Can you help me determine what kind of clematis this is?

Hi! I live in Chicago, IL. My husband and I moved into our home last March and I was pleasantly surprised to find that we had a clematis off the back deck. I would like to prune it to train it onto a trellis (or 2 or 3) because as you will see from the picture, it became unruly last year. When we moved into the house in March 06, the vines from the previous year was there, we did nothing with them unsure of what type it was. The new growth entwined itself on the old growth but the new growth came from the ground. It did not flower last year (only 2 small pinkish flowers). My husband wants me to cut it down because I was outside everyday last summer making sure that during the night it had not grown into the patio furniture.

Your help and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Wendy

I found a picture of one of the flowers that it did have on it last year.

Okay, I wish I knew, but I can see why you want to prune :) - Jeanne or lily_love will be able to tell you when they see this. Good luck tho - I'm sure you'll be able to get it in line!

Looks like a Montana variety to me. Have you checked at Clematis on the Web? They have the most up-to-date information & pictures, plus the largest library on Clematis.

Here is another view.

And another view

And one more view. A bit more information the pictures were taken in August, however, the picture of the flower was taken in October. I did read some information on Clematis on the Web (thank you for the reference) and I believe it is a Group 3. The site said I needed to cut back in February. I checked it at ground level today and there is currently no growth that I can see. Would it be safe to cut it back this week? We are going to have nice weather and I will do it this week. I don't want to kill it just get it under control. I also think that I am going to have to try and split it up because the vines from last year at the base are approximately 1 - 1-1/2 inches in diameter perhaps more in the thicker parts.

I really do appreciate your help.

It looks like a Montana.

If in doubt, don't prune!

Your Montana..reminds me of "Apricot Star"..Montana's are pruning group 1..
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=2924

I'ved pruned type 1 ......I know, bad bad bad :( you can prune them to shape, but you're not supposed to cut into the real woody stems. That said, listen to JeanneTX - she has had more experience than I have and her clems are beauties!

I only have 2 Montana's but they are located where they can go wild!!..LOL...People do prune them to keep in bounds and shape...she should control it how she wants...I think when people plant them..they have no idea how huge and long they can grow!!...then they end up with what she is dealing with...honey prune away or dig up and relocate to somewhere in your gardens where it can do it's thang!!...Jeanne

I concur. Montana var. Ruben is your clematis. LOL, Jeanne, you and Shirley1md are definately Clematis Queens. Congrats. Thanks for sharing your knowledge as well as your beautiful pics. DG's is the best website. Keep 'em comin'
I've purchased two 'babies' Montana var. Ruben Clem. One of the two is slow to put on leafy growth. Is it typical? The other is showing some leaves. Love these beaties, and found myself wanting more.

I have Montana "Spooneri" that is 3 years old and Montana "Mayleen" which I planted last fall..The "Spooneri" is growing well and just started tossing out new vines from the soil...From what I am seeing... the Montana's while more vigorous still need a few years to get really going,,My "Mayleen" had multiple vines in the pot it came in and is just now starting to shoot up the post!! "Spooneri" just started putting out leaves a couple weeks ago while "Mayleen" didn't even appear to have lost it's leaves during winter!!...Here is my "Spooneri" It's the white among My Clematis "Venosa Violacea"..this pic if from last year..will share pics when it's all bloomed out for this year....Jeanne

Thank you for your responses. It sounds as though I should not prune, however, in order to get it under control I am going to prune, but not cut into the woody vines at the bottom, I will cut above that. I will post pictures of what it turns out to look like later in the summer. I am also going to try to get some cuttings to put one in front of my house and give to a friend (who just loves the way it looked last year).

Again, thank you, thank you!

Wendy

Hello...looks like some kind of Montana variety to me..it flowers on it's previous years wood so if you cut it, it most likely won't flower for u..Did you say it was small pink flowers? Could be Montana Mayleen if scented, or there are a few other varieties...Did it bloom in the spring?

Looks like Rubens to me too although some of the others like Broughton Star look similar. Rubens is more common. Definitely it's a pruning type I but I believe that even if you give it a pretty hard pruning it will come back. It probably won't flower the following year if you do that. I planted some across my porch and to keep it in line I'm going to have to give it severe haircuts sometimes. It will get way too big for the place I have it in if I don't. However I haven't had to do it yet so only time will tell.

