Fall Planting

I need some expert advice about planting clematis in the late summer, early fall.

I received these four clematis in 4 inch pots and summered them in gallon pots:

Geurnsey Cream
Ville de Leone
Jackmanni
Killian Donahue

I did not let them bloom and kept them trimmed to about three feet high all summer. They are looking very nice. I live in Parkersburg WV and we are zone 6. I am wondering when I should move these four to their permanent home.

I also have on order 6 Clematis from Chalk Hill. They are:

Niobe
Victor Hugo
Dr. Ruppel
Poulvo (syn. Vino)
Warsawska Nike
Lady Bird Johnson

I assume these 6 will be big enough to plant in their permanent home when I receive them. I have never ordered from Chalk Hill and have never heard anyone comment on the size of clematis that they ship.

I have never grown Clematis before and rely heavily on you all here for guidance.
Thanks in advance for your help
Tim

chalk hill will ship when the time is right to plant in your zone. so why not wait and plant all at the same time?
you can plan now where you are putting them, and purchase the soil amendments you will probably use. sterile compost, bone meal and similar to mix with the soil. you can even dig your holes now, check the drainage of them and ammend the soil you take from the holes to be ready to plant.

when planting time comes, fill each hole with water and place the plant in the hole (we call it clematis swimming pool ).
as the hole drains, refill it two or three times so that the clem can soak up a lot of moisture. then begin back filling the hole holding the clematis at the level you want it. the level you want it is to have the new soil line about 2 inches higher on the plant stem(s) than the current soil line. this is the same for the chalk hill plants that will come or the ones you have been growing all summer in the gallon pots.
as you back fill and securely position the plant at this level, tap the soil in moderately firmly, but not hard enough to exert unnecessary pressure on the roots.
after filing the hole completely with your ammeded soil mixture, water the area and hole again thouroughly. for the remainder of this years growing season you will need to water very deeply 2 or 3 times a week for best start to the plant.
you should also re prune a few inches off the top of all the clems you plant as they go into their permanent spot.
as winter dormancy comes on, mulch up the area around the clems with compost, leaves and the like to secure the plant and
provide some protection. this can be removed in the spring when you do the first fertilizer.
hope this is helpful, good luck in your clematis journey!

Thanks, Niobe, for the detailed planting instructions. I too have ordered 3 clematis that should arrive sometime next week. I feel much better about setting them in their new permanent home with your guidelines.

Mary K.

She is good isn't she? We love you Niobe!

thanks dawn. love it when people are interested in clem and don't think i am psycho on it. remember, "what happens on daves garden, stays in daves garden"!!!

Thanks for the info I will start prepping the ground for fall planting. Sorry it took me time to answer back. I truly thank you niobe I always try to take note of your knowledge on clems.

tim

that is very kind of you to say that tim. clems have taken me on a garden journey that i never anticipated, and being able to converse with people that are interested in clems is a pleasure. i have local friends who like to see the clems, but no one that is truly interested in them.
i have a big prep to do for fall,,about 25 cultivars arriving, so i will be following the same prep schedule as i posted starting labor day weekend. getting the holes dug and the soil mixed and ready in advance makes it much more fun to plant them!

Niobe, thanks for explaining the proper way to plant a clematis. I knew about planting it a little deeper but nobody told me about the 'swimming pool' . I will use your method next time I plant a clematis.

Thanks again.

i think you will find it work well. if the clematis happens to be in a pot, root bound and is not slipping out of the pot easily, then immerse the whole pot in a large bucket of water for up to 2 hour or until no oxygen bubbles are coming up from the bottom. then carefully remove it from the pot, or cut the pot away if needed.then do "swimming pool", refilling the pool a couple of times, then proceed to backfilling the hole. in the swimming pool phase if soil is slipping away from the root mass, don't panic, this is really what you want. carefully arrange the roots in a downward direction form the crown and hold it in position so the back fill takes the soil level up about 2 inches from where the previous soil line in the pot was.
good luck.