one, but it is too slow growing to divide.  I've been patiently waiting for three years.
Nepeta Fasseni - Please stop me from getting this.  I pulled every last bit from my last garden for the sin of being invasive.  But I read that it makes a pretty underplanting for Knock-out Roses, and the roses are well away from my perennial beds.

I'll start my day at Schultz's Greenhouse, where young and common perennials can be had for $1.99 apiece.  Then I'll proceed to Hewitt's.  If I find three or four of the above, it will be a very good day!  Now how am I supposed to sleep tonight after putting this into writing??

Buon Giorno!

We just returned from a beautiful trip to Italy where we had the opportunity to tour the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Rome, Tuscany, Florence, and Venice. It was the trip of a lifetime! We purposely chose the last two weeks in April because May is undoubtedly the biggest month for gardening tasks. In doing so, we probably sacrificed flower photo ops in Italy.  Blossoms were few and far between. But that is okay - we were there for the Art, History, Culture and Food!

There were so few flowers that I jokingly took this picture of five somewhat sad little tulips as proof that I was indeed looking for flowers and found them!

I was able to catch the Mediterranean through a cluster of flowering shrubs.

And here is the biggest floral display I saw in two weeks -  a clump of flowers that was a nice foreground to this little town in Cinque Terre.

If you look very hard, you will indeed see flowers in a window box.  But in all honesty, I took this picture for the clothesline.

   
And that is it! Of the two hundred or so pictures of Italy, there were four of flowers.  But our time there was absolutely unforgettable.  We returned to a nice display of creeping phlox and candy tuft along our patio, and to the task of edging and mulching.  Team Cardinali is hard at work on that.  I also returned to a very different blogspot.com.  The format for composing a post is completely different from the one I left and I do believe it will be a challenge for me to become accustomed to it.  (For instance, I have spent many minutes trying to center that tulip picture.  It's not going to happen.) I'm not a big fan of technological change.  But I will return.  Last night I made out my wish list for Garden 2012 and I'm eager to share it with you!