Pillar box red Clematis

To honest, Glynne, I really don't think there is a real red out there as yet. I have grown Rebecca, but don't have it in my collection of Clematis now, and it never grew as a real red when I had it.
Trying to determine the real colour of plants, when not in flower, is hard
due to the false colours of labels, Computer images and the sometimes misleading marketing blurb describing a plant.

Clematis "Rebbeca"


Clematis "Rouge Cardinal"


Clematis "Avant Garde"


I've got both of the above in my garden and both are nowhere near as red as they say they should be, at least in my Cottage style garden.

 

I like Dave Austin but only buy from them, Glynne, if I want a rose to flower and settle in more quickly and flower in some form that year otherwise I normally buy bare root stock. I'm lucky in that I buy from nearby Commercial Rose Growers of which there are lots, but I also buy online from Style Roses and other reputable growers

Yep, that does happen I bought a Rose, from a Plant Nursery, labelled "Uncle Walter"...


but instead I found it to a be a large flowered pink turning to white rose.......


so it's stayed because it is a nice rose with a good scent even if I don't know it's name.

Given the right conditions, purposely or accidentally, some climbing Roses will get beyond their growing description. I have a Madame Alfred Carriere in the far corner of my Wlldlife pond which has run along the West fence right into my Lilac "Madame Lemoine" nearly 30 feet away!, but as I already have climbing Rose "Bathsheba" now climbing through the Lilac I will have to cut Madame Alfred "Carriere" back to the fence of the Wildlife pond.

 

I must confess, Glynne, that I have the occasional "conversation" with "Madame Alfred Carrier" about her ambitions to take over the other roses on the West bank of the Wildlife pond and have to take action now and then to keep her within bounds, but then I do tend to converse with other plants when planting, pruning, deadheading them
I think Clematis, whether Pillar Red or not, are the classical mix with Roses and especially climbing roses.
These are on the West Bank of the Wildlife pond






The fence of Clematis, Jasmine and Honeysuckle




But around the Arbour I have Rose "Alchemist" on the North side and, now, Rose "Creme de la Creme" on the South side with a number of Clematis and Honeysuckle mixed in.


But it all takes time to discover which Clematis likes certain situations and along with that comes losses when trying to find what will be happy and thrive and what won't/and all we gardeners can do is to keep trying......while trying to find a proper, reliable, true red Clematis

 

Sounding, Tinkerbelle, is a lot different than being I often post to newcomers that we don't actually have "Experts" on GC but rather members who are really knowledgeable due to the long time they've been gardening along with their experience of successes and failures

Well, both could stay out during the Winter as they are both hardy perennials, with Honeysuckle being probably the harder and tougher of the two. The Clematis could stay in the Green House, if you have any really hard frosts, to protect the roots as it's in a pot...so long as you can remember to water it every now and then to keep the compost damp but not soaked. I'm sure other members will help with their advice and expertise.

 

Hi Glynne, there is such a choice of great cameras out there but you should find something to suit your needs.
I use a Pentax K5, as you know, which I bought new years ago and along with that came their standard 50mm lens and also a 18-55mm lens. But then I went on e-Bay and started buying second hand Pentax lens from wide angle to telescopic and then macro although I tend to use extending tubes for really macro/micro stuff.
I also have some Tamron and Sigma lenses so there are around 22/23 lenses in the collection and some of the Pentax lenses are getting on for 55 years oldbut their reputation for making really excellent "glass" in those days is/was unbeatable and the lenses are like new. So I use a Digital SLR but extend it's range by using interchangeable optical lenses for macro, micro, and telescope work as digital zooming tends to "pull" the centre of the images out so it's not, in my opinion, as sharp/good as optical to make while the lenses on the camera can be fixed when taking the shot. There are some that do extend the lenses but it's mostly the software that does the zooming and sharpening of the image.
It's all up to the person taking the images as to what suits them and I don't really think one is better than the other in the range of Bridge Cameras as they are all good but, even with my Pentax K5, there a lot of software in them working out the best images. I would, however, whatever you get, go into the camera settings to see if the manufacturer's default settings are what you want and, if not, you can change the contrast, sharpness, highlights, shadows etc to your liking after a bit of experimentation. I quite often use a telescopic lenses for taking "macro" shots when I can't get to close in case I might disturb an insect or bird as it also gives you a very short depth of field.
I took this one using a Pentax 80-320mm 40 year old Pentax lens when on a river bank and the Nymphs were about 15' away


and this one using a 90mm macro lens with a extending tube..




Let us know how you get on choosing your camera.

 

Yes, it's one of the reasons I've stuck with an optical view finder as it gives a better, clearer view and has a laser range finder in the centre. I've never found a LCD that was bright enough in daylight or didn't get some sort of reflection on the screen surface that made it difficult to see.. I reckon that the K5 is tough enough and good enough to outlive me
I have been tempted, once or twice, to get the K1 full frame, 36.4mp, sensor but, Naaah, my faithful K5 is more than good enough for me, Glynne . Having said that, I've seen images that were taken with a £6000 camera and images taken with a £60 camera and reckoned that the cheaper camera took a better picture It's all down to the person taking the picture as to how good it is in my opinion. Just as an aside my first camera was one I bought in the 60's while a fresh faced "erk" on No.III Squadron (the Black Arrows) which was a Halina 35X film camera which leaked light and had to be cocked with a lever on the side of the lens!!!

But it took some great pictures ....................






but I do prefer my K5