Crazy for clematis
Posted on June 28th, 2009 – 11:19 PMBy Jaime Chismar
For my birthday, my aunties got me a gift certificate to Linder’s. At first, I planned to buy something practical like a new pair of gardening gloves or some sturdy tomato cages. Instead, I walked out of the nursery with a beautiful “Arctic Queen” clematis.
It was love at first sight. I simply couldn’t help myself.
This is not my first clematis. I inherited a purple variety when I moved in with the BF. It was planted behind an arborvitae in dry shade. It barely bloomed. I replanted the poor vine in a more hospitable location hoping to bring it back from near death. This year, my chain link fence is covered in purple blossoms.
To be honest, I don’t know much about clematis — I just got lucky.
So what is the best way to baby these blooming beauties? Do they need a lot of TLC during the growing season? Do I need to prune or deadhead with any regularity? What about during the winter? Do they need a lot of protection from our cold climate?
164 Responses to "Crazy for clematis"
I need a crash course in clematis care as well. I’m installing a makeshift trellis between our garage and the alley out of a torn down chain link fence. I am contemplating clematis there, specifically I’ve been looking for anyone with any Sweetautumn Clematis, but no one I’ve found has it. Still, I’ve been told that I should plant clematis earlier in the spring than now so I was going to skip clematis this year and go for some morning glory now. Is it too late to plant any clematis? Supposedly even though they are vines, they will need a lot of help clinging to what they are supposed to be climbing . . . are there any clematis that do not need any help at all to cling to their trellis?
I’ve been told that clematis like their feet cool and their heads warm. New growth comes on the old vines, so prune back in the fall, but not to the ground. I have two clematis; one I pruned to the ground, the other I trimmed a little. This year’s growth is much better on the “a little” clematis.
Both clematis have been rather proactive about climbing–more than once I’ve had to pull a renegade tendril off the leaves of the neighboring lilies and put it on the trellis. I’d say keep an eye on things and put those tendrils in their place. Loosely attaching them to the trellis with twist-ties helps too.
For some years now I have been wanted one of this little blue flowered plant that is in one of the watergarden displays at the fairgrounds. I questioned the staff at the display, they didn’t know what it was but it WAS really nice…. After some tedious searching of the internet I found the object of my desire is a dwarf form of clematis that has a single, bell shaped flower all season long. Now, where do I get one? Imagine my shock at the Friends Plant sale that I found not just the blue but some pink also! They are nestled in a space where after many years that Circus,Circus tea rose finally gave up. I look every day, no blossoms, but I water and hope.
Oh, and to answer the question on whether to baby your plants: my mom, who has a number of different varieties, she does not trim until the sprouts start coming out in the spring. She does rake leaves against the base in the fall when the foilage dies back to keep the base cozy for winter but sometimes the whole thing dies back to the roots, sometimes it starts again from the old branches. I suppose it depends on the winter. She also does not deadhead as she likes the fuzzy seedheads.
Jaime–good for you for choosing beauty! That is one gorgeous flower!
There are two types of clematis, with different pruning needs. I’ve never kept them straight, so can’t enlighten you more than that. Most catalogs that sell them have a succinct paragraph about this (Bluestone Perennials comes to mind.) and of course, what type your clematis is. I assume Dave’s Garden website would also be able to help out.
I planted ‘Josephine’ last year, but the nearby yarrow is WAY too competitive and I don’t think it made it. My C. texansis ‘Duchess of Albany’ is blooming its head off—good, medium colored pink blossoms shaped like lily-flowered tulips. It’s underplanted with a different yarrow, which has little baby’s breath-like white blossoms.
I also like to plant trumpet lilies nearby; I had put some Regale in by the Duchess, but they froze this winter 
Good luck. Had high hopes for my clematis…a basic variety, jackmani? But now in its third season it’s just eeking along…one bloom this summer so far. Someone said it takes them seven YEARS to establish…. but really? I’m way to impatient for that. I’m sad since I see breathtaking specimens doing spendidly all around me an I HAVE babied the thing.
There are three different types of clematis, and each has its own pruning requirements.
I love clematis. Unfortunately so did my dog. She loved to pull on the canes and this spring she dug it up root and all. No more Clematis for me I guess. I will have to stick to plants with thorns.
