Garden Tip #1 - Make a shrub or small tree bloom out of season. Yes you can, if you know this simple trick.
Plant a clematis at the base of the plant. Clematis is the perfect perennial vine in my opinion. It's hardy and easy to grow, with gorgeous flowers in every shade of pink, purple, blue and white. And it's civilized! That means it won't choke any plant it's growing on, and it's easy to control. Check out these clematis that are blooming right now in my yard.
This one is growing on an Althea (Rose of Sharon) which doesn't bloom until late summer. The althea took a bad hit from a late freeze and all the tender new leaves were killed. It's just coming back as you can see here. However, the clematis not only wasn't bothered by the freeze, it bloomed! This is actually the 1st year for this particular clematis. I had forgotten I put it here a couple years ago and it's just now taking off. I'm sure it would have done better sooner if I had taken more care after I stuck it in the ground, but I didn't. Clematis don't care, they will do their thing in their own time.
Close-up of the flower.
Tips for growing Clematis. Some clematis bloom on new growth, some on last year's wood. You usually have to figure it out for yourself if the variety doesn't specify on the tag. Most named cultivars (developed hybrids), I think, bloom on new growth. That means pruning won't affect the bloom much. If your clematis looked weak last year, cut it to the ground in the fall and it will send up stronger vines the next year. These hybrids often bloom all season as well. There's always some flowers. To get the best from your clematis, feed it. I've found rose food works very well, but "Bunny Power" works too. Clematis like their heads in the sun and their feet in the shade. You can shade the roots with large perennials or dense shrubs planted nearby.
I have several different clematis and can't remember all of their names. I stick them in the ground anywhere there's something for them to climb on. I even have some dwarfs with small dainty flowers that look lovely on a small trellis. Yes, it's the perfect perennial vine!
You can try this trick with some annual vines, too. Hyacinth Bean is one that comes to mind. I wouldn't try Morning Glories unless the tree is larger as glories can engulf a smaller plant.
And lastly, one of my favorite iris, "Edith Wolford", in front of "Morning Light" Maiden Grass. My iris have suffered my neglect and I'll be moving them to other places better suited to show them off this year. After they finish blooming.
A while back, I posted on Facebook about seeing a guinea in the yard after I had sold the last 2. I can see the front yard from the computer desk. I was surprised because I was sure there were no other guineas around and the 2 I sold were a long ways from here. No way they came back. When I put my glasses on I saw it was a wild turkey. The forest around me is full of turkeys but they don't come out in the open very often. We just hear them. This lady likes to take a stroll around the yard sometimes. I was lucky to get this good shot through the window. Turkeys are very wary and will move off if I try to come outside for the shot. I usually can't get such a clear snapshot from the window.
If you're wondering how I could have mistaken this for a guinea even without my glasses, that other time, she was facing me with her head down and the shape was very guinea-like.
In Chicken News: Chicks are doing well. I have quite a few new ones. Some cochins from a friend have integrated with the flock in the pen. I hit TSC's Chick Days and found more cochins. I got 3 from my eggs in the incubator, but these are mixed breeds. One is sebright x cochin for sure. It came from a white egg and now has a rose comb like sebright. The other 2 I'm not sure. I think Rhode Island Red x cochin. They're black mottled or maybe solid black. Then 3 hatched under the broody hens in the pen. I stole those to protect them even though I kind of wanted to see if the hens could raise them out there. Again, not sure what they are but 2 came from under the RIR, and 1 from under the cochin.
I decided to cull all the odd breeds from the pen so that only cochins will be doing any breeding. The 2 RIR laying hens and 2 RIR chicks are for sale. One chick came from my hen, the other from TSC.
I also kicked 2 more out to free range. One of the mottled cochin roos and the brahma hen. They were too mean to the smaller birds. There's now only 1 mottled roo in there. The oldest chicks are 5 pullets and a buff cockeral. Of the younger chicks, it looks like most of those are pullets, too. One TSC chick that I thought was gold-laced cochin is now a buff brahma. I'll kick her out too when she's big enough. She already has too much attitude toward her smaller brooder-mates.
In Bunny News: Yeah, I know, I don't talk about the bunnies much these days. Well, there's not much happening there. I've been evaluating and culling jrs and am now down to a broken litter that might be old enough to show in May. There's some 4 week old litters. A few kindles this week but it didn't amount to much. 2 kits altogether out of those. Another is due today. Got a new himi jr buck from the Smith's 2 weeks ago, and he's already been breeding. He's about 5 months. Got a few more does in line for him. I'm rearranging buns to move more out to the Summer House.
Weather is great now, and I guess we are in full "summer". It feels like summer. Just enough rain.
tnt
