Hi! I would appreciate any guidance I can get with my one and only Clematis, 'Violet Charm.' Believe me I will have more of them, given a chance!
I have posted a link to plant files for convenience sake in case anyone wants to look it up...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/49928/
Anyhow it says it is a repeat bloomer and to prune immediately after bloom. Well I have not pruned it at all since it is only about 3 ft long at its longest! It did bloom several times with a few flowers each time, throughout the spring, summer and fall. But I wanted it to grow on the arbor I planted it by, and growing has been slow. Should I prune it anyway? Now? After it starts growing again in the spring?
I have heard "first year sleeps, second year creeps, third year leaps." If this is true, then next spring should be its leap year! LOL
Carol
Pruning question!
Carol...It's too late to prune..wait until about Valentine's Day and then also give it some Rose or Tomato Fertilizer and it will rebound next year and be gorgeous..they only get more beautiful with each passing year...Jeanne
Carol, I was going to post the very same question! I want my clematis to cover an entire privacy fence, and a year after planting it's just now getting to the height I wanted....so what happens if we DON'T prune?
I don't know, but I want to know too!
Hopefully one of the clematis experts will chime in! They say group 3 (which I believe my sweet autumn clematis is) should be hard pruned. But what if I want it to get big, you know what I mean?
Well...let's wait for a reply!
And I have my Sweet Autumn in the greenhouse, which is probably wrong! I just got it at an RU in Sept. And we just brought it in with all the pots when the cold came. I guess I need ato plant it...
Pruning group 3's ONLY BLOOM on the new vines produced during the growing season so say for instance you didn't prune your SAC..then you'd have a huge green looking bush with a few blooms at the top..you want blooms all over..that is why you hard prune...I hard Prune all my group 2's the first year after they are in my gardens because this makes the plant focus on growing a larger/stronger more viable rootsystem then after that I DON'T PRUNE except to shape or keep in bounds for they bloom on the vines grown from the previous year..some varieties of Pruning group 2's will bloom on both old and new vines..ergo, you get a huge flush of colour in the Spring and again late summer/early fall..and some like my Clematis "Ramona" spit out blooms off and on intermittently all season between her two period of flushes..
Carol..you are right for clematis do "sleep" the first year(Because the plant is focusing on its rootsystem..that is why hard pruning allows the plant to do this and not waste energy on growing vines)..."creep" the second and "leap" in year three...your Clematis "Violet Charm" is a pruning group 2 and I wouldn't prune it if I was you...Hope this has helped...Jeanne
one advantage of pruning is to encourage more shoots and stems....the clems who have one main shoot, or few shoots from the ground benefit from gentle after-bloom pruning.
when coverage is wanted and there is plenty of room, one tip is to prune about half the stems down to half their height. that way you are encouraging root development and new shoots but keeping the much of the coverage you desire. this is a good technique for the 3's that are hard prune as well as some of the ones in ther pruning groups.
for what it is worth.......also in a climate like my zone 5 with a hard winter, sometimes pruning is forced by damaged stems who should be removed to keep disease from entering the plant or to get rid of unslightly messes that winter is sure to leave.
again, for what it is worth......
Thank you all for the answers! I have another question about the SAC. Do I need to plant it outside now or it is too late? we are have freezing nights. I accidentally brought it in with my other plants in pots that I got at an RU and at the time I did not know what was what. Now that I know which one is the SAC I am wondering whether to put it out or not and what will happen if it does not go dormant this year. Just in case it makes a difference it is about 1 ft long
This message was edited Dec 5, 2008 2:13 AM
Wow, thank you so much guys for the very helpful tips! I was as lost as my friend yardqueen! : )
And...I also have one more question on the SAC. When is the right time to prune? Or.. when you are in a no frost zone (I'm zone 10) it doesn't really matter (in which case I would follow your advice and prune right away)?
Thanks again!
Roberta
Yardqueen & Roberta...yalls zones are very similar to mine..I am in zone 8B..Roberta..You would want to prune at the same time you prune your Roses..that is also the time to fertilize and if I am not mistaken ( I use to live in California)..your Pruning time is in mid January?Same as your roses?...
YardQueen..I would go ahead and dig a hole in your garden..drop the pot in it and bring the soil up around the pot and mulch well and then water well and leave alone..then come next Feb I would pull the pot up and plant in its permanent home..If you are too scared if might die..then just keep inside and plant out while dormant next Feb..I like planting my potted baby Clems that way for they are in a confined spot and their roots grow beautifully over the winter...and then pot with the soil around insulates them...some people don't realize that but plants DO continue growing their roots during winter...
Jeanne, thanks once more!
Jeanne,
I am leaning toward putting it in the ground in its pot as you suggest, but I am still not clear on whether a perennial vine like clematis would not bloom properly next year if I did keep it in the greenhouse and not allow it to go dormant. In other words I know that some perennials HAVE to go dormant or they do not do well the next year, and I don't know if SAC is one of those... If it won't hurt it not to have dormancy, I would rather keep it growing. Also, I read once that we prund our roses in December, but that does not really make sense to me since someone in 10b would do it in Jan. Do you do yours in Feb?
And, Hi Roberta!
I prune my Roses around Valentine's Day every year..I DO believe clematis enjoy their dormant periods..its only benefical for the plant to go dormant and STOP growing leaves so it can focus on growing stronger roots during the winter..altho,if it's a baby..keeping it in the green house shouldn't hurt it for this winter..I just don't know how juvenile a rootsystem your clematis has..I know we get alot of rains during the winter where I am in Texas and it only benefits my clematis...Jeanne
This is from a cutting I received at an RU...
I went ahead and pruned my clems...didn't have the heart to pull the leaves, and now they're staring at me and wilting in place!
Oh well, I'll tell them it's for their own good! : )
They will love you for it and be bigger and better with each passing year...