WHAT DENOTES A COLLECTION?

On UK garden programs they sometimes visit gardens/nurseries who hold the National Collection of a specific plant. In the UK there are over 650 collections and you can see the list at National Collections and where to see a specific family. Plant Heritage aims at conservation of plant and diversity rather like the aim of our own Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 

Out of curiosity I looked up Clematis where I found myself heading down the inevitable rainy-day rabbit hole. Collections are by group and there among them was our very own  Clematis texensis with  2 species, 15 cultivars and 17 taxa. 

                                                    Clematis texensis Princess Diana

 Our native clematis is almost impossible to find at the nursery and even at the Wildflower Center's Native plant sale coming up soon. I did manage to buy one there some years ago and was at first disappointed in the color but have come to love and treasure it over the years.  I have identified it, rightly or wrongly, as Clematis versicolor , known as the pale leather flower. I think I had expected it to be C. pitcheri, purple leatherflower.

                                             Clematis pitcheri, Pale leatherflower?
 

Now, having found this breeder of clematis in England I plan to send them a photo and ask them what they think about the identity of this clematis. They have one labeled C. pitcheri crispa 26 which they raised from seed. It took 4 years to flower.

Maybe if I am lucky I will be able to add to my one Texensis group, Princess Diana. Among which are Happy Diana, Etoile Rose, Duchess of Albany, Gravetye beauty, Pagoda, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Maxima, Peveril Profusion, Ruby Wedding and Radiance. What I love about these clematis is that they die down to the ground over winter so there is no pruning necessary. But they do require some kind of wire or mesh support in order to support their rapid growth in spring. I think this is why you so often see them planted to entwine around roses.

Both my clematis produce delightful seed heads and this year I have a few seedlings of the C. versicolor. Getting them out of the ground is not easy as they send down very long roots but I have been successful in saving a few rather spindly plants which I hope will grow stronger over the years and eventually flower. Lovely in all its seasons I am now on the hunt.

A FEW SCENES FROM MY MORNING WALK IN THE GARDEN

It's the second thing I do every morning. Number one is put the kettle on to make tea. Number two is to pick up my phone and head out into the garden. What will I see this morning; a new flower, a wilted plant, a lizard scurrying ahead of me on the path or just that special scene that I want to capture in a photo? Here are a few of the scenes that I enjoyed this morning.

The kumquat is blooming and this year, if all the flowers are pollinated, we will have a really wonderful crop for kumquat marmalade.

In the distance is the pedestal with the hypertufa crevice garden. I planted it with little plants that could not survive my summer travels, nor the blasting sun. This year I am hoping for better success with a few things that have seeded there, a feather grass, and one particularly tough succulent I snuck in there last fall. But it is my opinion that the rocks could just stand alone.

As I walk back I realize I need to do a little editing to make walking through here a little easier.

Further along the wall the clematis, Clematis texensis 'Princess Diana', is starting to bloom. There was an anxious moment a few weeks ago when I was sure it was lost but then I noticed small shoots beginning to grow and within weeks she was showing her first buds.

Back up the steps and a nice shot of the prickly pear with the heart leaf skullcap. I have managed to control its spread so that it is confined to this area but it is an ongoing process.

A passalong plant from Bob Beyer when he moved to Florida, the Crown of Thorns Euphorbia milii, blooms constantly.

I love my hypertufa balls in the English garden.

and the hypertufa trough in the Spanish Oak garden. I finally settled on the African false hosta, Drimiopsis maculata, another passalong plant.

Just outside the back door a cow bell, picked up at an estate sale, an aloe and a metal lizard make a perfect trio.

And on the far side of the courtyard garden I check out the Clematis versicolor, Lots of new buds ready to pop open.

At the same time on my walk I see plenty of jobs for the day but for now that early morning cup of tea awaits.