I do love readers who think ahead, Diana. Young potted cordylines are vulnerable on two counts. First, there is the single growing tip, central within the mass of slim, splayed spiky leaves. Secondly, ...

Six years ago, my friend and colleague Michelle Wise planted an evergreen clematis ( C. armandii ) next to her art studio. As it does, the vine took off quickly and soon made an impressive display. I, ...

It is always fun to go vertical with climbing plants each spring, in particular the vine we call Clematis. This special plant ...

A few simple May jobs now – from feeding and pruning to tying in fresh growth – can make all the difference to how well ...

Plant lust, I am sorry to tell you, does not dissipate with age and experience, at least for some of us. This was brought home to me forcefully when I made my first trip of the year to a nursery and ...

Q. My 5-year-old clematis is looking very unhealthy this year. It has only a few leaves, but it is blooming; the one flower is about 5 feet off the ground. The middle is almost bare, and there is some ...

I have an old clematis vine that comes up every year; it’s in good shape. I collected quite a few seeds in the fall after they dried out, and I need to know how to plant and raise seedlings from these ...

I have a three-year-old clematis. In the past, this thing did not amount to much and I almost dug it out. But this year, it has lots of new shoots coming. I did not cut it back last fall, so I have ...

Sloth, as you probably already know, is the gardener's first line of defense. Come spring, when the neighbor's clematis vines are showing off with spectacular blooms the size of saucers, the gardener ...

There is a glorious moment when winter finally yields to spring. The birds are singing and snapping twigs from the branches above, and the grass is shooting up. It’s a glorious time for the gardener, ...

The first clematis in the year to flower is the perfect source of food for winter-active bees - and its blooms are scented, too For the first time since I planted it four years ago, my Clematis ...