I just met a new clematis, her name is Niobe and wow, she is beautiful! I've never seen her blooming in person, so needless to say, well, I have a new clematis! I noticed that the tag says part sun, but I always, always take a tag with a grain of salt. I also remember reading (I think) that certain clematises have preferences despite what is listed for them, if I am remembering correctly. I had completely forgotten that, planning to place all of my rescued clems in full sun, until I bought Niobe, saw her part sun tag and stopped dead. Uh oh. Now is the time to turn to the experts.
So, here is the list of clems that I have. I am in central NC, so obviously hot sun in the summers. Can you tell me if any of these WON'T tolerate NC full sun? You guys are awesome, thanks so much!
Bourbon
Pink Champagne
Daniel Deronda
Niobe
Rebecca
Snow Queen
H F Young
Blue Boy
Marie Louise Jensen
Henryi
I trust you guys over the tags any day!
OK, so what's the real deal? Sun or part sun?
I am not an expert but from my own experience, up here on Long Island - zone 7...
Bourbon can take some shade.
Pink Champagne loves the sun here.
Niobe is finicky for me so it's a difficult clematis with some sun or full sun. It has to be my inadequate location for the plant.
HF Young loves sun here.
Marie Louise Jensen is one my California friend grows but I have no idea just how much sun it gets.
Our Henryi is near Bourbon and does fine with 4 hours of early morning sun.
You have several on your list that I have never grown so I can't help you out with those, sorry!
Have you tried seeing what clematis sites have to say about each of them?
Use much more mulch than you think you should to keep the roots cool and moist.
For once I can actually answer a question about clematis as opposed to asking one !
Of the ones you mentioned, I grow HF Young and MLJensen about three feet from one another. They get MORNING SUN only and dappled sun for the rest of the day. It gets very hot here in the summer, so last fall I moved them to their current morning sun spot and they're thriving...better than they've ever done. These 2 seem to like shade in the afternoon here.
Henryi WAS in a day-long dappled sun area and just performed "ok". I did a major pruning on a tree that was casting the shade over it and now it's thriving in full blazing sun. It takes our hot summer sun perfectly fine. Who knew ?
It's taken me YEARS to get the knack of how to grow Clematis, but thanks to Arlene's excellent advice and coaching I can finally grow a decent Clematis. Mulch mulch mulch and feed feed feed...and EPSOM SALTS. (Mine don't even come close to being as nice or as big as hers, but I'm determined to get them to be !)
Here is MLJensen with first blooms of the season.
JD - it's the mulch that's keeping the clem roots cool. Then they can take the sun without a problem. You did the work but you give me the credit! Your MLJ is superb.
I am not trying to spend other peoples' money but...if people want lush clematis then give them more than a little handful of manure and the same amount of mulch, please. In the past I'd give each one half a bag (20 pounds) of manure, a handful of 5-10-5 (because it's what I used 20 years ago), Epsom Salt and a concrete chunk (because our soil can be acidic). Then I'd add a lot of mulch and a piece of bark on top to help even more to keep the roots cool. As I got older and lugging those bags became a chore I did change manure brands (yes, I know how stupid that sounds) to Espoma. It is sold in smaller bags, isn't wet or heavy, all organic and doesn't stink.
I am farther south than you, and it gets quite hot here. Pink Champagne is in full sun and does great. HF Young is in sun until late afternoon and seems happy. Daniel Deronda gets full sun but would probably be happier with afternoon shade. Henryii gets only morning sun. Niobe is also finicky here, too much sun in one spot and too much shade in the other. I need to find a better location for it.
Some others that are doing well in full sun are Huldine, Killian Donahue, and Jackmanii.
Clematis have to be the most exasperating plants to get "right"...but worth the headache and frustration once you succeed.