Rainy day happiness
Digging has been nominated for several Mouse & Trowel Awards! I would sure appreciate your vote.
Voting is open to anyone with an email address.
A gentle rain is falling today. It’s the type of rain for which I’m always grateful. In Texas we often receive pounding, drenching downpours instead, most of which streams away into storm drains rather than soaking the soil properly.
‘Duchess of Albany’ clematis buds tentatively opened this morning, despite the drizzle. I didn’t include these tulip-shaped flowers on Bloom Day because they’d stubbornly refused to open in time. Well, here they are.
According to Ft. Worth-based Maggie’s Garden, this Clematis texensis hybrid, as its name indicates, has Texas roots. She writes, “British nurseryman Rowland Jackman created Duchess of Albany in 1890 by crossing the native C. texensis species and the hybrid ‘Star of India’. Several other varieties have been developed from C. texensis, but this is the most commonly available. The original Texas native species is rarely offered in retail.”
I believe Natural Gardener sold this to me as a native clematis, but close enough.
I’d love to have a more exotic clematis—the big, showy kind like you northern gardeners can grow—but I’d always assumed those weren’t suited for my hot climate. Now that Annie has shown me the error of my ways, I may have to give one a try.
This is how I must have looked on Sunday when I saw Digging on the Mouse & Trowel finalists list. I’m still reeling but walking with a spring in my step. Thanks again to everyone who nominated me!
I just bought a couple clematises myself. How long did it take yours to start climbing?
No time at all, as I recall. I usually plant in the fall and probably did so with this clematis. By the following spring it had set good roots and was ready to climb. —Pam
Carol from Lost Valley Gardens is trying to get the species Clematis texensis going – maybe she’ll succeed. http://lostvalleygardens.com/gardenblog/
I had Duchess of Albany in IL but have admired the wild one in State Parks.
Annie
Wonderful. I hope she succeeds too. Thanks for letting me know about her efforts. —Pam
Pam… I like the pictures of flowers with rain drops on them… no wonder you were nominated by people like me for “Best Photography”. We are finally getting some sunny spring days in Indiana…
Thanks, Carol. And yea for spring’s arrival in Indiana! —Pam
We could do with some rain in the Netherlands. It’s been very dry lately which is also rather unusual.
Very pretty and dainty that clematis. Love the colour.
I wonder if your unusual weather is part of the general climate change we keep hearing about. Austin is predicted to be drier than usual in the future as well, which is worrisome. —Pam
I grew Clematis texensis for several years, unfortunately in the side garden that I used to visit more before my gardening neighbor moved and that I’ve now mostly abandoned. Somewhere in there the clematis died. It was always a delicate plant with beautiful but small flowers. It really needed to be somewhere where you could easily get up close to it to admire the blooms. I can’t remember where I bought it (probably Barton Spgs Nursery). I grew it on a south-facing wall that got part sun. I’ve tried the gaudier clematises (?) with no luck but I may have to give Duchess of Albany a shot.
“Duchess” is pretty trouble-free, though mine tends to brown up a bit in the middle of the summer, then releaf with cooler weather. —Pam