Last summer we purchased a home w/20 acres so I decided to start a collection of clematis. woohoo! :)
Even though I've grown them in the past I see now that I didn't know anything about properly plant and pruning, so I want to make the best of my new varieties.
Last Summer/Fall I purchased the following from Garden Crossings:
'Marie Louise Jensen'
'Mme. Julia Correvon'
'My Angel'
'Pink Climador'
'Pink Flamingo'
'Purpurea Plena Elegans'
'Rosemoor'
'Ruutel '
These arrived very nice when I received them but are planted in the ground not pots and were not pruned at all last year due to the fact that I didn't think I should prune because I thought it might shock them too much due to them being shipped and newly planted?
I have already added composted manure this spring to the ones that I received last year but don't know when to prune, how much and when to stop pruning?
Also with newly potted clematis, should I give them some extra time before pruning?
I have several new ones coming this month from KoiGardens and a few which I purchased from a DG member which are:
JOSEPHINE
ROYALTY
PROTEUS
BARBARA HARRINGTON
PAGODA
PRINCESS DIANA
DUCHESS OF ALBANY
EMPRESS
FRANZISKA MARIA
(these will be very small starts, 3" pots)
John Warren
Gypsy Queen
Nelly Moser
Miss Bateman
(these are nice size starts, 1G pots with nice root system)
http://davesgarden.com/products/market/fullsize.php?iid=7975
Thanks much,
Bonnie
Pruning new clematis
quickly scanning your list most of them can take a pruning in the spring without sacrificing much. however, joesphine, john warren and proteus bloom early on old wood, which means that you want to tidy them up after the bloom vs hard prune. if those 3 plants look healthy as they leave dormancy, leave them alone till after the bloom ,then just tidy up any broken stems or unhealthy looking vines.
most of the others can take a pruning now in your zone.
feed them all now, and again at least once more, before flower buds set.
your best resource is clematisontheweb.com you can quickly look up all your plants and there is much info on the site you will find valuable.
when your new ones arrive and you plant them, always prune back any stems by at least 50% when you plant them. i know this is hard to do, but you will be rewarded with a better plant as it can focus on root development.good luck, and let us know how those ones you planted out last fall look this spring!
What a great selection of clematis!! You will be an addict soon if you aren't already by the looks of it LOL....
Guru gave some great advice.
Guru, yes I do have clematisontheweb bookmarked but want to make sure I don't mess up on my new ones so thought I would ask you all first for some help!
I'll prune the ones that I planted last summer/fall now and add some more composted manure also.
Dawn, I have always love clematis but always didn't have the time to garden and wasn't 'into' gardening like I am now so this is all very exciting to me plus I now have LOTS of room to garden until my hearts content! ( hum... rather my butt is dragging or my bones are aching)
I've got to get to our other house and dig up 5 of my clematis to transplant here which I will need some help ID'ing so I'll be asking for help again.
I only know for sure that 1 is a Sweet Autumn and I believe my double white is 'Duchess of Edinburgh'.
(the double white was transplanted from my Mother's garden and all she kept track of was what type of plant something was)
Thanks again,
Bonnie
Well I am certainly looking forward to some future photo's of your clematis. I am sure you will do an excellent job with the yard. I just got into gardening maybe 5 years ago myself.....I love it. I find it so relaxing and rewarding.
bonnie, sounds like you have the beginnings of a great clem collection. with your space, don't neglect the opportunity to grow some of the species if you are so inclined. i noticed you had "my angel" on your list. it is large and species like. consider paul farges, intricata harry smith, virginiana, occidentalis, recta, recta purpura, rehderiana..these are some of the species i have and really enjoy. they are larger and bloom later, but you can hard prune in the spring which helps keep them under control.
in your area too you can do pamela recta ( i already see evidence mine is alive this spring) and flammula (mine has not emerged yet this spring)....
the species are what all our favorites were spawned from and it is nice if you have the space to pay homage to the past.
keep us posted!
i just hacked off half my duchess of edinburg ( an early, old wood bloomer) by accident a couple of hours ago....left the couch to do some pruning. mistake. it was cold and i was distracted. was behind the row of plants, usually work them from the front. was crunching away (thought it was a vitacella) and realized what i had done. no harm. i was about 3 feet from the ground when i realized it.....so there will be blooms. the plant is probably better off. whatever.
anyway enjoy your clem journey!
