Interview with
Mary Toomey
TP: Mary, tell us a little bit about how you chose clematis to be your plant specialty.
Mary: My fascination with clematis begins in the days of my childhood, when I was growing up in an environment without computers, television, and radio. As children, we went around amusing ourselves, and one of the amusements was collecting and blowing clematis seedheads. After that, as a young university student in Dublin living on a shoestring budget, I bought my first plant — Clematis montana var. rubens. I liked the leaves and the flowers. I was very fortunate at that time to have a garden flat in Dublin, and I spent many a summer holiday there tending my landlord's garden. My Clematis montana var. rubens was a featured plant in that garden, and it's still alive today, after 34 years. When I eventually married and acquired my first small piece of garden, I managed to buy, grow, experiment with, and enjoy whatever clematis was available in those days. Unlike today, the choice of variety was limited then. I even managed to grow clematis in borrowed spaces! My friends, my neighbors, and my acquaintances all over the British Isles grow my plants to this day and give me reports on how they are doing.
TP: We often see roses growing side by side with clematis. What makes roses and clematis a good pair in the garden?
Mary: Roses and clematis actually have similar cultural requirements. A large majority of clematis are very voracious feeders and drinkers, and roses also benefit from good feeding and watering at the right time. Therefore, these two make not only good companions but also companionable plants. As companionable plants, roses and clematis love each other, because one can weave its way through the other. Therefore, when the roses are no longer "paying the rent" so to speak, clematis can be planted to take over that place, where they will flaunt their flowers.
TP: Is there any one use of clematis in landscaping that you particularly like?
Mary: Yes. There is one particular clematis in the British Isles that doesn't withstand excessive frost or cold. When you see Clematis montana var. rubens or the white montana — acres of these flowers in all their glory, hugging the landscape, it's a delightful scene. Equally, for very cold areas, if you cannot choose a proper montana, the alpinas and the macropetalas are simply impressive. I think gardeners must be mindful of the fact that no clematis likes excessive heat. When you look at where they come from in Northern India, the Himalayas, Nepal, China, and the Alps, you see that they do not flourish in very hot countries. In looking for something for your landscape, I say go for impact, something very floriferous, which will also adjust to your environmental factors. Never struggle with weaker, large-flowered cultivars, which may be difficult to make a go of. Go for the impact of Clematis alpinas, macropetalas, or montanas wherever you can, and you'll have a wonderful !
time.
TP: So you definitely identify personally and spiritually with the clematis?
Mary: Oh absolutely! Because of the ebullience of some of these plants, they never give up! You try telling a clematis, "Stop it." They are indomitable. In my childhood, I was described as an indomitable and impossible child by my teachers. I think that my indomitable nature from within has kept me going.
I very seldom go away on holidays, because the plants in my garden need care and attention. But one autumn about 6 years ago, I went off to Rome with my husband for a week. When I came home and stood in my study, which looks out onto the garden, there was one plant — Clematis 'Mary Rose' that, without exaggeration, had literally taken over this space! Starting from the left-hand side of this small wall garden, she had gone right around and devoured every plant in the garden, in order to flaunt her flowers.. I stood there and my word on this was — "Well done." It was a lot of work for me as a gardener to gather the whole thing back, however, and that was the day I decided she shouldn't remain in my garden because my other garden plants needed space too. My spiritual aspect and my philosophy identify with these indomitable creatures in my garden, and now I can understand why my schoolteachers called me indomitable.
TP: It's refreshing to hear you as a botanist/scientist speak in terms of your spiritual connection to gardening and what plants do to you, rather than just about the science behind the plants.
Mary: Yes, this is what they do to me — what the genus clematis, and all plants do to me. If I didn't have that satisfaction within, whatever goes on in my life without would not be substantial. People have said I'm always gesticulating with my arms when I'm speaking. I've found I do this in university as a lecturer, even when I teach very meticulous scientific formulae. Unless you feel within yourself that satisfaction of understanding a particular subject, how can you get it right in thoughts and words? You can't. I believe this is what happens to many creative writers as well. They've got to have that inner understanding. And plants, fortunately for me, happen to give me that inner understanding.
