Grow a vibrant viticella These good-natured climbers are ideal for small gardens, hiding fences with masses of flowers
These good-natured climbers are ideal for small gardens, hiding bare fences with masses of flowers. Val Bourne picks her favourites
The easiest, trouble-free group of clematis have viticella blood. They don’t suffer from clematis wilt and their mass of small blooms freshen up the garden from July onwards. Clematis viticella is a drought-tolerant species introduced from Spain in 1569, with nodding, dark-blue flowers trembling on 15cm (6in)-long stems. Queen of its viticella offspring is ‘Étoile Violette’, an old French cultivar raised by Morel in 1885. Its star-shaped purple-blue blooms have a light gold central boss of stamens and six or sometimes four petals, each separated by a wide gap, adding an informality lacked by fuller-flowered clematis. Plant it with
Many older viticellas have asymmetrical flowers, ideal for informal plantings
warm yellow rambling rose ‘Goldfinch’, or a paler viticella such as ‘Prince Charles’. Morel’s collection passed to William Robinson of Gravetye Manor in East Sussex and his head gardener Ernest Markham. They introduced flower-packed, pinkishred ‘Abundance’ with ruffled and barred flowers, which looks fabulous straddling a tree, and went on to raise nodding pale-pink ‘Little Nell’, which is superb in shade. Thought to have been grown before 1629, long-flowering double plum-pink ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’ was lost to cultivation until Graham Stuart Thomas found it growing at Abbotswood, Gloucestershire in the 1960s. A similarly lucky find was made by clematis grower Barry Fretwell who spotted ‘lost’ heritage cultivar ‘Flore Pleno’ (also sold as ‘Mary Rose’) in a Devon garden in 1980. Its sultry, deep-blue flowers need a warmer spot with good drainage and look lovely scrambling with a yellow or orange climbing rose . ‘Madame Julia Correvon’, a French viticella raised by Morel in about 1900, was reintroduced in 1972 after a single plant was found at Hidcote Manor, Gloucestershire. Its dark buds open to produce twisted, wine-red flowers with ruched, narrow petals that gently recurve. Lime-yellow stamens are informally arranged and the mix of four and six-tepalled flowers adds to the charm. This is another cultivar that does well in shade. Many older viticellas have asymmetrical, rather than neat open flowers, which are ideal for informal plantings and cottage gardens. The flowers often twist and can be tinted green, particularly in cool summers. Dainty-looking ‘Alba Luxurians’, raised by Veitch & Son of Exeter circa 1900, suits shadier spots. Modern breeders have produced some dazzling deep reds. Polish cultivars include ‘Niobe’, a less-vigorous rich-red with black overtones, and ‘Warszawska Nike’, a velvety, reddish-purple.
Other good performers include silver-blue ‘Prince Charles’, a chance seedling found in New Zealand, in the 1970s.Its textured wavy-edged petals form large, star-shaped flowers that shimmer in high summer. It blends well with frilly, lilac andpink ‘Betty Corning’, dark ‘Niobe’ or almost-black ‘Dark Eyes’ – they all make excellent partners. Free-flowering viticellas take up little ground space, so theyalso suit small gardens. Choose one or more for a mass of flowers to enjoy all summer long. Plant clematis in a sunny or part shady spot, in moist but welldrained soil. Help shade their roots by placing a layer of pebbles or flat stones on the soil around them. When buying a clematis, try to find one with several stems at the base rather than just one stem. Viticellas belong to pruning group 3. They flower between midsummer’s day and early September and thrive on a hard prune. Don’t mix with no-prune clematis (Group 1) or light-prune clematis (Group 2) because the stems will tangle together and you won’t know where to cut.