Apart from the good advice you have rec'd here I really recommend you go to Clematis On the Web and check out which group all these clems belong to as that will tell you when you can prune them. Just because you planted them last fall does not necessarily mean you need to prune them now. It will also give you additional information about the plant.
Also when planting put them 4-5 inches deeper than the soil level in the pot ( assuming they are big enough !)
I agree Dawn, gardening is very enjoyable and relaxing.
I've been having a heck of a time with my elbow the past 3 weeks which I don't know if it's a pinched nerve or something like tennis elbow but told DH today that if it didn't get better in the next week that I was going to have to make a trip to the Dr. and even if he had to give me a cortisone shot that I just had to do it because I have so much to do and can't do anything without it really hurting bad.
Guru, I will definately check out the other species. Sorry to hear about your DoE!
Fancy, I didn't prune last fall so I assume they needed pruned now for a healthier root system.
I planted 2" or so below the soil level and when I top off with more composted manure that should make the level 5" or so.
I have already went to clematisontheweb and will continue doing so.
I keep a plant journal on my computer on each new plant purchase and for the clem's I am adding info which group they belong to.
At our new place here I am going to have to get ID's on 2 existing clematis so I will know how to care for them. I did manage to take pix last year when they were in full bloom but unfortunately it was with my old camera so I didn't get a very good one.
Here they are.. any ideas?
Bonnie in one of Raymond Evisons books he does say " as a firm rule all newly planted clematis should be pruned down to at least 30 cms the first Feb/Mar after planting. ( he lives in the Channel Islands ) This almost severe action will be rewarded by a more busy compact clematis" So you are right to prune now.
I can never bring myself to do this when I plant a new one but mine are usually planted in the spring which is the only time they are reasonably available here and get pruned in the fall if they are 'C' group. I should probably prune them right after I plant but since they usually already have 2-3 feet of growth I cant bear to do it!
Isn't it true as well when you plant a new clematis even if it is a type 2 you should still prune hard for the first year or two in the spring to get the roots going? I still hard prune my 2's anyhow due to our conditions and I still get great blooms.
could be a niobe. niobe blooms open very dark, darker than these, but do bleach when they linger on the vine.
COTW has a neat feature where you enter color, bloom time and anther color etc then it gives you choices. i always have an unidentified or two. makes it fun when they bloom.
re pruning, i have found that if you take the existing growth down by 50% of what is alive from the prior year in the mid spring after all danger of frost has passed it stimulates new shoots. if you do it too early and then have new growth get whacked, that would be a shame, no?
but every climate is different and every gardener too. the clems will work with you. dawn's zone 4 climate and pruning habit with the type 2's is a good example of what i call "free style" pruning. linda beutler coined the term in one of her books. you have to listen to the plant and use your judgement and go with that. i am sure my d of e will be better off for what happened yesterday.....
a damaged vine is a damaged vine and needs to be pruned to keep disease from entering the vine.
Guru thats why I like to prune my 3's in the fall - no danger of nipping off new shoots! And I take them down to maybe 6 inches above the ground,
you northern ladies have to freestyle! love that!
I find it funny that you call it "freestyle." I never thought of it that way......I guess we northerners do it a bit differently I suppose......
read linda beutler's clem books if you can....she coined it. it really rang a bell for me , as you have to make decisions for your zone and your plants and your gardens based on your experience, and with clems the worst case is you help the plant get stronger and lose a few blooms, but does not sound like you lose any from your canadian techniques!
what i can 't abide is looking at a straggly, brown, weak plant that obviously needs a rest and not pruning it because it is the "wrong time"...a healthy looking plant is a healthy plant....
the plant will tell you when it need a break. i came to this realization after my first couple of years in clems, and after june people come over to see what you are doing and it looks like a brown graveyard.
i started pruning as needed and increased my late summer watering. viola, increased results.
had to remind myself of that as i butchered my oldest d of e yesterday....oh well. mistakes are part of the learning journey of gardening....
Yes we all do learn. It is so much fun though - isn't it? I can't think of anything else I would be doing in the summer months other than spending time with my family and second of course - gardening!
love the mistake curve. i read once, gardening is being willing to rip out what you have done and start over...kind of agree, altho always room for the mistakes and learning in progress...
wouldn't trade any of my mistakes, even my early perennial garden disasters. clems got me into shrubs, shrubs got me into low maintenence borders, which makes more time for clems......on and on.....