Novice- the base color is some deep turquoise that I had left over from another project. ( I don't remember the brand- but it was designed for a kids room, so it could be washed with soap and water.) Then I went over that with some watered down "sweet chocolate" acrylic paint, and wiped some of that off the raised areas, but- that turned out too dark, so I put a bit of water in the nearly empty turquoise paint can, and made a "wash" that I painted over the entire thing. I put clear sealer over the whole thing, since the paint is interior paint. It will be interesting to see how this piece weathers. It still has it's original dark stain under the paint, so even if it gets peely or chippy, it should look kind of cool. Kathy

First, I didn't mean to hijack the OP's thread. One thing leads to another with me, I really get into some threads, don't say anything on most. I surmise some of the questions are directed at me. I don't know how that drainpipe drains, will find out. Agreed about the evergreens, hadn't been out there for some time, only about 4+ miles, and don't know how far back they are set; he lost the first ones; the soil is bad. I haven't inspected that part of the yard yet. I've suggested trying to amend the soil in places. I hope my son does not put a gazebo there, emailed him today it would ruin the look of the stone and the feeling of openness. He'd be pleased so many of you like it, has good ideas, but our tastes differ, especially about gazebos, pergolas. He wants some expensive European one with clunky feet. I like that obelisk, hadn't thought of something like that, and it would not detract from the wall, thanks for posting the pic. To sum up on that for now, I love the idea of a clem on the smaller wall if the water drains well. Had him look at some dichondra for the big one but think it might ruin the look, too, and could be troublesome to grow, says an annual at Swallowtail seeds. On to my "thing". Somebody gave me that idea over on the garden junk forum when I came home with a $2 coat rack from a yard sale, never thought of turning it upside down. Turned out easy, unlike my lovely old Victorian screen door on sawhorses in the basement that I don't quite have the expertise to make free standing and all the rest of that mess, worked my tail off on it. The coat thing is hollow and set on a 5' stake of rebar, used my level so it would be plumb. The gazing ball was $40+ at bestnest.com, and it's not copper but stainless steel. The clem does not want to cling to those curvy pieces at the top, so more cylinders of chicken wire tied on today. I fear it will not last very long because it looks like it was cheap to begin with, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Some rose is destined to be growing in front of it, but it only gets about 5 hours of sun a day there, had one but dug it out and gave it away. Here's what I started with, it's all on a thread on the garden junk forum but don't want to send you over there because I go off rambling just like I've done again. My house has been painted blue since, son had it done for me, neighbors were shocked at the difference some paint can make. I had it done that brown years ago from green but got tired of it. Then I didn't care about any of it for a long time, flowers have given me a new direction in my life and make me want to have it better around here. Got those pots and planter free when a neighbor moved, love them, wouldn't spend what it takes for those bigger pieces.

Re: growth rates - you hear it applied to all sorts of other plants, but this saying truly applies to clematis: the first year they sleep, the second year they creep and the third year they leap. It takes time for a clematis vine to become fully established and you will most often get your best results both in vigor of growth and production of flowers from year 3 onward. In the Seattle area, there are few locations where one can't grow clematis. Just avoid areas that receive too much shade - light shade is fine for many types. Also areas that may receive too much root competition from other established trees and shrubs. And understanding the reason behind the coda of shading the roots expands the possibilities - it's not so much as the roots requiring shade as it is not allowing the soil around them to dry out. And shady soil generally holds moisture better than open, sunny soil. But if you water appropriately in summer and mulch the root zone well, you can plant clematis in a full on, full sun southern position without fear. A couple of other notes on new clematis: prepare a generous planting hole, well-enriched with organic amendments. Plant the vine 3-4 inches below the level it was in the container, generally up to the first set of leaf buds. And prune all types of clematis hard after the first season in the ground. Both the deep planting and the hard pruning will encourage the development of a healthy root system and the production of additional basal shoots, increasing resistance to wilt problems. As to trellis or support size, research the expected size of the clem of your choice and select a trellis or support accordingly. And even this is not a hard and fast rule but merely a guideline. I've grown larger types of clematis on rather short supports - they just grow to the top, then cascade over, making a waterfall effect that is pretty stunning come flowering time.

If you do a search, you will find lots of threads asking the same thing re how to post pictures. You obviously have the first step - an account with a photo hosting site. You now just have to figure out which line of code for your picture that you want to post will get it to appear here. The easy way may just be trial and error - copy what you think is right; do a preview of the post; if the picture doesn't show in the preview, you got the wrong code so erase it from the post and try another one! Once you figure out which one works from your site, you're 'off to the races'... :-)