It's taken me 5 years to get the montana across this 16 foot spread so yes, it can be slow to establish.

doss, what did you put on your porch columns and overhang for the clematis to climb on? That's exactly what I want to do with our porch and I was wondering what the best support system would be. Thanks!

I put big "J" hooks into the beam and then I put those heavy duty green plastic 8 foot stakes onto them. I don't know how to explain them better than that. The clematis grows on the stakes. If you need me to I can photo the stakes but you can find them at any garden center. The end you see that is perpendicular is just hanging. I have a sort of tripod structure on the end that the vine climbs up but they don't sell them any more. I'm sure that you can find something simple that the vine can climb up to the rafters on. It makes a wonderful effect. I was actually surprised that they grew and flowered under the eaves in so much shade.

That's really cool. I like that idea.

thanks doss. that helps a lot.

Doss - that is super pretty, and you are very patient - 5 Years!

Oh, yes I'm a very patient gardener. I have to be because I like rare and unusually plants and buy them mail order.

You should see the evergreen climbing hydrangea against my fence. It only grows one foot a year. I can't wait until it's anywhere near the top of the fence. Well, they are the large leaved shrubs against the fence in the photo. The flowers are beautiful but the plants are just beginning to bloom. It's not a very hardy clematis and can't be grown below zone 9. It is interplanted with clematis Etiole Rose but I wouldn't do that again because Etoile Rose mildews.

I planted Broughton Star clematis on the eaves on the other side of the house and it's grown much quicker - although perhaps because it was a larger plant that I bought from Joy Creek Nursery. Broughton Star is similar but has bigger flowers and is supposed to be one of the smaller Montanas.

This message was edited Apr 26, 2007 6:07 PM

where is the climbing hydrangea? They are slow guys - I have a variegated climbing hydrangea (really pretty leaves - edged in spring-green) it is only about 2' high so it's going to be a while before it reaches the top of the trellis.

Your yard looks beautiful, btw did you build that wall?

The climbing hydrangeas are the big leaved shrubs against the fence. They've been there for four years. So when I say slow, I means SLOW.

The wall was built by someone who knew what he was doing, thank goodness. As it was a concrete block wall before it was quite an improvement even though the concrete block wall was liberally covered in ficus.

I didn't know that they had variegated climbing hydrangeas. Sounds beautiful!

Here's a picture of the hydrangea, It's on the north side of the house in the shade - where we keep our recycling and garbage. Today I think I'll try to find a clematis to go up the other side, as this climbing hydrangea will take YEARS to get to the top of this trellis. The trellis is about 10'., since we go through it often, I don't want to get pricked by rose thorns, plus it only gets morning sun until about 10 a.m.

sorry if that gave anyone a kink in their neck, didn't mean to post it sideways. I'll take another pic later, after I get another vine in the ground with this little guy.... I think I may plant both on the same side... the other side is really close to the house and our electrical "stuff" is there, (we have all underground wires here) makes me nervous to dig... maybe morning glory seeds would be better on the other side ? Please let me know your thoughts/ideas - thanks so much!

It's a beautiful hydrangea. Clematis Etoile Violette would be beautiful with it and can tolerate the shade.

ooooh, I like saying the name of that one as much as looking at it - very pretty. I really would like a clem there - after I posted last I realized I have many vine "starts" in my house I could/should use - bleeding heart vine, corkscrew vine, and black eyes susan vines (blushing susie and white-eyed) but I could always find somewhere else for those -right? It's almost warm enough here to put those out, but not quite... and a clem I wouldn't have to replant every year.

Oh boy - what to do.....

Here is a picture of the bleeding heart vine, it's so pretty. I'm a bit scared to put it outside - I have 3, this one is flowering like mad, so I may just keep it for a houseplant, and put it in a nicer pot. Perhaps I could sacrifice the other two - what clem would look good wih this? blue or a red to pick up the red in this?

That is so neat, how hardy is it?

Just zone 10-11 I believe... not hardy here. I got two smaller plants on ebay for around $3... so I'm ok treating those as annuals. This one was from Logee's and has bloomed like crazy sinze I received it - you can grow them as climbers, or in hanging pots. I really love it, the flowers are super pretty.

That is spectacular all right. Pretty cool. The President or other fairly intense purple would be pretty too. The reds might just be a little too off.

yeah, yeah you're right - this is a true red, so difficult to match, I'll stick with the ol' red white and BLUE to go with it.