What with the huge amount of rain we've been having for the last couple of weeks, some of the flower colour has been a bit muted by the dull skies, but yesterday I was in a garden where the colour was shining out.
Admitidly some of the best colour was the foliage of the Spirea and the flowering cherry, but the Blue clematis in the middle of the picture was shining out amongst the leaf colour.
This Clematis Macropetala (probably Pauline, the label has got lost) has draped itself through the golden leaved Spirea, and the neigbouring Ceanothus, and is providing a bright colour contrast even on yesterday's dull and rainy day
Also flowering in profusion at the moment are 2 evergreen clematis.
Clematis Armandii provide all year round interest with it's pointed glossy foliage, and it can romp away into trees and up buildings to cover large areas with its Scented spring flowers.
Then there's a smaller Clematis Early Sensation that I've used very successfully for ground cover
This is excellent for its delicate cut foliage, and bright white flowers in May. Varieties Cartmanii Joe and Avalanche are very similar
All of these clematis are group 1 for pruning, meaning that you don't have to prune them except to take out any browning foliage, but i've found that the evergreen types respond well to some tidying after flowering. Don't cut them later in the year, or you'll miss out on the following season's flowers.
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