Floral Fortuity

It's Watercolor Wednesday.  This photograph, transformed into a watercolor by the Waterlogue iPad App, is of a climbing clematis 'Jackmani Superba'.  This purple-blooming vine is growing on an arbor that serves as the back entrance to my Hamptons garden.  

I am so excited that this clematis has survived and thrived in my garden.  I haven't had much luck with most clematis varieties in the past.  In fact, before now, most have died in their first season.

When I first bought this clematis, I didn't know where to put it so I just placed the pot in shade next to the arbor. For the whole gardening season, it made itself at home pot-bound.  It was somewhat forgotten until all the the surrounding vegetation lost its leaves in late fall.  I never suspected it would last the winter above ground. However, when I saw new growth the following spring, I removed the plant from its nursery pot and popped it into the ground exactly where the pot had resided.  

I know that clematis like cool roots and warm sun on its leaves.  But it is coincidence that the roots of this one are shaded by native azalea shrubs and the stems achieve dappled sun near the top of the arbor.  But if you have been reading my blog regularly, you know some of my best plantings are unplanned.  I think my ego is strong enough to let my garden design itself on occasion.