Social Climber with style (Clematis)

Member Name: Thailui

Product:	Clematis
Date:	23/06/07 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful flowers

Disadvantages: Can be addictive!

I first became aware of the clematis many years ago when the bus on which I travelled to school passed a house covered in huge blue flowers. I was so impressed that I made a point of finding out what the flowers were and made up my mind that I wanted to grow plants like that in my garden. Since that time I have indeed grown them and, at present, have five well established plants and three more waiting to be planted. This is not counting the wild version 'Old Man's Beard' that is currently running riot through the hedge!

Clematis is usually divided into three main groups according to the flowering type and period and how they should be pruned.

Group One: These are usually small flowered varieties and bloom early in the year – from January to May. They flower on shoots produced the previous summer and require very little pruning, if any. It may be necessary to ‘tidy-up’ the plant – cutting away any dead or damaged growth. Otherwise it will only need trimming back if it has become too large. I have two plants in this group and one “Freckles” blooms continuously from November to March. It has small bell-like flowers in cream with dark red ‘freckles’. It is known as a cirrhosa type, is evergreen and also one of the few varieties that is scented. The only drawback with this variety is that you really need to be quite close to appreciate the flowers. Also, it is a lot hardier than some people advise. Mine is growing over an arch which occasionally catches the wind. On one occasion the whole thing blew down and I was forced to cut the clematis right back. It grew back twice as strong and has never missed a year for producing flowers.

Group Two: This group contains the flowers with which we are all familiar flowering during May and June – and possibly having a second flowering later in the year. These are deciduous and should be pruned in early spring before the new growth begins. It is only required to cut out the dead and damaged growth and trim back to a strong bud. I have to admit that I often don’t get around to pruning these as I should but they don’t seem to suffer for it producing some lovely flowers year after year. Some of the best known varieties in this group are: Nelly Moser, Dr. Ruppel, Ville de Lyon and Niobe.

Group Three: This group is the exception when it comes to pruning. It contains the late flowering varieties – of all shapes and sizes – and pruning should be carried out in early spring before the new growth starts, cutting the plant right back to a strong bud about twelve inches from the ground. These plants produce their flowers from July to October and the flowers are produced on shoots grown during the same season. One of the most famous in this group is Clematis Jackmanii first produced in England in 1858. The one in our garden grows along a trellis – through the blackberries – and right up the wisteria to the roof! At present (June) it is covered in buds but within a couple of weeks it will be a mass of dark purple/blue flowers.

The general advice for planting is that clematis like to grow in full sun however; they do like their roots shaded and well drained soil. In fact, mine seem to suffer clay soil quite well and often during the day are in the shade. They are mostly climbers (there are some varieties that aren’t) and they cling to any support by twisting their leaves around it – unlike some other plants such as sweet peas that have tendrils for this purpose. Clematis can be planted in hanging baskets and containers and the clematis florida varieties are ideally suited for this. As these are part of the group three types they will sometimes flower until Christmas if the conditions are right.

There is probably a lot more information I could give about this fantastic plant however, I feel that this might give you the incentive to check it out for yourself. Just one further thing – it is possible to spend a fortune on these plants but I have found that the ones I have spent very little on tend to grow just as well and I only spend more for something “special”. For instance, I bought “Freckles” in a cut-price store for about £1.99.

I hope you have found this interesting – and I thank you for reading it.

Summary: Climbing plant with lovely flowers can be used as a screen