Clematis beginner needs advice

Not likely Guru! - weeks before means the ground is still frozen. LOL!
We have just had our second dump of snow in 2 weeks. And twice the normal snowfall for the winter! We are sure getting sick of the white stuff here - normally I would have little things starting to bloom by now!

In any case I dont usually have more than a couple to deal with ( in addition to all the other perennials I buy and have to find room for! )
And the decisions about where to plant are not usually made until the plants are in my hand in the garden! Did I tell you I am a 'seat of my pants' style gardener?

And just because there are so few pictures on this thread here is one of the new ones I planted last summer - Rubra marginata



This message was edited Mar 31, 2009 6:49 AM

good point re the frozen ground fancy van. you and dawn have to keep reminding us!!!!!!!!!
i love rubromarginata..it becomes quite vigorous.....very reliable. never had a bit of trouble with it in my garden. i am going to layer some new ones this summer.

I just planted that Rubro marginata last summer - cant remember but I think I bought it in June. It was about 3 feet high and I could not bear to cut it down! Sure glad I didnt because it was loaded with bloom from top to bottom within a month of planting and stayed that way until into October!

rubro is a plant that you just can't mess up.
i do not know why it is not in wider distribution. beats the heck out of terniflora for color and sparkle and blooms earlier and on and on and on.
don't know why i haven't layered some a few years ago....they are great filler in many many places in the garden and mix well with roses even if you are not a "clem" person.
with ville de lyon.....

this is what happens to aperon who spent 12 hours in an office...so eager for spring they get all cranked up and happy about 08 garden photos....

fancyvan I wish I had found that clematis here last year - Rubra marginata - I would have certainly planted that one going up my pergola....yours looks so pretty!!!

Guru - I also like yours mixed with Ville de Lyon....nice!

you can still put in a rubro. it is great filler between clems.
always room for an other clem in a display..and it is such great filer with the sparkly little blooms (bigger each year however..mine are 4 times the size of 5 years ago) ,stems are half inch in thickness...an amazing plant

why oh why is rubro not in wider distribution???

Ha I wish I could still plant it up my pergola but I have 2 clems already on each leg....so I know it won't fit.

I have John Huxtable and Etoile Violette on one leg and then I have Polish Spirit and Ville de lyon on the other leg......As for the rest of my yard I am no longer sure if I can even put anymore clems in it......sigh......

it will come to you where to put them....when the clem arrives the space appears.....

Guru et al: Just for the heck of it what would you do with this. Have not got a pic from last year after I planted the Clematis but the Rubra M. is on the right, Huldine in the middle and Constance on the left.What would you mix with each one so there are 2 growing up each post?. Now I am thinking Ville de Lyon would be lovely with the Rubra. since i saw your pic. Have to have 3's on those two posts. But Constance is a group 1 so I need to add another 1 there as I dont want the issue of having a 1 and 3 together and needing to prune only the 3. Of course I could move the Constance which is a real possibility - It was a small seedling somebody gave me last year -hope it survived. Then I could buy 2 more! Oh joy! Rather limited sources here .

Well now you started something - I have never searched for clematis by mail order. I just might be ordering some from Pride of Place.

nice pergola. personally i would put a rubro on each end for balance. this way you will have some faster fill in while you wait for some of the others to get to year 3 an 4. if you want vigorous growth and do not want 2 rubros for balance, do a polish spirit on the other end. it can be very agressive, but you can keep it under control and the way you guys prune up there will help.
the fence should give nice wind protection. personally i would pull the front of the bed out a foot and place a low hedge in the front, maybe little princess spirea or something that will fill in and you eventually keep a couple of feet high, trimmed as nice front.or a low evergreenhedge, but do not know what is hardy up there. is boxwood? that is my fav, but not sure of your zone and that.
hope your caroline lived!
so a low hedge in front, something agressive on each end, and in time the other ones will fill in.

really nice pergola. you can also eventually go behind it and put clems on the fence for a 3d effect......like a back drop. yummy

Interesting ideas. No hedges thanks! And cant grow anything on that fence ( it is very old) until it is replaced - I am starting to grow on fences on the north side of the yard .That bed is on the south and has several new shrubs in it - used to be a partial shade bed - I removed a couple of old shrubs - and is gradually working back to that. I enjoy buying lots of plants so much that I rarely duplicate although I am on a mission right now to simplify some of my other perennial beds. Have Polish Spirit on the back fence - very nice. Wanted to get The President but it is a Group 2 which is not reliable here. MIght give it a go .
Not a clem topic but it has been interesting to see how all the semi shade plants have done in that bed now it has been almost full sun for 2 years!

Instead of a low hedge, perhaps some perennials of your choice to use as fillers. Once everything gets established and grows bigger, your bed is going to look awesome!

Oh dont misunderstand the pergola is new but the bed is old and thickly planted with perennials. Here is a partial view last year. Some parts of it were replanted maybe 3-4 years ago ,some of the plants have been there many years.
This is taken in mid July and you can see Rubramarginata just starting its climb up the one post.

This message was edited Apr 1, 2009 9:16 AM

nice bed.the hostas make a good "hedge" you will love your rubro, it's on the move. this year will be fab!
very pretty planting.

etiole violette and rose etoile make a nice combo. etoile is a vitacella and etolie rose is texensis. good combo to consider.

Thanks - there are hostas and primroses all the way along the front of that bed.

I will check out that combo.

I think the Ville de lyon would look gorgeous with the white clematis or the rubro.....I agree with Guru - maybe plant something a bit more vigorous on the left side as well.....can you move the clem you have there now?

Anyhow I just want to say that whole area is gorgeous - nice garden and nice pergola too! It really adds to the landscape.

I can always move almost anything - except Peonies!And sometimes even those!

Dawn there are pictures of the whole garden in my files.

fancyvan: Beautiful picture of your garden bed! I look forward to seeing your flowers in bloom!