I posted the following on the clematis forum at gardenweb.com. Let’s see what the experts tell me. ‘Ville de Lyon’ questions – root competition, etc.Posted by stevation z6 Utah (My Page) on Wed, Mar 8, 06 at 13:44 I am an experienced gardener, but not with Clematis. Two years ago, I planted two bare-root Clematis ‘Ville de Lyon’ next to a trellis/arbor that leads to my backyard. I’m not sure they’re doing well, and I have several questions. The first year, they didn’t grow much, and I expected that. The second year, having read that that they are in pruning…

I have two Clematis ‘Ville de Lyon’ in my front yard next to a little arbor entrance to the backyard. I think I planted them two years ago. Last year, I was disappointed to not see much growth from them. I worried that they might not have survived the winter, since they were weak last year. But they are now sending green shoots up, and I’m very happy. I’m still not sure they’re healthy, and I wonder if they don’t compete very well with the tree roots around them. One is next to a birch, and the other is pretty…

Many of my little seedlings are growing now: Cosmos: I have about 20 seedlings growing now, and every day a few more of the seeds sprout in their little paper towel/ziploc bag environment. I think they would have done better if I hadn’t had that one day that they got scorched. Some seeds are clearly dead, but others are coming along. White coneflowers: I did not get enough sprouts from these. I am still waiting for the ones I gathered anew last Saturday to sprout while sitting on top of the soil in the planter cells. I threw away the…

Well, all is not lost in my little seed-sprouting laboratory. Yesterday, I transferred many seeds into their “cells” or little pots for growing. Here’s a plant-by-plant update: The pink California poppies sprouted quite well. They weren’t on the heat pad, so no damage happened to them. The packet had about 125 seeds, and I got 72 good ones that were sprouting into little “Jiffy Pellet” planters. These are just a peat-moss/soil mix in a little net sac — I think they’ll be easier on the poppies when I transplant them, since these poppies don’t like transplanting. The white coneflowers may…

I’ve been extremely busy for several days, and I just checked my seeds in the basement, and the heating pad was getting way too hot. The other day, the pad wasn’t heating up very well, so I turned it up all the way. Today, it was at 100 degrees. I think some of the little sprouts got burned. I sprayed cool water on all of them and took them off the heat until it cooled down. Not sure it will save them. The Cosmos seeds look the worst. The Salvia transylvanica is not too good, either. I think the others…

Today, more sprouting is going on: Salvia nemorosa: clearly beginning to sprout. Salvia transylvanica: hard to tell (I need either my reading glasses or to take my contacts out!). Cosmos: many sprouts now. Echinacea: don’t see any new sprouts; they’ve slowed down, and I think it’s because I turned down the heat. I turned it back up to high today. Coreopsis: Nothing yet, but of all the ones I’m germinating, these are the ones that need the longest time. Eschscholzia (CA Poppy): I think some tiny sprouts are occurring, but I need those reading glasses. :-) I think turning the…