If you have a wall, arbor, pergola or trellis in your garden, and want to grow something up it that's fragrant, lovely, romantic and blooming, you may think of getting a climbing rose. Think again! Roses are slow growing, require a lot of attention and can be very prone to all kinds of nasty diseases. In winter, without their leaves, most roses look just dull and bare. Besides, their thorns can be a real nuisance. I think that a clematis is a much better choice - it's easier to care for, grows much quicker, smells just as nice, doesn't lose its leaves in winter, climbs high and wide, and needs very little attention. As long as you ...  Read the complete review

It's Mr Serious Head tonight as I tell you a tale of one of nature's marvels.... The clematis is one of the favourite climbing plants to be found in the gardens of England, and have been grown in this country for hundreds of years, but the only variety which is native to these shores is Clematis Vitalba, or the old man's beard. However, over the years hundreds of different varieties have been introduced from Europe, America and the Far East and these days there are a multitude of different varieties all tugging endearingly at the pockets of the gardener, screaming "Buy me, buy me." It is sometimes termed the queen of ...  Read the complete review

Clematis, also known as travellers joy and woodbine, brings a lovely picture to the mind. These lovely plants can be had in flower nearly every month of the year, in a range of colours from white to pink, blue to purple and shades in between, you can even get a yellow variety. They can be grown on fences, trellises, sheds and even be allowed to trail over the ground. Clematis come in three groups, early flowering, normally species, early large flowered and late large flowered. They are pruned according to their group, earlies are pruned after flowering to allow new growth to ripen for the following years flowers, early large are pruned before ...  Read the complete review