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.

Plant Profile: Profusion Beautyberry

When answering questions or giving advice about choosing plants for a landscape or when working on a design for a new landscape installation, I always talk to people about the need to have year-round garden interest. We are all certainly reminded of the need for such as the stunning fall colors fade and leaves dancingly float to the ground while the relative barrenness of winter seems to quickly approach.

Winter landscape interest can be accomplished in a myriad of ways including: winter berries, stem and bark color, plant texture, winter flowers, interesting branching habits, and architecture. Today I wish to highlight a plant that displays arguably one of the most breathtaking berry clusters imaginable.

In fall and through early winter Profusion Beautyberry boasts a prolific display of  hundreds or thousands of small violet, purple berries that resemble some sort of magical pearl.  It is one of those plants whose berry display simply cannot be comprehended without experiencing it in person. I highly recommend giving serious consideration to beautyberry as part of your garden's fall and winter interest display.

Profusion Beautyberry ( Callicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion')

Profusion Beautyberry. Skyler Westergard Residence, WA. Fall 2013

Growing 6-10' tall and wide this plant likes good loamy, moist soil especially when flowering and during fruit set.  For a better fall and winter display the plant needs a fair amount of sunlight and can be planted in full sun or part shade and loves long hot summers.

Beautyberry gets its violet berries on the current seasons new growth so pruning about a third of the plant down to the base every year will promote its profusion of berry pearls.  On that note, if the plant gets too large and unruly the whole thing can be cut back to the base in late winter to reset its size.

In the summer the berries are preceded by loads of small pale pink flowers. Every flower will produce one berry so the quantity of midsummer flower display can be appealing as well.

The berries themselves are not poisonous, but are quite bitter as supposedly are the leaves. For this reason the shrub is listed as deer resistant. The berries can also attract birds. The American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), a close relative, is better suited for making jellies, for which recipes are easily available online, and is know also as the French Mulberry.

In the landscape, use Beautyberry as a woodland planting, massed together for more berry display, or combine with other fall and winter berry plants such as Red Winterberry, Cotoneaster, or orange Firethorn.

Plant Profile: PGM Rhododendron

PGM Rhododendren, Seattle, WA LDS Temple

The PGM Rhododendron is an early flowering, compact, broadleaf evergreen shrub.  I love this plant for its loud profusion of lavender flowers and fragrant scent. To me it smells like some sort of a bubble gum from my childhood.

It likes slightly acidic, organically rich soil which is moist, but not too wet and does well in the shade. 

The PGM is one of the earliest flowering not only Rhody's but spring shrub. It explodes with brilliance in April and, in the Puget Sound, vigorously beckons in spring earlier than spring wants to be beckoned.

Design uses could be as a broadleaf evergreen screen for year round green or as a spring focal point. I recommend planting the PGM in close enough proximity to patios and walkways where the flowers and fragrance can be enjoyed up close and personal. This little guy can certainly stand alone, but if so repeat it in several other places throughout the yard for balance and repetition. In the right area it could also be used as an informal, loose hedge as is done on the grounds of the Seattle LDS Temple in Bellevue, WA. There it is used to create a ring hedge around a circle of lawn resulting in a perfect outdoor room.