I'm going to be receiving Arctic Queen sometime this week from Chalk Hill. I want to start it in a pot and keep it there until it has built up a solid root system. The previous Arctic Queen I had suffered from wilt 2 years in a row, and this year did not come back up again. I hope that by starting it and keeping it in a pot, this one will have a better chance, esp. since I plan to eventually plant it in roughly the same spot as the one that suffered wilt.
So how do you overwinter a clematis that's in a pot?? Should I dig a hole and put the pot directly in the ground? Can I keep it out in the unheated shed once it goes dormant? Do I still need to water it? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Need Advice on Clematis in a Pot.
You can overwinter clematis quite nicely in a pot. You really don't have to do anything with it, depending on the size of the pot. If it's a large pot it will overwinter outside, just be sure to mulch heavily. If it's in a smaller pot, you can put it in your unheated shed. Don't let it dry out. Water it if you have a dry spell. Here's my Jackmanii 3/27/07. This has lived in a pot in zone 5b for years. Last year (winter of '05-'06) it dried out when I was ill during the winter and acted like a new clematis. This year it acted like a second year clematis and did better. I'm expecting it to look great next year, barring any failure to water. Of course, I live in a very dry climate and have to worry about that more than you do.
