Fine twine
Get to grips with clematis
CLEMATIS is known as the queen of the climbers, and she is one with a loyal following.
Most bear masses of single blooms, while some, like ten-times gold winner Josephine, are petal-packed doubles. Others resemble tiny bells and lanterns, while Crystal Fountain even has sprays of stamens in the centre.
They tend to thrive in pots, provided they are in soil-based John Innes compost and fed regularly. Friends like Clematis Dr Ruppel and Madame Le Coultre grow happily together and can be trained over an obelisk frame.
Alpina, macropetala and viticella varieties make good companions for roses New Dawn, Compassion and American Beauty on a sunny wall.
They twine tendrils around whatever they meet so can grow against walls or up poles if you use a trellis or wires. Or try them up trees or through a shrub canopy.
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Train them as groundcover by allowing them to scramble over and through other ground-hugging plants. Go for a sunny location, although some have more intense colour in partial shade.
They also prefer a loamy soil that is well drained yet moist, so avoid planting under roof eaves of buildings, as it is generally too dry.
Dig a hole 20cm deep and 30-40 cm wide and plant with the set below the surface of the soil. That way, buried stems will produce roots and send up replacement stems if any are broken or attacked by clematis wilt. Summer-flowering hybrids of the Jackmanii and Viticella groups are popular, producing flowers on new wood. This group includes Black Prince and Josephine.
Dr Ruppel climbs up to four metres and spreads up to three, with 10-15cm blooms from late spring to autumn. Blooms have broad, pointed sepals in reddy-purple with pink edges. Another striking variety, Vyvyan Pennell, grows up to three metres and has big double flowers, 15-20cm across.
And you can’t go far wrong if you remember the ditty: “If it flowers before June, do not prune.”