Balcony Garden – Blooming This Week
June 6, 2011 – 10:00 amClematis ‘The President’ is blooming this week in the corner of the balcony garden.
The President produces a beautiful, dark purple flower that measures about 13 cm (5 inches) across. It has been flowering for almost a month, although half of that time was in the apartment. This one is an older heritage variety and goes long – it can flower from early summer through to fall if I look after it.
It will grow up to 3 metres (10 feet) so it’s perfect for that vertical interest many of us who are gardening in small spaces are looking for. It’s a Type 1 Clematis, flowering on last years wood. It likes the sun (who doesn’t) although will flower in the shade and it doesn’t like wet feet. I’m using garden Velcro to attach the woody Clematis stems to bamboo supports. The Velcro loops are simple to put in place and of course can be used again – a much better solution than twist ties or gardening string.
The other three Clematis I have are alpine varieties – Clematis x macropetala (which is also blooming right now) and Clematis alpina ‘Stolwijk Goldd’. The alpine varieties have proven to be very hardy and continue to overwinter (year #3) successfully in a trough. I’ll try wintering over The President too.
4 Responses to “Balcony Garden – Blooming This Week”
I bought The President this year, it had 2 blooms on in but no buds. now that the blooms have faded I’ve been waiting for new flower buds but nothing so far, and it’s been a month
it gets plenty of sun, I wonder what I’m doing wrong…
yours is stunning!
By ellieT on Jun 8, 2011
Hi ellieT
Thanks for visiting. This is what I know that might help. The President likes a rich soil and cool roots. So add compost to your container, especially if you are using a soilless mix. You can shade the roots and base of the plant by using rocks or other types of mulch to provide a little shade. A little fertilizer won’t hurt, The President is a heavy feeder and the soil might be a little tired. So give it a boost, but know that if you have too much nitrogen in the mix, you’ll gets lots of vine and the plant will stop flowering. Last thing is water – The President likes to be kept moist, so on those really hot TO summer days (I’m jealous) don’t forget to water, as the threat of drought will also slow down flower production. Good luck and I’ll watch for your pics.
By gardener on Jun 8, 2011
The President looks very content on your balcony. Such a rich colour. My favourite clematis are the alpinas & macropetalas though I haven’t grown any for about 10 years — you’ve tempted me to reserve a corner for one next season. How wonderful that you can overwinter certain clemtatis in your growing zone.
By Elaine on Jun 12, 2011
Awesome!!!!
By The Lovely Plants on Jun 21, 2011