Miguel,
Beautiful as always.

How high does your Niobe grow. Mine only does about 3 feet. I am thinking of moving her as she gets late, late afternon sun only. She won't climb high enough to get more sun.
If she only wants to stay that high I have a perfect 3 foot picket fence I can train her up.

The crispa and glauca...something or other seedlings we germinated from your garden have made it through a particularly long winter. Can't wait to see if Crispa is pure white again. (if you remember she flowered within the first 6 months from seed.)

I only have Alpina Constance and the macropetala seedling from Nova Scotia flowering right now. But Markham's Pink, Blue Dancer, Henryi (I think, lost the tag) and Wada's Primrose are running a close third.

I have some time though, so I am currently in the thrall of the miniature iris. I have had 16 different colors bloom this spring and currently 13 are in bloom. Hope the weather stays a little cool so the blooms last longer.

Dana

Your Niobe is totally stunning.
I think I might have murdered mine last week.
The BCs are wonderful, I wish I could see your garden up close and personal.
Harlow Carr has gone up to the top of my wish list, never seen it available around here!
Tis such a pity your work keeps you away from your garden.

Your garden is absolutely luscious!! Hanajima is so cute I want to eat it up, and the Betty Corning blooms... so beautiful! Everything looks so healthy. My Ramona is still 2 dead looking 2 inch stubs sticking out of the ground, but I keep watering it in hopes that I can revive it soon. Everything around here wakes up so much more slowly. What I thought were buds on a couple of mine are really just baby leaves upon closer inspection. Keep the pictures coming! At least I can enjoy some clematis blooms vicariously this year :)

Dana, I am not sure if my treating it as a type III has modified its size but Niobe has never gotten taller than about three feet for me. It is also growing under the same crepe myrtle tree that Sizaia Ptitsa is growing under so again don't know if that has affected its eventual height or not. Be sure to show the seedlings that you grew from the seeds I sent--crispa and glaucophylla. I like to see how the babies have turned out!

Helen, glad you liked the color of Niobe. It is quite intense when it first comes out and before the sun gets to it. The work hours they are a changing this weekened. I am going to be working 3 12 hour days on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, get paid for 40 hours, and have 4 days off each week. The 3 12 hour days will take some getting used to and I am sure Tuesday will be recuperation day!

Almond, my Ramona actually had some blooms on it wilt early on so don't despair. You never know how things will turn out long term. The Betty Corning blooms are wonderful and have a very subtle fragrance. I have the bouquet on the table in the living room and I catch the fragrance periodically when I watch TV.

Miguel,
Thanks for the pictures. Its great to get a preview. I am seeing lots of buds on Betty Corning, Venosa Violacea and Rhapsody. Maybe next week.

How well do those blooms do in a vase?

Don't you just love it when they all start blooming? Beauties one and all, Miguel. My Crispa has been blooming for a couple of weeks but Betty Corning is just starting. Did you get any of those storms? We got walloped by them. Lots of damage in the garden.

I work 12 hour shifts and once you get used to them, you will love all the extra days off. I don't think I could work a regular 9-5 job anymore.

Carol

Harry, Betty Corning blooms last about a week in a vase if you get them when they first open up and change the water regularly. Sometimes I forget but since BC is such a great grower, I just go back out and cut more. The fragrance in my house seems to be stronger in the evening.

Carol, the one crispa I have has never been a vigorous grower or magnificent bloomer. However this year it has taken off and is loaded with more buds than I have ever seen. Must have been its leap year!

We got quite a bit of rain and wind Carol. In fact I had several clematis damaged by the wind so I just whacked them back and they are going again.

I worked 12 hours before for about a year. The bigger change for me is going from working 4:00pm until 1:00am or sometimes as late as 4am to having to be at work by 4:30am and getting off at 5:30pm. Tonight is my last night work and the 3 12 hour days start on Saturday morning. The worst part about being off for 4 days is that I will have to check my email from home on Friday so I will know what is going on for Saturday and having to wade through 100 or so emails! YUCK!!!

I just love your Hanajima, the leaves are a lot narrower then other Clems, it's very striking. Where did you find it, I've never seen it at any of the local nurseries or online for that matter. You have a lot of out of the ordinary Clems, I'm looking forward to seeing Alionushka when the blooms open up, I hope you can post some photos.

Linda

Linda, Hanajima was purchased from Debbie at Silver Star Vinery in spring of 2006. You might want to contact Debbie and see if she has anymore since she might not advertise it if she has only one or two.

It is also sold by Joy Creek but they are out of them right now. See the link below.

Will try and get a shot of Alionushka when it comes into bloom. For now here is a shot from a previous year.

{{gwi:248987}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Hanajima at Joy Creek