I received a boatload of clematis per UPS yesterday . . . not much experience with it.
Some I want to pass along to someone else, some I need some time to figure out space for . . .
I think they were packed with root plugs wrapped in wet paper-- the few I eyballed look to be in vary good shape. My questions:
1) Will they be OK to keep in containers for the time being until I get them all situated?
2) Can I expect to have them grow successfully for any period of time in large containers?
3) How crazy do they grow-- can I grow them near non-vines and train them away from the other plants e.g. onto a fence easily, or will they strangle everything?
Thanks!
Some general clematis questions
Can I ask where you got them? I am looking for a cheap place to get a ton of clematis.
I think containers work great with clematis. I have more in pots then in the ground. As for size, here are 2 good websites that I use for reference:
http://clematis.org/clematis_a-z/
and
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/clemalphasearch.cfm
I don't find clematis to be aggresive at all. Alot of people grow clematis up through other plants, like roses, and they look really pretty that way.
Hope that helps!
Donna
Thanks you guys!
Ordered from American Nursery via eBay.
I have to compare what's ordered with what's in the box but so far I think I have an unusually glowing report for the watchdog . . .
I do have a large (8 foot tall) rose bush that may make a perfect trellis!
hoa_rd:
1) Will they be OK to keep in containers for the time being until I get them all situated?
YES! In fact, keep it in a 1 gallon container until the root ball fills the pot and/or when you see the roots coming out of the drainage holes. The best time to plant Clematis vines are in the Fall, when the temperatures are cooler and precipitation is more prevalent.
2) Can I expect to have them grow successfully for any period of time in large containers?
It depends on which variety you are growing and the size/depth of the container. I would only plant the shorter growing vines in a container, 6ft & under.
3) How crazy do they grow-- can I grow them near non-vines and train them away from the other plants e.g. onto a fence easily, or will they strangle everything?
Yes, you can grow them through non-vines such as shrubs, trees, Roses, arbors and trellises. They also grow beautifully on fences & pergolas. Only the Montana and some of the Clematis species are very aggressive. They are predominately used to cover something quickly.
Thanks for the info!
They really don't look so hot today. Lots of dead foliage, as much as 70% of the total foliage is dried out or rotted. I don't know if shipping was too hard on them or maybe they were in really horrible condition before. In any event I'll see what I end up with here, but at his point I'd say you're better off paying $10 for a healthy happy potted plant than the $2-3 I paid to have them shipped. Most of the roots look sturdy-- can they regenerate growth if all that's left is a root ball?
Sometimes after I plant a clematis, all the foliage dies and I think I killed it, then a week later new sprouts start coming up! So you never know.
Try watering with a drop of Superthrive and a tsp. of peroxide in a gallon of water.and be sure to keep the roots moist. Not waterlogged.
Jeanette
Hi hoa_rd!
I have a Polish Spirit clemetis growing up some chain link fencing thats hung on the garage. It grows like crazy and it's already in and past the gutters. I did alot of tilling too close to it's roots and noticed some die-off on a few vines but loe and behold a few weeks later another shoot came up from the roots and is now half way up the garage! I find it easier to grow them seperately rather than ON another plant because it makes it easier to cut them back when the time comes.
Another clemetis Jackmanjii (?) is growing on some wood lattice also attached to the garage. With the lattice you have to manually weave the vines because it's too wide for the clemetis to grasp ahold of. After awhile it grows on itself.
I don't know how the clemetis would do in a permanent container in Chicago since all of mine are in-ground.
Just remember to put the clemetis with it's feet in the shade and it's head in the sun.
Here's a pic of Polish Spirit
This is Jackmanjii on the lattice
I agree with Shirley. I keep them in pots for at least the first year. Strong roots and TLC make for a better plant. I have one, still on the porch, way overdue for planting out - one of these days it will go out.
Only plant Clematis on roses if they both have the same pruning requirements.
I have three on a magnolia and they've been there for years and seem happy together.
Jnette is right: if you're forced to cut off the foliage more will grow back.
They grow "crazy" depending on the variety and the soil, more the soil. We have two Jackmanii's on one tree that bloom well but aren't nearly as robust as those planted at the edge of the compost piles - they get all the good juices from the compost.
I'd go with Shirley on planting only the shorter ones in containers as a permanent planting. You'll only get yourself crazy if it starts growing to 12' and you can't accommodate it in the container.
I've planted about 75 clematis and about half are still with me. They hated the northwest side of the house. I'd never put one on or near a holly - it hurts too much to handle the pruning.
Let us know which ones you bought!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arlene
Pink Champagne on fence with Montana Grandiflora next to it.
Tateshina at end of same fence, opposite end from Pink Champagne.
Sorry for the fuzzy Pink Champagne. I'm still fairly new with this digital.
Montana Grandiflora
Thanks, everyone!
I'll post a list and some piucs when I get a chance.
