Clematis: Garden Trellis Stars

I have grown a number of clematis, and it all started with a pairing of ‘Jackmani Superba’ and ‘Nelly Moser’. I loved them; their exotic beauty, their colors, their vertical climbing habits….. everything! I used the huge blooms to delight children in a memory game (See the “fun facts”, below). I loved their many ways: how they make garden picture combinations, winding through branches, and shade the front porch, delicately draping over the trellis. They’ve become one of my favorite flowers.

From that first pairing of Jackmani and Nellie, I added numerous others, including the lovely white ‘Marie Boisselet” and her dark red sister, ‘Niobe’. Blue ‘Will Goodwin’, wildlings of autumn clematis, (C. terniflora), and C. montana for spring have been added. These are beautiful vines, some with amazingly large flowers, which adorn the garden in many ways: with roses, on fences, porch trellises, over arbors. All are graceful and beautiful, but the autumn clematis and the C. montana are especially fragrant. These “wildlings” have much smaller flower blooms, but so abundantly prolific in flowering that the effect is just as showy as any of the larger flowered varieties.

[the look]
Depending on the variety and whether they are the species or the large flowering hybrids, the flowers may be small and dainty or as large as eight inches in diameter. Like flat, star shaped saucers, they come in a range of colors including many whites, pinks, and mauves, with deep purples, red-purples, soft blues, and bicolors. The plants vine and climb with support,

[View with PicLens]

[the needs]

Tips for healthy clematis:

• Rich fertile soil, well-drained yet moisture retentive, with a pH close to neutral (7.0)
• Top of vine in sunshine, feet slightly shaded (or protected). I used a ground cover such as ajuga to keep the ground cool, as well as some judiciously placed rocks. The ajuga likes the same conditions of moisture and good soil, and produces small spikes of purple flowers in the spring.
• After planting, cut stems back to 12 inches (just do it!)
• Plant the crown one to two inches below the soil surface, I usually used an old coffee can with the bottom removed, this embedded the couple inches below soil line, with the clematis vine planted within. (See the specifics below)
• Plants are pruned according to which one of the three types you have planted.
• Liking to be fed richly, be sure to keep adding amendments and fertilizer during each growing season. Use liquid fertilizer once a month. Top dress with organically rich compost.
• Clematis grow and bloom much better if they have a dormant period of approximately six weeks.
• The evergreen species are not hardy, tolerating only a few degrees of frost

The method of planting I learned from my dad:
Get a large size metal coffee can, cut off both lid and bottom. Dig a good size hole (double the width and amend with organic material). I used peat moss and well rotted, composted, cow manure, and a dash of lime [horticultural lime]. In the loose soil carefully place the root ball, spreading the roots out and cover them with amended soil. Place coffee can around the base and stem of the plant. add soil up to the outside edge of the can leave a depression inside the can around the vine. Water well. Place your rocks and/or plant your groundcover surrounding the outside of the edges of the can. This reputedly staved off stem rot and helped keep the Clematis roots cool and moist. It worked for me, as I’ve never lost any of my vines to stem rot.

[fun facts]

If you have small children, a fun game they enjoy is the memory game. Put a huge clematis flower, along with other interesting objects (pretty rock, oak leaf, piece of coral, a pair of scissors, etc.), on a tray. Allow the children a minute to look carefully at everything on the tray, take it out of the room and then see who can remember the most objects. The clematis is always the star of the display.
Virgin’s bower, Ladies’ bower, Love vine, Traveler’s ivy are all names of Clematis virginiana.
A favorite combination is clematis and roses.
Clematis is in the Ranunculaceae ( buttercup) family. Once used medicinally, it is poisonous and irritating-not advised.
Clematis have been cultivated in Japan for many centuries and in Europe since the 16th century- a brief history of clematis

[links on the web]

• Table of pruning information by variety
• Basic clematis care for USA gardeners
• Tips for clay soil
• Picture image of Clematis montana
• Clematis in Martha Stewarts Garden | Make invisible trellis
• Monrovai Clematis variety descriptions,photos,growing info

Pruning Clematis Vines

Clematis plants are divided into groups for pruning practices.

From Shannon of Gardenweb:

Group 1 – Certain species clematis and their cultivars which bloom early in the year. Some of the more commonly found representatives of this group include the Montanas, which are extremely vigourous in USDA zones 5 and warmer. Other clematis in Group 1, which are becoming more commonly available, are varieties of C. alpina and C. macropetala. These clematis will also develop into very large specimen plants over time. Another example in Group 1 is C. armandii and its cultivars. All of the Group 1 clematis bloom on growth made the previous year. They can be pruned to keep them within their allotted space, or to remove dead and unsightly foliage. Note however, if they are pruned late in the season, or before they flower in the year, you will be cutting off potential flower buds. They should be pruned right after flowering, if at all.

Group 2 – These are the large flowered hybrids. They are often divided again into two subgroups – 2a and 2b. The main difference between the two subgroups is: those in 2a normally bloom in the spring and possibly again in the fall; those in 2b bloom mainly in the spring then intermittently all through the summer. Subgroup 2b types usually continue to grow as well as bloom as the season progresses so in the spring you might have a mass of blooms at waist height and by autumn they may be blooming overhead. The flowers of both subgroups tend to be smaller later in the season and might be more intensely or differently colored as well. All of the clematis in Group 2 bloom on ‘old wood’ (actually on short shoots from old wood) and should not be pruned except for deadwood pruning in early spring after the leaf buds open slightly. Note that those in subgroup 2b also bloom on new wood (see information below about alternate pruning for special puposes). The number of later flowers can be increased if the seed heads from the first flowering are removed right after the blooms drop their tepals.

Group 3 – These are the summer blooming varieties such as the viticellas, Jackmanii types, texensis, the herbaceous species such as integrifolia and recta that bloom on new wood and the late bloomers such as Sweet Autumn Clematis (C. terniflora) and orientalis types. Clematis in Group 3 mainly flower on new wood produced in the current year and should be pruned back severely every year in late winter, when they are completely dormant, to about 12 – 14 inches. Leave at least two pairs of buds (4) on each stem of the plant. Most Group 3s are very fast growing and will reach their full height before blooming every summer. If you fail to prune these, they will develop long ‘legs’ that get woody and will be devoid of foliage and blooms.

-more info on their site