Happy Bastille Day to one and all, the day when we should be out drinking Champagne and giving our clematis their mid-summer pruning (yes, simultaneously). At FRCC we use this opportunity to take loads of clematis cuttings, which protects us against the loss of taxa and hopefully generates plants to sell.
The early large-flowered hybrids are working up to another show, but the viticellas and integrifolias are marching along, right on time.

Greenhouse:
‘Bells of Emei Shan’
‘Betty Risdon’
‘Bill Mackenzie’
‘Dorothy Tolver’
‘Honora’
‘Kjell’
‘Multi Blue’
PARISIENNE
‘Rhapsody’
‘Walter Pennell’

Terrace:
‘Betina’ (double form)
‘Broughton Bride’
chiisanensis ‘Lemon Bells’
florida ‘Thorncroft’
‘Fujimusume’
‘Hagley Hybrid’
‘Negritianka’
stans
‘The Velvet’
tubulosa
‘Yukikomachi’

Outdoor Storage:

Poland:
‘General Sikorski’
‘Hania’
‘Julka’
‘Sympatia’
‘Warsaw Nike’

Estonia:
‘Bella’
‘Jorma’
‘Kullus’
‘Marmori’
‘Romantika’
‘Ruutel’
‘Semu’

Intgrifolias:
‘Alionushka’
‘Arabella’
‘Bushy Blue Bell’
‘Miranda’
VICTOR HUGO

Viticellas:
AVANT GARDE
‘Carmencita’
‘Entel
‘Fairy Queen’
‘Lisboa’
‘Prince Charles’

Beech Tree’s Garden:
‘Andante’
‘Hanajima’
‘Sanonomurasaki’
stans

Historic Garden:
Bed B:
crispa (nearly white form)

Bed C:
‘Daniel Deronda’
‘Jackmanii’
‘Jackmanii Superba’
‘Madame Grangé’
‘Royal Velours’
‘Venosa Violacea’
‘Victoria’

Bed D:
x diversifolia ‘Eriostemon’
x diversifolia ‘Hendersonii’
integrifolia
‘Madame ‘Julia Correvon’
‘Ville de Lyon’

Bed E:
‘Jackmanii Rubra’
‘Kermesina’

Bed F:
‘Comtesse de bouchaud’
‘Etoile Rose’
florida var. seiboldiana
heracleifolia
integrifolia ‘Alba’
‘Lady Northcliffe’
‘Perle d’Azur’
x triternata ‘Rubromarginata’
‘Venosa Violacea’
viticella

Bed G:
‘Etoile Violette’
integrifolia
‘Madame Julia Correvon’
‘Mrs. Cholmondeley’
viorna

Bed I:
‘Jackmanii Rubra’
‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’

The Front Bank:
‘Hendryetta’
integrifolia ‘Hendersonii’ (Snoeijer)
‘Jan Fopma’
‘Little Belle’
‘Lord Herschell’
pitcheri
‘Princess Diana’
Siskiyou Rare Plant’s texensis seedling
‘Sonnette’
‘Tapestry’
viorna (two forms)

Summer is arriving at Luscher Farm at last! Now there is less blooming in the greenhouse, and the display gardens and outdoor areas are providing the color. Please note that the all-caps names are trade-marks, not true cultivar names, but they are the common way we know the plants and by which they are marketed.

Greenhouse:
‘Andromeda’
ANNA LOUISE
ARCTIC QUEEN
‘Bagatelle’
‘Bells of Emei Shan’ (syns. aff. repens, “795″)
‘Blue Light’
‘Burma Star’
CLAIRE DE LUNE
‘Ernest Markham’
C. florida var. seiboldiana
FRANZESKA MARIE
‘Gladys Picard’
‘Honora’
‘John Warren’
‘Kathleen Wheeler’
‘Killian Donahue’
‘Kiri te Kanawa’
‘Lady In Red’
LIBERATION
‘Margaret Hunt’
‘Masquerade’
‘Niobe’
PARISIENNE
‘Perrin’s Pride’
‘Rouge Cardinal’
ROSEMOOR
‘Silver Moon’
‘The Vagabond’
‘Twilight’
VERSAILLES

Outside storage area:
‘Ai-Nor’
‘Arabella’
‘Beauty of Worcester’
C. integrifolia ‘Bushy Blue Bell’
‘Chalcedony’
‘Dorota’
‘Duchess of Waverly’
‘Huvi’
‘Iubelienyi-70′
‘Jan Pawell II’
‘Jorma’
‘Marmori’
PETIT FAUCON
‘Pohjaneal’
‘Ruutel’
‘Solina’

Terrace:
C. chiisanenesis
C. chiisanenesis ‘Lemon Bells’
‘Esprit’
‘Fairy Blue’
‘Fujimusume’
‘Hagley Hybrid’
‘Kozo’
‘Mayor Isao’
‘Sano-no-murasaki’
‘Teshio’
‘Yamato’

