Clematis

Thanks for the info. Rowantree. X

Here is a link to the RHS collection of books about clematis.

Thanks

I would never consider a montana unless i was desperate to cover a huge unsightly shed or garage. They will quite quickly grow to this size and beyond and the flowering season is quite short. There are plenty of more restrained types that do not smother everything they can manage to scramble over.

i think Montana are just grand , have several in my garden.
At the moment we have a creamy coloured clematis going full blast , not sure of name , do remember planting several years ago though !

I love Montana, but they need space and height and don't like to share with other plants unless they dominate. My next door neighbour has a Clematis Aromatica, which is purple/lilac with white centre. It has gradually become intertwined with my white climbing rose, and they look sensational together.

Armandii if it is in flower now nonu - glossy evergreen job with white flowers? Or are you living in another continent?
You must have a flipping enormous garden! More of an estate if you have several montana!

Hi Jess. no it is not an Amandii, although I do have one of those [quite keen on clematis]. The flowers are creamy yellow and leaves quite small and jagged . I will have to look it up in my book !
We live in the centre of town and several years ago we were able to purchase some land at the end of the existing garden , we are lucky as they are both walled so stuff does quite well , although do get Drawn up a bit , not that I care !
What size is your garden ?

Ooooh, yes, JessM, I'd forgotten about armandii! I love mine. Not sure if it's in flower yet though, but I did cut it back quite a bit last autumn so I might have lost some of the flowers. It was getting very rampant and scrambling over everything!

Would love to know the name of Nonu's creamy coloured one though Let me know if you remember!

nonu it is balcony. I have rented out my garden and moved. I have a pot with parsley, another pot with pansies and 2 pots of bulbs. But I help out in an NT garden and that helps me to cope!

better than nothing though Jess !
I have just looked in my garden book and the variety of clematis is
Cirrhosa
This is the blurb --
This is usually the first of the clematis to flower :according to most books it begins to bloom in midwinter . These flowers are bell shaped , with a papery texture and are creamy -white in colour.
That describes mine to a T. Glad I have sorted that out , should have done it before , bit lazy I suppose !!
So get planting Rowan ready for two or three years hence !
s to all .
I do so love my garden !

You can grow a montana over an arch or in a relatively confined space if you hack it back severely every year, and let it grow thickly and weave the tendrils in rather than let them reach out. It all takes work though. You end up having to have a notebook of what to do in each month.

At an early stage of my gardening career (after 18 years of boring office stuff) I got a job looking after posh rental country houses and cottages for an estate agency. Once the tenants had left I would go in and tidy the gardens and make them look pretty for new prospective tenants. I had a week to do it in. At one place I nearly cried because I had carefully trained an existing montana all over some really ugly abandoned dog kennels. The agency made me cut it all back when it was in full flower because the next tenant owned a single small pampered dog and they 'might want to use the kennels'. I hadn't obstructed anything, just made it less of an eyesore. When I had removed it all, they agreed with me...

Oooh, thanks, Nonu Are the flowers scented? And is it hardy?

A very sturdy yellow one is Tangutica. I made the mistake of letting it climb up an Amelanchier tree which I later discovered was being dragged over. It is still listing but the clematis, sadly, had to go. It has those lovely shiny seed heads after flowering. Clematis alpina species are early flowering and also have a wealth of glossy seed heads - I'm hoping I haven't pruned my little blue one too hard.

Rowan I do not know as it is so high up , However, I do not think that they are noted for their fragrance , more the beauty of their flowers , which are held on such spindley stems , they amaze me !!!
Anno sounds good !

Nonu- love the sound of it and I am going to have to get one ;)
annodomini - I've never had any luck with the alpinas and they are meant to be really prolific flowerers and quite strong. I don't know what I do to them but I rarely get any flowers. Maybe I'm pruning them all wrong!

Do you know what Rowan I very rarely prune my clematis , just let nature take it"s course !

Some clematis plant labels have a diagram on the back showing how to prune for the first three of four years. It's dead easy and like Nonu I've got some that I never prune. I just let them scramble all over the place.

Isn't it lovely to have all this info. I'm writing it all down in my ' gardening' book. You can read all the books but this hands on info is priceless.
Thank you, one & all.

Sorry, I thought i had posted this

http://www.saga.co.uk/lifestyle/gardening/plant-portrait/how-to-grow-winter-flowering-clematis.aspx

No one has mentioned that when planting a new clematis if you sink it about 4 inches deeper than it was in the pot it helpss to avoid clematis wilt. I totally agree that you shouldn't be put off by pruning requirements, I ignore the book and do what I think looks best. Generally seems to work.

Yes, I suspect that's what caused the new clematis I put in, to wilt.

The early flowering alpinas don't need to be pruned, unless they are completely out of control. I'm waiting to see what effect a bit of pruning has had on my little blue one.

Hi Pogs. I have a clematis in a pot facing S.E and has been ignored for about 5 years, yet each
spring it bursts in to life and gives me immense pleasure.
I feed it when I remember and top up the soil. Bless it, it keeps going. Just try and have a go.