Clematis: What vine for sides of garage??, 1 by hczone6

hczone6 wrote:
I'm not sure how well any clematis will do in your area. I see most of the zone listings have plenty of the varieties of clematis listed as being good for zone 8. I've heard clemtis like to have there heads in the sun and there feet (roots) in the shade (cool). Maybe as long as you try to do that they'll be ok. The other thing is...most people look at my ONE jackmanii clematis and think it's a freak of nature...because it's so big! Most places I check have it topping out at 10 feet tall or so. Mine is at least 25 feet tall/long in some places. Maybe they say 10 feet if you cut them back and let them re-grow each year?...I don't know. Like I said, I don't cut mine back at all until it grows into areas where I don't want it and then I'll prune it to keep it under control. Maybe you could try jackmanii and see if it looks like it grows well for you.

I've got another variety (not sure of the name right now) that I have planted under a young crabapple tree. I've seen this done on garden shows on TV. I'm anxious to see how it looks rambling up a crabapple. I bet it'll be pretty :) That's another reason I like clematis. It's not the type of vine that will choke off or kill other plants such as trees. Clematis grabs on very gently with new growth that comes out with the leaves...kinda like a long, small stem with leaves at the end. Here's the crabapple it's going under (this tree is maybe 5 years old now...and it's been in the ground at my house for maybe 3 or 4 years).




This message was edited Sunday, Apr 6th 9:47 PM