Thanks for the reassurance!
ho'ard
toni - my first clematis were the J.M. as well and I planted mine in the same place. That little bitty piece of dirt on each corner of the garage. Except I put 2x2 pieces of wood up each side then mounted the lattice on that. Allows air behind the plants and and the only training I have to do is to stuff a wild one back in now and then. They never cease to amaze me how they zoom from the 6" cut in April to 8ft + by mid Jun. Mine are just starting to bloom
I wish I had your luck. Mine always take a year to take off. Any tips?
This message was edited Jun 21, 2005 2:38 PM
8ft - amazing to us also. I'll send along a photo of my husband's hand made copper trellis and it went over the top last weekend. The trellis is 9'9" and the plant had been cut back to 24" in April.
The best tip I have, that we use, is manure. Half a bag per plant every spring. Just put it (THE DEODERIZED KIND) on the ground all around it. They do take awhile to get adjusted. Patience!
Pirl girl, your Clematis is humongous!! Do you have a picture of your husbands trellis without the plant on it???
Jeanette
In retrospect I think these were probably in bad shape before shipping, but I think the packing method didn't help.
At this point though I think there's only one that's truly dead-- the Nelly Moser is sending new growth from what looks like a dead vine, and one of the others that was completely dead is sending new growth from the roots . . .
Still working on some names and images. Based on the watchdog many may turn out to be mislableled so I may be all over the "identification" threads soon . . .
Sorry Jnette I don't have a photo without the clematis on it. I'll try to remember to take a photo next year, after pruning it back. Sorry.
The two Jackmanii on the tree.
Arlene, those are beautiful! What's holding them up?
Sounds "not beautiful" but it's almost invisible: pig fencing wrapped once around the tree.
How cute! I've never heard of pig fencing. But you're so right - its almost invisible.
It was a leftover piece from the garden and DH was about to bring it to the landfill as he had no use for it. I studied the piece and said "Let's try this" and it worked.
And a clematis will NOT bring down a house, a shed, etc. as some other vines are quite capable of doing!
I was at a "real" nursery yesterday (I don't get out much) and saw what $10.99 could buy in a potted clematis . . . and I think I actually did much much better (assuming they survive the winter). I guess you have to like knowing you started something from small, and waiting an extra year for it to look like something.
I've got names and pics on my real computer now, hope to post 'em today.
I just bought my 'Blue Moon' AGAIN. The first one got squeezed out by the 'Blue Moon' hosta which is just as full as ever, This fall it MUST
get chunked up, put in double pots with weed barrier so it will stay the way I want it. Mind you, I really am not a control freak but this hosta doesn't know when to call it quits. It has to be 3' round now!
This time the new clematis is going in pure aged, deoderized manure with a ton of compost, slug bait and the earwig deterrent around it!
Here's 'Blue Moon'.
Oh, what a gorgeous clematis!! Thanks for sharing the pic!
ho_ard: try your best to keep notes as to current prices and the varieties you like most. By the end of August they'll be clearing out the clematises and getting ready for fall and you should be able to get them at half price and a better chance of survival.
That's how I got my first two, for the price of one. I planted them in early Sept., and they came back really nice in the spring. Generally, I find if perennials are planted outside early in the season, they don't do well that year. But the following year they just take off. I planted a C.Terniflora in May this year. It's grown about 7 feet, but only two vines, so looks pretty sad alongside its bushy neighbours. Next year though, it should be nice and lush.
Your Blue Moon is lovely pirl.
Christine.
Thanks: we were married under a blue moon so it's special. Now to find a great spot for it! I may keep it partially hidden behind the 'Blue Moon' hosta and with the hydrangea to the side so it looks planted. I don't want to rush it but the Garden Tour is Saturday! Panic time!
Garden Tour! How exciting!! Take plenty of pics for us.
It is exciting, Carmen, and nerve racking, too. I asked DH to rip out all the wild violets that took over in the major daylily garden and it looks so bare under the tree. It's either buy more plants or put down more pine needle mulch. I'm thinking the pine needles just because I have them and it's easier and nobody will know the difference.
Everything major is done. Few delphiniums to plant. A statue to find a good spot for and a birdhouse to paint, perhaps rocks to paint. Yikes!
Provided that I live through Saturday would it be "too much" to do a thread on it?
Help me out here, please!
Thanks ceedub! Now 'Blue Moon' has another flower opened and more buds ready to burst: so am I!
The mower broke so Jack just got back from the repair guy: what a doll. He has our mower and my girlfriend's.
I met her (Lynn) when our gardens were on the tour in '98 and encouraged her to create her own gardens. Wow! What a job she did. Ripped out ancient bushes, filled in a swimming pool, made this huge plaza around the higher rear portion of the property and put in a beautiful big gazebo. But right now we need our lawns done!
I'll take photos of both gardens and do separate threads on each. It's a great experience in meeting gardeners and those who love gardens.
A partial view of a little part of the gardens from my neighbor's yard where we were cleaning up vines and weeds yesterday. She's a widow, in her 80's, very allergic to pollen: she never complains about the flowers, thank God.
Oh, how beautiful! No wonder you're on tour. I know you'll be swamped with people. Definitely start a separate threat about it.
Oh thanks Carmen! But under what topic?