Elizabeth Clematis
How's this for the most exquisite pairing of beauty and the beast? It's a pretty pink flowering Clematis Montana called Elizabeth, growing delicately up one of my biggest Eucalyptus trees at the corner of the Frisbee Lawn.
Clematis Elizabeth Climbing a Gum Tree
Beauty and the beast? Anyone who has grown the usual Clematis montana in the wrong place might be wondering which is which!
Elizabeth Clematis
Not Rampant...
It's certainly true that this pink flowering variety is not as rampant as the white - and such a delicate, subtle shade. Lovers of Australian trees could easily consider the bark of the gum tree the most beautiful thing in the photograph, though. I spend quite a bit of time cleaning it off the garden underneath. But I love it, too.
I've placed a roll of wire netting gently around the bottom of the tree, to give the Clematis something to grow against. Any plant that will grow directly underneath a gum tree is a beauty, in my gardening book!
Hmm... I've just remembered there's a white potato vine under there too, scrambling around on the fence and through some of the Lavenders. Actually, it does a good job providing shade over the netting roof of the dog's run. But I guess that's for another page...
Elizabeth Clematis