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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Pink Rose and Purple Clematis Combination for June

In our Driveway garden, an old pink rose bush makes a wonderful host for purple Clematis 'Etoile Violette'.
June is underway and the roses are blooming here in Pennsylvania. Our Driveway Garden is covered in pink and blue this week, with a bit of white thrown in to lighten the color palette.

When we bought our home, we inherited an old rose bush by the back corner of our house... and one to match it across the driveway. It blooms its socks off once and year, and then needs quite a bit of pruning to keep it in line. A newer rose would give more for repeat bloom, but the light fragrance and pink color make it worth keeping. And even better yet is the combination that happens when Clematis 'Etoile Violette' blooms along with it. The clematis it is planted at the roses feet and it appreciates the cool shade the rose provides. It easily grabs a hold on to the rose brambles and pulls itself to the sun.

Around the perimeter of this rose, which is 5 feet high and 6 feet wide (1.6 m x 2m), there is ground cover of variegated deadnettle (Lamium maculatum), evergreen moss phlox (Phlox subulata), and yellow-blooming Sedum 'Acre'.


The Driveway Garden this week: Rose with Clematis 'Etoile Violette', blue Geranium 'Orion', Lavendula 'Munstead', white Allium multibulbosum, bishops' weed (the very aggressive/invasive Aegopodium podagraria), and yellow-blooming Sedum 'Acre'.
Pink Rosa, Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette' and the pink-whirls of Lamium maculatum woven together.
To the left of this pretty combination is the beautiful ornamental grass, Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland'. It is a dwarfed sized for smaller gardens and gets lovely plumes in October.
Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette', now five years old and covering this large rose bush.
The Driveway Garden the other evening at the golden hour.  This garden was designed to bloom from March through November so that we would always flowers and foliage to greet our comings and goings.
The evening light through Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland' by the rose and clematis.
 I hope you are soaking up June in your part of the world!
To read more about our small, corner garden, take a look at our map.

And do not forget to follow WMG to see more pretty combinations from our garden this year! You can get new WMG posts by email (enter below), Google reader, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Hometalk...

21 comments:

  1. The rose and clematis combination is a classic and non the less beautiful for that. The clematis is so free blooming for you, you make combining two very different plants look very easy. Chrstina

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    1. Thanks Christina! It is classic, and yet very rarely seen in the US. It is an inexpensive, easy way to add more interest to any garden.
      ~Julie

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  2. What a stunning combination, they look so lovely together. Our roses and clematis are just starting to flower, it will be a while before they make such a pretty picture as yours.

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    1. Thanks Pauline! The rose is quite old, but the Clematis only 5 years.
      I hope your surprise you with their growth in the next few years!
      ~Julie

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  3. That is an absolutely perfect combination...it must thrill you every time you walk by!

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    1. It is so fun :) Definitely makes it worth stopping to smell the roses!
      ~Julie

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  4. Stupendous combination. With that delicate shade of pink and the fragrance, you should definitely hang on to that rose.

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    1. It is my husband's particular favorite. The fragrance is not strong, like some of the older roses I love so well, but it is distinctive... like a light phlox perhaps?? We see this same rose when we are around other old houses in our area.
      ~Julie

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  5. Your combinations never fail to amaze me. I love what you have created here, so much impact with just a few plants. A lesson I really should learn!

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    1. So sweet! Thank you for your complements :)

      There really is nothing that special about most of my plants, as in they are all pretty common place. But it is their *situation* in the garden that can increase their impact... One of the often overlooked points of genius that Christopher Lloyd often talked about.
      ~Julie

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  6. wow!!!! I LOVE this combination so much! Definitely a favorite!!! Its absolutely beautiful!!!!:)

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  7. This is lovely. I'm trying to achieve the same kind of look with an arbour where I've planted a pink rose on one side and a purple clematis on the other. It's only year 2, so I've got a bit of a wait.

    Your whole garden is gorgeous!

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  8. What a pretty pair! The whole garden along the driveway looks just lovely. I agree with Scott's comment. It must thrill you every time you walk by.

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  9. Oh yes, very nice combination! And all the plants are so lush and full!

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  10. oh, quelle magnifique combinaison, j'en raffole et je ne me lasse pas de toutes tes photos
    j'adore, j'adore, j'adore
    bonne journée, zoraly

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  11. Julie I have long been trying to achieve this lovely combo of clematis and rose...not successful yet but I will keep trying given your lovely inspiration.

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  12. Aah it is a lovely combo...is this rose New dawn?

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    1. No, it is an old pink rose... and bush form, whereas I think ND is usually a climber.
      Thanks!
      ~Julie

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  13. Lovely pictures! May I lend one of this pictures for my own blog? I will of course make a link to your blog :)

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    1. If you would please provide a link to this post with as "Wife, Mother, Gardener", then that would be great.
      Thank you for asking!
      ~Julie

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