Plant Profile: Clematis Vine

One of the most fascinating and pleasurable aspects of the art and science of the horticulture and landscaping world is witnessing first hand the year-round dynamic changes of a garden. And it really truly is dynamic, full of energy, and exciting as in spring we watch, in essence, the resurrection of life in the form of exploding buds, emerging flowers, and developing fruit.

I look out upon my own small garden every morning while getting ready for work, and then reexamine it at the end of my work day even before entering the house. I walk through it looking at the day's development of every plant as a method of transition and stress reduction from work to home. And boy does it ever do its job!

During late May the plant on center stage for me during my daily garden tour is the Clematis vine. Like many plants, even the best pictures on glossy pages are no match for the reality of staring in person at the wide open, flat face of a Clematis flower and having them stair, boldly right back at you with flowers as big as your hand.

Clematis Clematis varr.
 

Clematis, Westergard House, Skyler Westergard May 2014

Consisting of more than 200 different species Spring, Summer, and Fall clematis varieties all can be obtained. Most are deciduous vines, but there is some few evergreens as well, specifically Clematis armandii.

Clematis, Westergard House, Skyler Westergard, May 2014

A vine, most clematis will grow 10-12 feet high and 3-5 across with flower diameters being as much as 8 inches across, or as little as just 2 inches. Generally speaking the more vigorous, larger spreading clematis vines boast a smaller flower, but more profusion of blooms. The larger flowering varieties such as the one shown above from my garden do not spread quite as profusely.

Plant your clematis vine where the leaves and flowers are in the sun, but their roots are in the shade. Mine, luckily, was planted well by the previous homeowner with its roots tucked in the cool shade under a nearby shrub, with the rest of the plant being in full sun.  Roots of the plant also need moist soil with plenty of organic matter such as compost or decomposing leaf litter.

Clematis seeds 3, Tanakawho, 8.16.2006, Available at flickr.com

Do not overlook the season when the flowers are spent. The seed heads of Clematis are arguably one of the most interesting and unique seed structures you will see in the garden. The are some who undoubtedly find the seed heads just as interesting and exciting as the flower itself.

Lastly, remember clematis is a vine so use it in the landscape to cover an area you want to hid or to climb on, such as an arbor, trellis, fence, gazebo, or pergola.  With the spectacular flowers and out of this world seed heads perhaps it might even be worth building some new structure in your garden just so you can plant a clematis and have it be part of your own daily garden tour.

Tomatoes: Lots of flowers, no fruit

People ask me from time to time why their otherwise healthy, prolifically flowering tomato plant does not seem to set fruit properly or isn't setting fruit at all. This can especially be the case here in the Pacific Northwest where we can have cool, rainy, and humid spring weather. With just a little help your tomato plant should be on its way to providing you with loads of your favorite tomato. Personally, I'm looking forward to my Sun Gold Cherry tomatoes. I doubt they will ever even make it in the house though as my family can't help but eat them right off the stem.

Tomato Blossoms, Westergard Garden

Here is little dose of science and big dose of fun how-to, which should get your tomatoes back on track if they seem to be misbehaving this spring. 

One nice thing about tomatoes is that the blossoms are self-fertile, meaning that each blossom can pollinate itself. It doesn't require pollen from another plant or other flowers. The blossom does need a bit of help though, most often through the aid of a pollinator. Bumble bees commonly provide this help by "sonicating." Cool new word, huh? Sonication is the vibration of the bees wing muscles, without the wings moving, and when done while the Bumble bee is sitting on the blossom it causes the dried pollen dust to move off the anther (male part) and onto the stigma and down into the ovary (female parts).  Wala!, tomatoes.

Sun Gold Tomatoes, Westergard Garden

Your tomato may be putting on lots of yellow flowers, but in cool, moist spring weather bee activity may be reduced and the pollen may not be drying out enough to easily move off the anther. Good news though: you can replicate bee sonication by manual giving your tomato plants a vigorous shake on a sunny dry day. Yep, that's usually all it takes. If you have an electric tooth brush this could also be used at the base of the blossoms along the stem to vibrate the anthers and release the pollen. Wind movement also shakes the tomato blossoms and will also cause fertilization.

A couple other interesting facts about sonication from the website Honey Bee Suite are that first, honey bees do not sonicate and second, other plants that may require or do better with sonicating bumble bees include the potato, blueberry, and cranberry. (http://www.honeybeesuite.com/wednesday-word-file-sonication/)

Good luck with those tomatoes!