Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 30th May, 2023)

Beautiful

A paradise for the bees?

I love the climbing Montana and I hope the person next door does because like a lot of plants they do get “out of hand”..my bug bear is a tree overhanging my garden and should never have been planted so near my fence. It can cause irritation to say the least. Some people are downright thoughtless.

The tree is a few gardens away, but visible from our dining room window, particularly facing my chair at the table. A beautiful sight for the last few weeks.

Clematis has been my favourite shrub for as long as I can remember,at either side of my front door.. climbing around the archway in our back garden,everywhere.. but would never impose on my next door neighbour. I wonder if the owner has ever asked their next door neighbour if it bothers them, the Montana is beautiful but a very fast grower.. my latest problem has been weeds ( dandelions) everywhere but I was told about a homemade weed killer that really works.I’ve tried everything else.. oh how I love Summer.

If that was overhanging my property it would have to be cut back.What a mess.

I read somewhere boiling water poured on them Maureen. But I also believe the ‘dandies’ are the first flowers that the Bees go to. So what can we do, we have to let the Bees feed… Donty Mon could advise.. … but I daresay he would leave them alone. It’s the ‘running Buttercups’ I dig up…

Veronica,I always wait until the dandelion finishes flowering for that reason before spraying them..I've tried the boiling water treatment Veronica but no joy...the best remedy is
1 gallon
Cup of salt
A squirt of washing up liquid
It's a brilliant recipe,.all you have to do the day after is sweep the remnants of the weeds...the worse ones at the moment is the 'mares tail' but the roots
go way underground..but I still love Summer lol.

Love it.

Maureen you're spot on with that analysis, it works.

I’ll try that Maureen -thanks very much - a job for this afternoon...I have already dealt with the Bluebells by digging them up….although I do like them.

Great photo Aubrey, how nice is that - superb, and if you and your neighbours are liking it then live and let live and enjoy it, I'd say.

I too was once at war with Dandelions, but I now leave them be, because they do a lot of good in the garden and no harm at all, they with their long roots bring many nutrients up from deep down in the soil which the other garden plants thrive on, plus they continuously throughout the warmer months have nice sunny yellow flowers which wildlife love, and to supply a plant like that they'd charge a lot for it in those garden centres.

Awful, digging beautiful Bluebells up, what about next Spring...you'll miss them Veronica.

There seems to be some confusion, the clematis is in the garden of the neighbour I first referred to, it is the tree from another neighbour that is overhanging several others. What has amazed me is the height the clematis has reached and is a beautiful spectacle.

I dig some up every year Alan they always come back. The English ones have a lovely perfume and are more delicate and intense blue than the Spanish ones, they are a paler blue with thicker leaves and don’t have a scent. The English ones still keep coming back though. They have runners underground. The Spanish ones pollinate with them and become a hybrid which we don’t want.

The Clematis usually climb up trees if there’s one in the vicinity. I wouldn’t have thought it would turn into a tree but I may be wrong.
My neighbour had one which climbed up a Holly tree - I liked it doing that but the neighbours ended up digging it up because of having new fencing put in.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

It needs a good pruning, these trees should never be planted in little back council house gardens, this is what my handy gardeners book says about them.
Some Clematis montana are rampant, reaching 8m or more, but clematis breeding has produced more compact varieties that are suitable for growing in smaller gardens, or even pots. For all types, flowering is longer than is often assumed, starting in early March and continuing into late June

Lovely shrub, Aubrey. One of my favourites. Your right Maureen, I've seen that on Google last week.You can also use vinegar, 1 cup of salt, and wash liquid.xx

Yes thank you Edna,it should have included...1 gallon of white vinegar.my I pad has been playing up all night ..I've tried that ,hold the home button and the on off button for 15 seconds,but it hasn't made any difference.