Saturday, August 28, 2010

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on Clematis tubulosa (Bush Clematis)

There are plants that I love but don't have any idea what to do with. This is not the typical vining Clematis; it has woody based stems that meander upward 2-3 feet and flop gracelessly. They are topped, in the summer with these beautiful blue flowers that really need to be viewed from a short distance.. The advantage of getting in close is that you are better able to appreciate what is one of my favorite floral fragrances. Who'd a thunk it? And the butterflies clearly appreciate the nectar.

This patch has been growing in the older section of the Asian Collections at least since the early 90's and has grown in so thickly that the relatively lax stems are able to support each other hence making a pleasant planting that flowers wonderfully in filtered sunlight.  Still, it's not much most of the year so maybe is better used in larger gardens. I put it into a number of designs when I first met it, but never really integrated it particularly well. Still....it's worth trying.

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