Curmudgeon Geographer asked about Sweet Autumn. That is what I had. One really well establish plant from the Arboretum Plant sale. It was big enough to cover an arbor and my fence all by itself. I cut it back every spring after it started leafing out. The birds loved the shelter it gave to the feeder during the winter. All those little White flowers in September were great.
The only real Clematis advice I got is feet in the shade, head in the sun. It worked for me. And they do climb on their own. I only had to tie it because it got so big and to keep it going the way I wanted it to instead of all over the surounding shrubs.
True confessions: On my evening walks, I can be a bit of a garden snoop. Last night, I saw the strangest clematis… it was covered in tiny 1/2 white flowers.
There is a british shrub climatis that has 4 petals: white with a blue streak through the center that could be what you were looking at.
My mom has sweet autumn climatis, takes over the south porch trellis and smells great in the fall. It is too agressive a specimen for my space.
MNMom, it doesn’t take 7 years to establish a clematis. Something is not right with your plant or its location. We have just about every kind of clematis thanks to a kick my spouse went on a few years ago. Tiny white flowers sounds like sweet autumn but it’s too early for that to be blooming, more like end of July, August to frost. It also smells overpoweringly of vanilla. We have some on our porch. I think there is a similar variety that blooms earlier.
Thanks Margaret! It looks a lot like sweet autumn.
they really are a pretty flower… however I will never, ever forget the time when my aunt accidentally confused (a few times for a couple minutes) the name of this flower with a name of a certain part of the body on the female anatomy… Needless to say she was extremely embarrassed and it provides our family with a good laugh about once a year…
Why hasn’t someone said something about Clematis being huge eaters…Need to fertlize the heck out of it and keep it watered, cool roots and plenty of sun. there you have it.
I’ve hear this said about clematis and found it to be true with mine:
The first year it sleeps.
The second year it creeps.
The third year it leaps.
my plant is in the 3rd year and is flowering beautifully for the first time.
It’s in a cool damp spot, but gets sunshine on it’s head.
I have a two year old Arctic Queen and it’s gorgeous and loaded with blooms and more coming. The first year, I did cut it back in the fall and it bloomed fine, but last year I didn’t cut it back, just removed the dried leaves in Spring because it already was leafing out, and it’s so full!
I’ve also had Sweet Autumn clematis. It smells great but man, it can be a monster so be careful where you put it. It came through the deck bottom once so had to get rid of it. I’ve seen them climb up telephone polls.
Oh my, food? What kind does it like? I have mine in the roses, will it like the same stuff? I planted it with compost, for who doesn’t like compost? So far I am good on the watering front as it gets as much of a drink as the roses do and I have mulched with shredded newspaper.
Cold feet-hot sun is best. Too much shade and nada. My best one is on the west side of the house - moved all rest there. It does take about three year to really get up a full head of steam and then, watch out, they reach out to everything they can and can bloom all summer if happy.
I feel like I have hard time with Clematis. I see so many beautiful ones climbing so tall. But I have planted at least half a dozen at various places we’ve lived and they’ve all died. Until this year, my clematis came back from last year. Last year it only grew about 1-2 feet total. Hardly bloomed. This year it is about 3 feet so far, I’ve seen a few blooms. Not impressive by any stretch, but I’m glad it’s back and climbing a bit taller…wish I knew how to make it grow more!!! I have a beautiful arbor and I’d love to see the clematis climb up it…
I planted 2 this year. One purple one. Must be a descendant of the Jackmani as those are hard to find here. And the other is a light colored flower. I was told the light one would grow okay in the shade but that is not entirely true. It died back after I planted it and has not come back yet. The purple one gets afternoon sun and is growing well. Good Luck!
My Niobe took a good 3 years to flourish and it’s one of the the most lovely plant I have growing. Sleep, creep and leap sounds about right too. I also have found the eastside of my house to be the most accommodating for them. I think some varieties are just fickle too. I planted an Earnest Markham last year in the same location that didn’t make it through the winter.
I have 3 clematis growing up our deck posts. They are in part shade and I really don’t do anything special to them. I’m not sure how old they are - they were established when we moved in. But I don’t really fertilize them or water them much (in addition to the little bit they get every other day from the sprinkler system). This spring, I cut them way down, about 1 foot above ground, because the old growth looked, well, old. Now, they are just as high on the posts as they were last year. I do put some leaves around their base in the fall. I am a pretty lax gardener and have not had to work hard at all to keep these going.
