SO HAPPY TOGETHER


April 16, 2016
Like biscuits & butter, peaches & cream, or a horse & carriage, some things are just meant for each other.
Garden design is a balancing act between light and dark, hard structure and soft foliage, pops of color and subdued shades of green. The ying and yang of gardening. As they say, "opposites attract."
My cloud arbor is a prime example. The hard lines of the arbor are softened by the gentle twining leaves of Clematis. Today my husband called and exclaimed, "Did you see the arbor!" My first thought was that it somehow blew over in a recent storm--we have that kind of luck. The enormous Willow tree by the lake comes to mind, but that's a story for another day. I was relieved to hear he was talking about the show-stopping flowers that had recently unfurled. The arbor provides a perfect platform to showcase Clematis.
We have another spot of Clematis in the garden where it is barely noticed because it has nothing to climb. It struggles to rise above the bed of Iris. According to the Oregon Extension Service, "Clematis vines have three main requirements to thrive – sunlight on their stems and leaves; cool and moist but not wet roots; and support for climbing." Read more at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/…/three-requirements-grow-…
How much better Clematis is on an arbor; how much more beautiful an arbor is with lovely flowering Clematis--so happy together!
[Credits: Arbor--last Christmas gift from Mom & Dad; Clematis--shared by my lovely Master Gardener friend, Sharon Reeve]

[Carolyn Fjeran, LowTide explorer/reflective writer; horticulturist & gardener; former writer for Cooperative Extension Service, Master Gardeners, and The Newnan Times Herald]






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