Clematis 'Bill McKenzie'

[whis4ey]

We were given a cutting of this plant about 2 years ago.. It is in flower now for the first time
The flowers are followed by a beautiful silky 'puff'

[ideasguy]

Nice photo!
Theres not much sun about this week - do you think it would open more on a sunny day Billy?
Perhaps its just in the early stages? I see a promising looking bud to the left of the photo.

[whis4ey]

It is a prolific flowerer George  ...  it is just opening
Supposed to grow to about 22 feet so it will cover the pergola and replace the flowers of the honeysuckle which is just finishing

[ideasguy]

22 ft 
Hey, Billy, that little plant would look good twining through the Gunnera    ,

Seriously! How do you control the tangle of Honeysuckle growth? Do you prune hard each year?
How would you go about controlling the Honesuckle and the Clematis?

I ask because I have one BIG honeysuckle to deal with. Its grown up an electric pole (a private one which I have run to a shed) and is "climbing" alone the actual cables

[whis4ey]

We have to prune the honeysuckle regularly
After a hard prune it maybe doesn't flower so well the next year
I take it your electric wires are not the main ones coming into the house, but an insulated extension?  If that is the case i would prune it off short of the wires and remove it before the job gets too big

[ideasguy]

They are not the mains supply wires, Billy, only old leads (now disused) running to an old shed up the garden.

At the shed end, a Clematis Montana has legged it up the electric pole attached to the shed, and along the wire!
Imagine the tangle if they meet up!

Ive just walked up the garden and found that a Clematis Rouge Cardinal has joined in the fun, and has also reached the top of the pole, twing through the Honeyuckle (Belgica) and is gaily waving to passing aircraft.

Horrorof horrors - I see the cheery bloom of a BINDWEED up there as well - GRRR!

I'll take a photo later - surprisingly, the sun is shining today!

Thanks for the pruning tip, and the warning about lack of flowers the following year.
Theres nothing as nice as having a walk up the garden in the still of an evening, and getting the waft of honeysuckle - beautiful!
What varieties you grow? Any of our traditional wild honeysuckle? Brings back memories of schooldays.

[Palustris]

You need a telephoto lens to photgraph our Bill McKenzie. It is flowering now at the top of a large Hawthorn. Golden Tiara is an early and lower growing version of the same thing.
The Honeysuckles in the hedges here get pruned back to leafless about now, every year and they flower superbly every year. We cut the ones accessible on our trellises back about now too, or they get smothered in rust. They flower ok too. And before you ask, we have about a dozen different ones, but remembering the names is more difficult. Some types have no scent though, so if you buy, buy in flower.
My favourite is L. alseuosmoides, which is evergreen. There is no scent and the flowers are totally unspectacular. It has black berries in winter. So why is it so liked? Well the bees adore it. At any time it is in flower (almost all summer) there is at least one bee in every flower and on a big plant that is one heck of a lot of bees. Our fruit trees benefit.

[ideasguy]

Thanks for the tips and advice, Eric
That garden of your is a real treasure trove!!

RE: L. alseuosmoides
I checked and found it wasn't in my Master Database of plants, soon to be rectified.
Ive done a search and found lots of references on the net. Un-spectacular it may be,  but for the record, do you have a photo to share?

[Palustris]

This do you?

Probably should have started a new thread rather than hijacking this one.

[ideasguy]

Its just fine, Eric.

I can see three different types of leaves in your photo.
Do the darker green leaves under the flowers belong to your honeysuckle?

[Palustris]

All the leaves you can see belong to the Lonicera. They start off small and dark green and elongate and lighten as they get older.
By the way, one should never buy Bill McKenzie, except in flower. There are a lot of seed grown versions of this which are much poorer flowers than the original plant had.

[whis4ey]

The flowers are now opening

[Palustris]

Superb image!