Mention vines and people picture great, creeping things which must be forcibly restrained from overrunning the place. Not so clematis. Unlike those Jackand-the-Beanstalk, Tarzan-swinging imagined vines, clematis is the soul of refinement, well-suited to the small living garden. If anything it appears frail, its brittle stems rather too weak for swinging. But for floral beauty, large-flowered clematis is unsurpassed among the hardy vines. With good-natured docility it will climb a trellis, porch or wall, drape a rustic fence, tumble over a low stone wall, festoon an old tree stump or share a post with a climbing rose.
Blue, lavender, purple, pink, red and white flowers make an effective display on their own or combined with other plants. One of the oldest, and probably the most widely planted, is velvety, deep purple jackmani, a vigorous, free-flowering grower. Superba and Gipsy Queen are excellent forms of this variety, bearing flowers similar in color but larger. Dark plum Lord Neville is also of a rich, velvety texture. Another old-timer and still one of the best whites is henryi. Its flowers grow up to 8-inches across, but are not as profuse as some of the others. Duchess of Edinburgh produces double white flowers on year-old wood. Lanuginosa candida is slightly off-white, its blossoms rather creamy.
The wide range of blues is represented by bright blue Elsa Spaeth, azure blue Ascotiensis, light blue, narrow sepaled Mrs. Cholmondeley, and Ramona, with its large, blue, overlapping sepals. Varying shades of lavender and muave are found in Lady Northcliffe, William Kennett, Lawsonia and Belle of Woking, which brings forth its double flowers on old wood. Aptly named Crimson King, purplish-red Mrs. Edouard Andre and carmine Ville de Lyon run the gamut of the reds. More delicate tints are shown by satiny-pink Comtesse de Bouchard, and lilac-rose Mine. Baron Veillard. Melly Moser has pale mauve flowers banded with red.
Clematis Loves Rich, Well Drained Soil
Clematis requires sweet, rich, loamy, well-drained soil; loves a hot head and cool, but not wet, feet. Dig your hole at least 2 feet deep and 2 across. If the subsoil is of a retentive nature, dig 6 inches deeper and put in a layer of broken brick or coarse gravel to insure good drainage. Half-rotted leaves, old sod and, ideally, some old cow manure come next. Fill the remaining space with good soil and Ieafmold in a 3-1 ratio. If the soil is not sweet, mix a 5 inch potful of ground limestone and the same amount of bonemeal in each wheelbarrowful of soil. Set the plants – those grown from cuttings or layers are best in the long run – with their crowns about 2 inches deep. Provide support right from the start and you’ll never need worry about broken stems. Ferns or small herbaceous plants around the base will help keep your clematis cool. Spring planting is safest, except in those areas where climate is mild.
Clematis doesn’t like wet feet, and similarly, it objects to prolonged periods of dryness. A summer mulch of old manure will conserve soil moisture and provide good food at the same time. Every 2 or 3 years scratch in a handful of ground limestone to preserve the sweetness of the soil. If growth needs a boost, apply a sprinkling of complete fertilizer in the spring. Winter mulch protection is also a good idea.
Most large-flowered clematis bloom in summer on growth of the current season, so any pruning should be done in early spring. For the first two years about all you need do is remove the dead tips. Once the vine is well established you can cut it back to 3 feet, or even lower, and it will respond with good flowering shoots 6 to 8 feet high. Or, in some cases, all that is necessary is to cut out dead wood and weak shoots. Some varieties flower on old wood, and so require little pruning, but dead wood should be removed in the spring.
by B Downing
