Peter Truman Photography

A little research suggests that this wonderful Clematis cultivar was introduced way back in 1897 by Jean-Jacques Moser in his nursery in Versailles. I'm not sure where the "Nelly" came from, although I'm sure a little further diligence in my research will find out (anyone care to point me in the right direction?), but whatever the inspiration for the name he produced one of the most popular and attractive Clematis varieties. It's a one we have a couple of in the garden where they thrive to produce two shows of large flowers every year. It's a rewarding plant that produces lots of large pink flowers with a darker stripe down each sepal, grows fantastically over an arch or similar, and does better in partial shade otherwise the flowers fade to grey or white rather too quickly. That old maxim "feet in the shade, heads in the sun" should be partially ignored for the "Nelly Moser"; feet in the shade certainly, but head in partial shade is best.

The garden was a mess and we were still pondering and waiting for building work (which didn't actually get done until a couple of years later, but that's another story). The weeds were doing well in the garden and the brambles in particular. A bunch of flowers from the local supermarket to cheer the place up and sat down one evening to stare at the form of the flowers using a simple table lamp to light them up. After picking each one from the vase and twiddling them about to look from every conceivable angle, I separated this one from the bunch and went to work.

I'm a huge fan of the prairie or drift style planting that Piet Oudolf pioneered and the vistas to be seen walking round gardens he has designed are mesmerising. None more so than the Floral Labyrinth garden at Trentham Gardens (see my article) where I spent a long time wandering round and taking up rather too much time so that the other gardens were a little rushed by comparison. The best way to enjoy this garden is to slowly walk round the perimeter and then walk in through the many pathways that run through this garden. However, what you will almost certainly find is that patience is exhausted before you get all the way round and want to dive straight in. My walk round the outside was done in several sections. But then follow the paths to experience the different drifts of plants, the colours, textures and forms. Its a very sensual garden and one to take in slowly and enjoy.

June 14th 2009, a beautiful sunny evening. I sat in the garden looking, thinking about nothing in particular but fully aware of the wonderful evening light that was starting to make the plants in the border glow. Time to pick up the camera and start looking amongst the plants in the border - of which there are many different types. As I often do I edged along with the long macro lens, looking through the viewfinder rather than just hoping my eyes would pick something up. With the sun on them the gently hanging blue bells looked a real treat and I spent some time gazing at them lit up by the warm light. I took several pictures to get a group of the bells in the picture, but then I saw the shadow of the stamen on the petal.