I have C macroptela "Blue Bird" (I think - tag long lost) It has been very hardy here even surviving two moves. I like that it does not need hard pruning to do well because I want the vines up as a screen on my fence all winter.
Looking for another Clem and hoping for a larger flower I bought Jackman's superb this spring. Reading about it on two web sights just now I wonder if I got misinfo when I bought it. The website said
zone 5 and it indicated hard pruning.
I was already concerned because foliage has been reddish and slightly unhealthy looking most of summer.
Do those of you from cold zones think it will survive for me?
Does it need to be pruned way back?
If answers are no, yes, do you have suggestions of something better I could get?
Note re macropetela.
The last move, last summer, did not go so well. I had a limited space to plant in (hole in a concrete mow strip under a fence line) and did not get it in the ground as deep as I should have. It came back from last winter and put on modest growth this year. But reading another thread with much talk of top dressing, I'm worried. How bad is it to have top of root out of soil? Should i steel myself to lose it and start looking for a replacement?
Want clematis hardy to zone 3/4 and not need hard pruning
Hi SFD, You're working in a tough zone out there! As I live in a much different zone than you, I cannot give any personal experience. However if you go to COTW and use the clem text search, you can enter the particulars you need and/or want in a clem. If you don't want to hard prune enter group 1 (no prune) in the pruning field along with your zone in the zone field. Cotw will provide a list of cultivars to meet your specifics. You can also refine your search by color.
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/index.cfm
Is it possible for the clem in the fenceline to be winter mulched? Just be sure to keep the mulch away from the actual vines. If it's between a rock and a hard place, so to speak, you might want to try making your own tea during the growing season to provide foliar feeding and root drenching. Happy searching, I hope this helped you!
This message was edited Aug 30, 2009 8:48 PM