Rose and Clematis

When I first planted roses in our garden.  I didn’t realize that many local area roses bloom only once a year.  Where I came from, roses bloom year-round.  I didn’t want to dig the once-bloomers out.  Nor did I think my ignorance should be an excuse to foreshorten their lives.  Besides they’ve never missed producing beautiful fragrant flowers every summer, albeit, once only.  Alternative?  Find companion plants that will entwine themselves among the existing roses and produce continued color for the rest of the season.  Most garden books recommended Clematis…and I eagerly followed the recommendation.

These fast growing vines are doing their job pretty effectively.  Some of them are growing too fast for me, the Montana for instance, and I still have a lot to learn about pruning them.  But so far, they are just fascinating vines in all shapes, colors and fragrances.  Here are some of the early bloomers..