Clematis are such a varied bunch of plants; blowsy large flowered hybrids and old favourites such as stripy pink ‘Nelly Moser’ and velvety blue ‘jackmannii’ on the one hand and on the other, fascinating, smaller flowered ‘specie’ Clematis which, despite their delicate looks, are stone hardy and easy to look after requiring nothing more than deep, well cultivated soil and a few slug pellets around the plants in spring so that the new growth is not eaten away!
Along with the charming ‘viticellas’ which include the tiny, perfect double flowers of dusky purple ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’ that we have growing through a climbing rose, and the deep wine coloured ‘Etoile Violette’ that scrambles through an ornamental vine, I am very fond of the ‘Orange Peel Clematis’ (Clematis tangutica) with thick petalled, nodding blooms of golden yellow. This plant really is no problem to look after and grows through a Pyracantha. The fern like leaves are late to appear in spring and although the plant can be cut to 30cm above the ground then, I tend to leave it alone so that it rambles through the host plant without seeming to get out of hand. The beautiful flowers are remarked on by friends when they visit and love by bees as they forage on sunny autumn days and the fluffy seed heads that follow are valuable additions to Mrs McGregor’s flower arrangements.
I battle with Clematis rhederana – another species that I cut hard heartedly almost to the ground in late spring. As soon as the weather warms, the plant makes great strides to cover what is left of an old pine tree with vigorous shoots and pale green leaves. I can forgive its brutish behavior as it is almost time for the show of hundreds of cowslip yellow bells in large, hanging clusters. The flowers have a sweet scent and bees love to clamber into them before they turn into fluffy seed heads that compliment the vine leaves as they change to red and orange and also contrasting with the deep red berries of the Cotoneaster.
Clematis texensis is a true perennial that dies back to the ground and requires no pruning save for the removal of last year’s dead stems in spring. ‘Duchess of Albany’ has cherry pink flowers that are like inverted tulips. The texensis types have more delicate growth and need to be grown through other plants near a path to appreciate their beauty – when the flowers are turned up they reveal a deep pink stripe to each petal.
Looking around the garden at the moment, there is plenty of color but there are also plenty of plants that I can use as climbing frames for late flowering or early spring varieties of Clematis to scramble through! As well as brightening the garden, Clematis flowers are valuable food for bees and other pollinators. I will soon be visiting Notcutts to look at their range of Clematis - they really are some of the most versatile of plants and so easy to grow!