Like songgrrl, I have a tough time with Clematis. I try every year, but get almost nothing. This is the second year with my latest two and they are about 4 inches high. I’ve tried them in different areas of the garden, too. Maybe I just have to buy a plant that’s already large and established! I thought sweet autumn was out of our zone?? If you think it grows well in zone 4, that’s the one I really want.
My clematis guru recommends viticelli, the small-flowering varieties, as being disease-especially wilt-resistant here in MN. Arabella is among her favorites, and despite being planted in July last year the two I bought produced through the fall and are putting on a fabulous show so far this season! I lucked into a Linder’s sale last year but would go with the seemingly high priced ones as they bloom long. I have two large flowered white (Guernsey Cream and something else) that are lovely on trellises in front of my six foot brick wall.
Ok, I’m inspired. I’m moving my “sleeper” to a sunnier local tomorrow. I’m crossing my fingers. To me, they are the quintessential Minnesota climber. It’ll be a Day of Vine and Roses.
Last night my husband and I took the dogs for a walk, and I noticed as we walked by the front of the house that my clematis got so big that it was too heavy for the trellis and pulled the whole thing down with it. So… I’m thinking I will need to divide that monster come fall!
I have 2 gorgeously blooming clematis right now. Does anyone recommend a late-blooming clematis so I can keep the flower show going a little longer?
Weed or not, OK by me. It’s a lot easier to keep control with a small lot, which I had for most of my gardening life. The worst is when you nurture something along for weeks waiting for the payoff in blooms, and one day you realize that, silly you, you’ve been harboring a big unnamed monstrosity that’s growing like the weed that it is. I’ve done that more than once, usually in a very prominant spot.
I have a sweet autumn that I inherited with the house - It’s not blooming yet but it’s spreading like CRAZY all over the back fence where, for the second year in a row, I’ve attempted to make it make it’s home! It appears to be working and boy do I hope so! It’s such a beautiful plant & NO maint whatsoever!
I also have a purple clematis of the ‘regular’ variety - it is planted to the East and climbs up some lattice buried in coneflowers - this is the first year it’s going crazy and I’m having to train it every day as it’s grabbing everything in site -
Another exciting thing for me and my ‘garden’ this year - My Yukka plant is also blooming for the second time in SEVEN years (again, inherited with the house) First time we got 1 flower on the top - this year it looks like I’m gonna have about 100! YAY!
I’ve had two clematis die this year. They started off well and then turned a little brown on the tips of the vines which spead to the whole vine within a few weeks.
I don’t know if it was caused by bugs or disease, but I’m bummed.
I have terrible luck with perennials from Linders. Every one of them (save two very common lilacs) have kicked the bucket over the years.
I cut my clematis to the ground every fall, and the next spring it grows 6 feet tall within a couple of weeks. I usually get a few hundred blossoms. I have found that yes my clematis likes cool feet and warm leaves. I have it planted on the south side of my house and it gets plenty of sun / sade mix as there is a large tree which filters out some of the sun light. It growns a few inches a day in the spring.
A few hundred blossums? Wow, I could only dream. I, too, have trouble with clematis. Coneflowers, which should grow anywhere, even struggle, so I think I have heavy, clay soil. I amend with compost and peat before planting, but some things are just unhappy. My older clematis sent up a few 4 foot shoots, and then one would look wilted and die. No idea why. Frustrating waiting for them to “leap”.
Does anyone know the garden center that is closing?? It was mentioned for the 10pm Kare 11 news last night, but I missed it.
Thank you!
Ok, girls! I’m a MN transplant in Albuquerque, NM and it took me about 10 years to figure out how to garden here in the high desert! Anyway, I planted 2 dark purple clematis a year ago along the north side of my house - so feet in the shade and top in the partly shaded sun. Last year I tried everything I knew to limp it along. This year, it’s about 3′ high and pretty scraggly looking - I have high hopes for next year. Most of my perrenials take off the 3rd year and I’ve learned not to plant on the west side of house - sun is ferocious here. Count your blessings! Soil is sooooo much better in MN!
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