Adrian's Outbox

It is hard to see properly. I'm sure I'm totally wrong as the one I saw ( which was quite striking and had leaf on it ) was a Paulownia Tomentosa. What month I saw it I'm not sure but do know it was definitely no later than July. In my book it does say that the flowers are purple with yellow and deeper purple on the inside. It's flowers are upright ( I can't tell for sure in your pic.) and gives a pale brown, woody capsule to 5cm long. Any good?

I will get a picture to you but it will have to be Monday. cheers.

I'm not sure what it is John. It was what we inherited when we moved into the house about 3 years ago and actually lived in a pot outside and was there for a couple of years. How many years before I don't know.
I then put it in the ground last year and it has done very well. I didn't ever like it in it's new home so decided to give it a move. It stands about 7 feet tall and with the frosts just around the corner I thought it may be a good idea ?

Thank you.
You've gained some knowledge and me too.
Cheers.

As you probably know that the acer you have is ericaceous / acid. You'll want to plant it, as you have I'm sure, in a sheltered spot as they do not like full sun. As you have planted it in the ground then you have to be quite strict in feeding it with an ericaceous feed once a year.
Another interesting fact is that if you plant it near conifers then apparently ( as conifers are acidic ) you do not have to bother with feeding as the leaf drop will turn the surrounding soil acid. On removal of the conifers then the soil will revert back to it's normal ph after one season.
A safer bet is that you can be lazy as myself, with a camelia. Is to bury a piece of rusted iron or old bolt. I did this earlier this year with no yellow leaf to indicate chlorosis.

cheers.

What sprizhenty says about a clematis not being in the ideal spot and the compost & ji3 is true.

You can plant a clematis in a pot. Make sure the pot is big enough to hold the clematis then put that pot within a pot. As the roots on these plants will almost draw back on contact with the side of the container as clematis likes it's whole root to be cool. Also the top.Just below the soil.
You can also solve this problem too.Although,this may take several attempts so don't get too frustrated. Find an old plate and drill the centre. Break the plate in two and with a pair of tiling nibblers go to work making the centre hole large enough. This will then place together around the stem.

testing my edit

Blueberries require ericaceous soil ( acid ) and they are also self pollinating.

I wouldn't. Not really. If it was something that I was particularly fond of then I really would leave it till mid Autumn. Taking care not to spade the roots in the process. Some plants don't transplant that well anyway. I know that conifers such as Lleylandii don't.
To move any plants then you don't want to leave it till winter as Autumn is the best time for planting pretty much anything as the soil is still quite cosy for the roots. Exposing the roots
in the winter cold is not very good.
Plus, if you plant in the Autumn then you'll have the remainder of the season and the next for the plant/s to bed themselves and to become more established for the growing months. They'll still grow of course, if you transplanted next year but they would use their energies on establishing as well instead of just growing.
Whatever you decide to do, have fun.

If this is a Ceanothus we are talking about then I don't know why the flowers are now yellow.
I do know that they do like well drained soil ,a sheltered site and are frost to half hardy. They are best positioned south or west facing in cold areas.
If the leaves are at all yellow this may indicate an iron deficiency or the possibility of too much water.

It really does you know.

It is sounding as though your tree is pretty sick.As a desperate measure you could remove the tree to the ground and with a bit of luck allow new leaders to form. After a few years growth, remove all the leaders but leave the strongest. This will hopefully replace the tree in memory of your father yet still remain the tree ( if you know what I mean ). Please research this though as I read of this some years ago and it may well be I'm getting mixed up with something else.Though I'm sure that I'm not, I do not want to be responsible for any premature loss. If I am right ( sure that I am ), there really is no guarantees that this will work.
If you are still getting any suckers/saplings from the mum then is it an option to replace the tree with this ?
Whatever you decide I do hope that you get some positive results.