I am interested in how dave gardeners care for the liner clematis. Do you pot them up and plant them later ? Do you plant them directly into the garden? I am interested in your methods and your sucesses or failures.
First Year Clematis Care
It depends on what you are speaking of as liner clems. If I get them from Donahues, or some place where they come in trays, yes, I always pot them. I usually get them in spring and pot them in gallons then plant out in Fall. I do sometimes get them in fall and over winter them in gallon pots.
The bare root liners that come from places like Walters, I can plant directly in the ground, as they are very large, or pot them in a three gallon.
I get my clematis from various online and local nurseries in the spring to early summer. I sometimes plant them right away and sometimes don't.
The best advice I can give you is to plant when it is a cool and overcast. Water them very well when you plant them and then leave them alone. Clematis are very hardy and will surprise you.
This is Henri.
This message was edited Jan 22, 2011 4:15 AM
I just ordered one blue, one red and one white clematis,they should arrive in late March. What kind of trellis should I have . I will plant them in full sun and plant some short annuals around they roots. I hope they grow there, my back yard is full shade under a 100 year old oak tree.
Make sure that their roots are not in the sun. I have used all sorts of things including bamboo, towels, plastic lattice and broken pottery to shade them until my low growing stuff comes in and does the job.
The are not heavy plants like wisteria so you don't need a heavy duty trellace for them. I have some growing up chicken wire, some up plastic netting and some on wooden arbors. One is growing up an old fish net I draped over a low limb
Once you plant them give them a dose of miracle grows in water.
I have found that climbing yellow dicentra is a great shade vine. It is very pretty and easy to grow. Here in the Pacific NW it dies back every year but comes back every spring.
Niobe in the morning.
This message was edited Jan 25, 2011 3:49 AM
I always plant my liners into gallon pots for a year or so. Then I heal them into the ground, pot and all for the winter. By the time the following spring rolls around, they should be fine to plant out in the garden. When you plant them into the garden, make sure you plant them 2" deeper than the depth they were planted in the pot and also, plant them at a 45 degree angle. This will help encourage new shoots to grow up from the bottom. Also when you are planting them into the garden, make sure you use plenty of bone meal - this helps with root development.
Mine are planted just like Carolyn's. If the roots come through the bottom of the pots by September I do plant them then. I use a lot of our own compost in place of soil, John.
Thank you , Matish, and pirl, and Carolyn22 for advice, I just want to make my place nice, bought to many plants that I planted on a wrong place. This spring I will move my Largeleaf Hostas, because they were in the front of garden and they are blocking other perennials. Will get some of that Dicentra and plant them in the back yard to block the messy neighbor that never cleans his back yard . I live in the inner city where lot of rentals are messing up the neighborhood, nobody cares any more. If I plant all three of clematis close to each other will they loose they color or remain the same.Thanks again for your help
The clematises will not change color just because they're planted together so don't worry about it.
These two (two of each) have been sharing the same trellis for 18 years now:
Dear pirl, thank you for your help. I have seen your many pictures of your yard, you should have a open house and charge for people to see product of your hard work. I wish I have more space, but I guess by me alone, this is enough. My front yard is sunny and the back yard is very shady, trying to figure out what grows under a large oak tree. Just ordered 3 more clematis trough new seller, ordered sunset, Gipsy Queen, and Niobe. The Gipsy is because I am a Hungarian, we all have some of the Gipsy blood,( not.)This is my front yard, got tired of moving grass and took over the City property, now they have to look for my water meter.
Thank you.
That is so beautiful. Your neighbors must wish they had your talent. As for the meter reader - he/she must look forward to the flowers.
You could try growing hostas or other shade loving plants in pots under the big oak.
I have had Niobe for a long time but mine deserves a better spot. Where did you buy Sunset and Gypsy Queen?
I stumbled up on Brushwood Nursery, I think they are from Minnesota, Sunset $12.99, Gypsy is 14.95, but if you buy 3 you get $5.00 discount. I have hostas, but will have to move them to more shade in back, plus I been batteling slugs, hope this year will use more of my mix of murphys oil soap, amonia on them and get rid of them before they get out of hand like last Summer.
I'm familiar with Brushwood and will go looking at them again. I already have five on order for this year.
Here's a thread on slugs from the Hosta Forum:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1099450/
This is a thread I started on clematis 'Omoshiro' and refers to Brushwood's clematises:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1145391/
Other then slugs, I have problem with Lubber grasshoppers. They are ugly looking, even the birds wont eat them because they have some kind of nasty taste. I read about them, looks like I have to start spraying early when they are little, much as I hate sprays, I cant watch them eating all the new shoots on everything. Even the holly bushes. I hope they hate clematis, it is pritty expensive to lose them. I would get outside early in the morning with a zip lock bag over my hand and crunch them bugs, it is nasty. Pirl, thank you for your advice. Etelka
While I have heard of those grasshoppers I haven't been afflicted with them. Nasty and ugly makes them seem so terrible.
You're quite welcome.
In general, the healthier a plant is the more capable it is of avoiding damage though the grasshoppers do sound like a challenge.
kistea
Another good shade plant is Helleborus. Also called Lenten Rose. I don't know how they will do in the south. But in my zone 5 garden they do very well. I've never had anything eat them even slugs, deer and rabbits avoid them. They may even stay evergreen where you live.
Cassie