By Leslie Cox; Monday, May 20, 2013
The beauty of vines is the wonderful element they add to garden designs. A combination of a climbing growth habit and a gorgeous floral display catches the eye to draw it upwards into the third dimension. An ever popular choice, the clematis genus has over 200 species to choose from for almost any location and purpose in the garden.
Bar none, the most stellar performer in our garden is Clematis viticella ‘Polish Spirit’. Native to southern Europe and the western areas of Asia, the numerous viticella cultivars have become very popular for very good reasons. Hardy in Zones 5-9, tolerant of drier conditions, long and prolific bloom period, resistant to clematis wilt and easy care – they have it all.
‘Polish Spirit’ blooms in our garden from about the third week of June straight through to when frost hits in autumn. Always an eye-catcher with its lush abundance of dark purplish-blue 3-4 inch (8-10cm) flowers covering its 12-15 foot (3.7-4.5m) height. A good soaking once a week after it is established is all it needs.
Being in the Group C pruning category means you can either leave it un-pruned or prune it back annually. We prefer to prune it right back in late winter or early spring to about 12 inches (30cm) from the ground.
We have been so captivated by ‘Polish Spirit’, we started adding more Viticella cultivars to our garden. ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ has deep red 3-4 inch (8-10cm) 4 sepal flowers. ‘Ville de Lyon’ is a burnished red with darker red edges made more stunning by its yellow stamens. ‘Etoile Violette’ has masses of deep purple 4-5 inch (10-13cm) flowers covering its 14 foot (4.3m) height.
The latest additions are ‘Minuet’ and ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’. ‘Minuet’ has a white flower with striking red-purple veining and edges. The other has double rosy-purple flowers.
Outside of the Viticella group, ‘Niobe’ has proven to be an absolute summer delight. The deep ruby-coloured, velvety 4-6 inch (10-15cm) flowers are sure to capture your heart. Tending to sprawl rather than climb, you have to assist it up a trellis by gently weaving its tendrils through the lattice as it grows.
Listed as a Group B(2), ‘Niobe’ can be pruned either as a B or C. If treating as a C, it is recommended you cut it right back every second year. To treat it as a Group B, prune the stems to varying lengths in late winter.
Clematis ‘Comptesse de Bouchard’ is another favourite, draping itself elegantly over a cedar rail fence. The display of 5-6 inch (13-15cm) deep pinkish-mauve flowers fading to soft pink from June to September is breath-taking.
Alas, the Clematis montana series have proven disappointing for us. Wanting a vigorous vine to cover our new pergola, we thought we could not go wrong with a Montana. Growing up to 35 feet (10.6m), requiring little pruning and the promise of masses of blooms in late spring/early summer. Listed as Zone 6-9, even Zone 5 in some references, they are a perfect choice for creating shade on a pergola, covering an arbour or hiding a fence. Perfect for our garden!
Well…after much trial and error…the only two that have thrived in our Zone 7a garden are Clematis montana ‘Alba’ and C. m. ‘Odorata’. We have had to remove ‘Pink Perfection’, ‘Tetra Rose’ and C. m. var. rubens.
The problem: Montanas flower on the previous year’s growth. Nestled in the shadow of a ski hill as we are, the susceptibility of cold air floating down the slope bringing late frosts to blanket our garden consistently destroyed the new flower buds on the Montanas. Three years of no spring flowers was all we could bear. Even the three or four blooms that finally developed later in the season were just not enough of a reward for the earlier disappointment.
As with every plant genus, there are clematis varieties that perform better than others. What grows well in one garden may not do well in another. The fun…well, mostly fun…. is in finding those stellar performers and creating your living botanical work of art in all dimensions.
