Scrabble

Scrabble - not that most addictive and sometimes frustrating of board games but what my clematis jouiniana x 'Praecox' has done this summer. I've posted about this clematis before which is hardy, easy to care for, seems totally pest and disease free (saying that under my breath and touching wood at the same time) and is also a bee and butterfly magnet. This plant has obviously not read the books as its wingspan has attained about 20 feet this year as opposed to the 6 -10 feet that it is supposed to. It has not been fed but has just got on with it - must be a combination of last year's rain and this year's heat. It is now crawling into and up a conifer ~

Elsewhere the little flowers of geranium 'Dilys' peek their heads quite attractively out of its canopy ~

I came home from garden club last week with some seeds of a perennial lathyrus which fades from a dusky rose pink to a lilac shade and may if they germinate add one to the mix at a future date. This clematis can either be grown as ground cover as I grow it or upright as Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' grows it.

The first two photos were taken last Thursday whilst the last one was taken today and as you can see we have had some rain. Even during such a short span of time the plant is showing more signs of going over but it has shone from July onwards and thoroughly deserves its Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. I will not linger on the way that it dies down other than say that is its worst trait!

Still on the subject of clematis this plant is giving me pleasure at the moment but I've lost the label ~

I think it might be clematis 'Blekitny Aniol' (Blue Angel) but I'm not sure. Does anybody recognise it?

Two new clematis came home with me last week from the garden centre sales table. They are both Raymond Evison introductions 'Bijou' and 'Filigree'. They are of compact habit and ideal for container growing including hanging baskets. They were not much to look at as the flowers had long since died down, but at a bargain price of £6 for the two of them, they just had to make their way into my basket. Has anyone else snapped up any bargain plants recently clematis or otherwise? It seems the best time of the year to look out for them or accidentally come across them.