I have leaf buds popping everywhere, getting excited! This year, I will get my act together and do the epsom salt soaks like pirl recommended!

Arlene gives such wonderful advice! I've been using the Epsom salt dissolved in water to water the plants as she's recommended, and it's done wonders for my plants.

It will go on my roses too!

Same here Sue, I put a handful around the base of my roses each spring.

Anyone ordering new plants for the spring? I've ordered 'Wildfire' from Bluestone Perennials. I got 2 of them, that I'll be planting around my climbing Souvenir de la Malmaison on a trellis. I can't wait to see this combination.

http://www.bluestoneperennials...

That's a gorgeous one Annette! Looks good with the other images on COTW too. http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk...
Look forward to your pictures!

Bold coloring on that one, Annette.

Have managed to restrain myself from ordering any other news ones beyond the Omoshiro and Andromeda. Even when I got a Wayside gift certificate for my birthday. Now THAT was hard.

For any tomato lovers, you can use Epsom Salts for them as well as peppers, clematis and roses.

No orders for any plants yet, not here. I'm trying to get my photos back in order after an adjustment duplicated thousands of them.

That is a wildly colored clematis, Annette. I'm sure it will be as lovely as all your other clem's.

Debra - almost month late but happy birthday. Omoshiro is certainly my best performer and my all time favorite. It seems to have the genetic disposition to please me; I'm so grateful.

I did pot up another self-seeded clematis in late fall and put it in the garage for the winter. I'm curious to see the color of it. Either it's from Nelly Moser or Omoshiro...or a combo.

Also, thanks to Annette's love of Arabella, I have that to look forward to again this year. For a first year plant in 2014, it did very well.

This is Omoshiro #3. I'll have to try layering it this year and hope it's as easy as Liberation and/or Duchess of Albany.

Thanks Sue and Debra, I hope the color on Wildfire is really that bold, it will be a definite standout in the garden.

I echo Arlene's sentiment about Omoshiro. It is a gorgeous clematis! I hadn't thought about layering it, thanks for that idea. I did layer Multiblue several years ago, I'll have to see if I can separate it this year.

I do love Arabella, I now have 6 of them😳😳. They are give such a great pop of color all summer long, and well into the fall.

I have 2 Henryi and 2 Jackmanii that came in a box from Walmart. I grew them in pots until they were big enough to plant in the garden this fall. The Henryi were put at the base of rose Evelyn, and Crown Princess Margareta that share a arbor.

For me, layering is easiest and quickest when done with new growth. Within a year you'll have another plant.

Thank you, Arlene.

My Mulitblue should be good to go this year then. It's been layered going on 2 years.

Dig deeply (no more than one foot of depth required, same with width) and have the new spot ready and waiting: instant success.

I took a walk around the garden this afternoon, and to my surprise I found some of my plants are growing. Winter is not remotely over here, we have snow predicted for Monday and we're going down to 10 degrees one night in the coming week.

'Henryi' has grown leaves.


'Crystal Fountain' and 'Mrs. Cholmondeley' have pips that are expanding.

Florida sieboldii. First year since planting (2007?) that this one has not gone completely dormant. We have really warm spells, then really cold blips, then back to warm. I think it is confused.

The weather is finally warming up here, we're at 64 degrees today, with no predicted temps below freezing over the next 10 days, finally.

Today, the clematis are getting trimmed, and I'll start fertilizing them this week. Some of them are starting to put out leaves, and with warmer temps coming, I suspect they'll start growing rapidly.

I'm sooooo looking forward to spring!

It's always a good feeling to get started in the garden. Have fun, Annette.

Considering that we still have so much snow cover that we can't see grass, bricks, or plants, I'm taking the day off and we're going out to dinner to celebrate the feeling of a longer day.

The newest clematis I've seen is this one, only 5 to 6', Diamond Ball. Quite a difference in price from vendor to vendor.

It's absolutely amazing that Wayside has turned into the expensive alternative.

I saw Diamond Ball last fall at Ace Hardware. I didn't buy it because all six of the plants they had looked frail and wimpy.

Back in the early 90's I bought many clematis collections from Wayside at less than what they now charge for one!

Though most "blue" clematises lean more toward the lavender side, they still do give the blue effect, so the plant does interest me since the big box stores around here no longer carry the clematises in bags, like H.F. Young, that were reliable to lend the soft blue look. The only two I've seen this year (out of three stores) was their version of Ville de Lyon, which they call City of Lyon, and Venosa Violacea. I guess the days of Nelly Moser, Jackmanii, Belle of Woking, and other cheap clematises may be over.

Thanks Arlene. I hadn't heard of Diamond Ball before. I'll have to learn more about it. This spring, I only have 2 clematis coming. I'm moving some of the ones I already have to different sites in the garden.

Zuzu, I can understand not wanting to buy wimpy plants. I might take a chance, only if they were deeply discounted.