Hi -- I love the looks of this plant and am thinking of getting it for my garden. (Have also seen a variety of it at Song Sparrow Farms' website called Midnight Masquerade, which is very expensive but sounds even better.) I'm having a hard time finding a picture of it in a garden context. Can someone with experience with it tell me what its habit is? Does it clump? It looks like it does. If anyone has pictures of rectas or any other herbaceous type clematis growing with perennials, I'd love to see them. There are lots of close-ups of blooms in plant files and elsewhere but not many shots of the whole plant. So it's hard to know how it'll get along with its neighbors.
Thanks very much! Laura
c. recta purpurea and other herbaceous types
I've never tried it myself, but perhaps this is helpful?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/79164/
Thanks Katie_Jo -- I've seen all the plant file pix and many many online, but most are too close up to get a sense of how the plant behaves with others. Was just hoping to get some input from someone with experience with it. But have decided to put the decision to get one or not on hold till spring. Thanks again! Laura
I'm not sure if you'll get this message so late after posting, but C. recta will clump and become an erect 3-4' high shrub in full sun and lean soil (a mature specimen ending up about 2' in diameter). In regular garden soil, somewhat more rich, it will eventually sprawl and wind its way through its neighbors. I will probably have some extra seedlings of C. recta 'Velvet Night' if you can email me directly (I'm a new member, but I'm sure there's a way here?) before spring.
Thanks Mike. I appreciate the offer very much. I got a few large containers of c. recta purpurea at Gethsemane this fall, drastically marked down, so that should do me. We'll see what happens. Right now I'm planning on supporting them before they start to flop, but with all the snow out there that seems a distant distant prospect.
Welcome to Daves Garden! Laura
I have a recta, but not the purpurea. I placed it next to a metal trellis; this worked very well. It has bloomed for 2 years now. Shape is floppy - 4 feet tall and 1 foot wide at the base. I tie some branches to the trellis but not many. It reblooms in the fall - sparse but nice. Nice plant with good foliage and flowers.
I have Mrs. Robert Brydon
http://www.chalkhillclematis.com/nursery_shop/clematis/mrs_robert_brydon.html
It's quite a shrubby spreading plant with quite large leaves. I have it growing in back of bearded iris and it's a lovely ground cover. I have Rooguchi too. It's not as enthusiastic as Mrs. Robert Brydon but the flower is lovely.
Sorry no photos though. It's a good reminder to take one this summer though.
Here's a photo of Durandii. I tie it up to this structure.
Thanks v much for the info, Carolmo and Doss. That Durandii is lovely. Hope to see more of your clem pics this summer...