Historic Garden:
Bed A: (listed as found when walking the pathway)
‘John Gould Veitch’
‘Guiding Star’
‘Daniel Deronda’
‘Jackmanii Alba’

Bed B:
‘Fairy Queen’
x durandii
‘Ramona’

Bed C:
‘W. E. Gladstone’
‘Lady Northcliffe’
‘Candida’
‘Daniel Deronda’

Bed D:
‘Madame Julia Correvon’
‘Ville de Lyon’
Clematis integrifolia

Bed E:
‘Beauty of Worcestor’
Clematis integrifolia
‘Edouard Desfosse’
‘Miss Cavell’
‘Mrs. Spencer Castle’

Bed F:
‘Gipsy Queen’
‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’
‘Duchess of Edinburgh’
‘Venosa Violacea’
‘Etoile Rose’

Bed G:
‘Edouard Desfosse’
‘Madame Julia Correvon’
‘Sir Garnet Wolesley’
‘Proteus’
‘Mrs. Cholmondeley’
‘Princess of Wales’
‘Mrs. Hope’

Bed H:
‘Guiding Star’

Bed I:
‘M. Koster’
‘Jackmanii Rubra’

The Front Bank:
Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery’s “Texensis Seedling”
C. integrifolia ‘Hendersonii’ (per Snoeijer)
Clematis viorna (pale form)
‘Lord Herschell’
Clematis addisonii
‘Pangbourne Pink’

It really is the height of the season for the greenhouse plants now. The weekend of 95F weather earlier this month caused the atragenes to finish early. Time to deadhead them already. Around the farmhouse the plants are just getting started, because the temperatures took a dive again after the quick heat. However, our young garden is looking great!

(Note: clematis names listed in all caps. are trade-marked names, but in these cases more commonly used than the true cultivar name.)

Greenhouse:
‘Alabast’
‘Andrew’
‘Andromeda’
ANNA LOUISE
ARCTIC QUEEN
‘Blue Light’
‘Broughton Star’ (montana group)
‘Burma Star’
‘Candida’
‘Carnival’
‘Charissima’
‘Corona’
‘Doctor Ruppel’
‘Duchess of Waverly’
‘Ernest Markham’
florida var. seiboldiana
‘Fond Memories’
‘Halina Noll’
‘Honora’
ICE BLUE
‘John Warren’
JOSEPHINE
‘June Pyne’
‘Kathleen Dunford’
‘Kathleen Wheeler’
‘Kjell’ (Pictured)
‘Killian Donahue’
‘King George V’
LIBERATION
‘Lilactime’ (Pictured)
C. mandshurica
‘Masquerade’
montana ‘Natalie Cottrell’
C. montana var. wilsonii
‘Mrs. N. Thompson’
‘Natascha’
‘Niobe’
PARISIENNE
‘Perrin’s Pride’
PICARDY
‘Riviera’
‘Rouge Cardinal’
‘Rosa Konigskind’
ROSEMOOR
‘Rose Supreme’
ROYAL VELVET
‘Samantha Denny’
‘Serenata’
C. siberica
‘Signe’
‘Special Occasion’
‘Sprinkles’
‘Sugar Candy’
‘Sunset’
‘Suzanne’
‘Sylvia Denny’
‘Thyrislund’
‘Twilight’
VERSAILLES
‘Vyvyan Pennell’
‘Voluceau’
‘Walter Pennell’

Outside Storage Area:

‘Ai-Nor’
‘Arabella’ (integrifolia group)
‘Baltyk’
‘Barbara Jackman’
‘Bushy Blue Bell’ (integrifolia group)
‘Hannia’
‘Julka’
‘Louise Rowe’
‘Luther Burbank’
‘Matka Urzula Ledochowska’
‘Sympatia’
‘Miranda’ (integrifolia group)
‘Nikolia Rubstov’
‘Ruutel’

Terrace:

Atragenes
‘Betina’ (syn. ‘Red Beetroot Beauty’)
C. chiisanensis (var. carunculosa of hort.)
C. chiisanensis ‘Lemon Bells’
‘Spikey’
‘White Lady’

Japanese Cultivars and Species
‘Gekkyuden’
‘Haru Ichiban’
C. japonica
‘Kirigamine’
‘Love Jewelry’
‘Omoshiro’ (Pictured)
C. patens (white)
C. patens ‘Manshu-ki’
seedling of ‘Komurasaki’
‘Teshio’
‘Yaichi’
‘Yamato’
‘Yukiokoshi’

Historic Garden:
‘Daniel Deronda’ (2 plants)
‘Duchess of Edinburg’
‘Edouard Desfosse’ (two plants)
‘Gravetye Beauty)
‘Guiding Star’ (2 plants)
‘Jackmanii Rubra’
‘John Gould Veitch’ (Pictured)
‘Lady Londesborough’
‘Lasurstern’
‘Miss Cavell’
‘Mrs. Cholmondeley’
‘Mrs. Hope’
‘Otto Froebel’
‘Ramona’
C. spooneri (montana group)
‘Ville de Lyon’
‘W. E. Gladstone’

Front Bank:
‘Little Belle’ (cultivar of C. socialis)
C. socialis
‘Lord Herschell’ (integrifolia group)
‘Pangbourne Pink’ (integrifolia group)
‘Tapestry’ (integrifolia group)

Beech Tree’s Garden:
‘Malaya Garnet’
C. patens (lavender)
‘Sano-no-murasaki’
‘Teshio’

And if you’re interested, the following Old Garden Roses are blooming:
‘Alba Maxima’
‘Baronne Prevost’
‘Cecile Brunner’ (original to the farmhouse)
Rosa chinensis ‘Mutabilis’
‘General Jacqueminot’
‘Indigo’
‘Madame Isaac Perriere’
‘White Pet’

The Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection wish to thank all of the attendees and our seven garden hosts for making our tour such a delightful success. The Portland weather, which has been dreadful generally, broke and gave us a wonderful sunny day, with temperatures just right for strolling through gardens. Considering that there was an extended thunder storm with pelting rain at nightfall Saturday, our beautiful day really was a gift from the weather gods!

In addition to selling approx. 175 tickets, numerous clematis were sold at both the Fries and Snyder gardens. Many of the clematis offered for sale, such as ‘Guernsey Cream’ and ‘Lasurstern’, were vividly on display in the open gardens. In fact, in my garden, ‘Lasurstern’ was easily the plant of the day, inspiring more questions than any other clematis.

Proceeds from the tour will go toward enhancing and enlarging the FRCC display gardens at Luscher Farm, where many, many clematis still await planting. The Historic Garden around the farmhouse is starting to look like a proper garden, and the Front Bank garden has matured very quickly, housing a unique selection of clematis based on North American species and Clematis integrifolia hybrids (all known collectively as the Viornae Group). These gardens are open to visitors whenever the farm is open, dawn to dusk daily. The clematis and roses are labeled, as are many of their companion plants.

On Sunday, May 25, the open garden hosts that could make it (Margie Adams, Linda and Larry Beutler, Lucy Hardiman, Diana and Colby Lamb, Mike Snyder, Susan Toler, and some of our garden volunteers Nancy Gronowski, Cynthia Rozanc, and Doris Starrett) had a “shadow tour” of each other’s gardens. Here is a picture of a wonderful vignette in Mike’s Beaverton garden, ‘Richard Pennell’ resplendent with Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ (image by Larry Beutler). Of course, our tour happened in the rain!

Thanks also to the participating nurseries who facilitated ticket sales: Bethany Nursery, Farmington Gardens, Garden Fever!, Joy Creek Nursery, LO 7-Dee’s Nursery, and Portland Nursery (Stark St.). We hope our members and tour attendees will thank you with their patronage.

Enjoy your gardens,
Linda Beutler, curator

It isn’t everyday that a public garden gets to issue a birth announcement, but today is our day! FRCC is happy to announce the hatching of three Killdeers, born under a Clematis macropetala seedling in our test plot. Ours is one of 160 community garden plots offered by the City of Lake Oswego at Luscher Farm, where the rest of the Rogerson Clematis Collection grows. Every year, usually at several places in the community gardens, Killdeers, our constant companions year-round, find nesting sites, usually right in the middle of a path, or atop a freshly turned vegetable plot.

This is the first year the birds have chosen to nest in a more secluded spot, right under one of our clematis—classier by far than the other Killdeers. When last I weeded the test plot, a Killdeer pair, famous for trying to distract interlopers with the old broken-wing decoy trick, came unglued as I worked around the plot, but I couldn’t find the eggs. Two days later, LO farm manager Karen Davis let me know she had marked the nest site with pink flags. Of course this meant that we couldn’t continue weeding and staking our seedling clematis there, nor photographing and evaluating the atragene seedlings.

This evening, when I went to photograph the nest, the eggs were gone! Sitting about two feet away, out in the open on the warm mulch, sat the three babies. While their parents lured my husband away, I took these photos of the triplets, the now empty nest, and their handsome near neighbor, ‘Esprit’, FRCC’s atragene introduction. A specimen of ‘Esprit’ will be available at a silent auction FRCC is holding at Farmington Gardens this summer, on July 19th (more on this event in a few days). The ‘Duchess of Waverly’ will be there, too.

Killdeers mature quickly, and soon these youngsters will be up and running along amongst the clematis with their parents, learning to eat bugs. And now we can get back to work amongst the test plot plants, getting the Viornae seedlings staked, and admiring our C. integrifolia introduction, ‘Skylark’, which is just a few days from blooming.

Enjoy your gardens!
Linda Beutler, FRCC curator