Late colour from Viticella Clematis
21/11/2007 By careful choice you can have clematis blooming from early summer into November.The large flowered Clematis have an inherent susceptibility to clematis wilt,and fail in our light soil, but the later, medium flowered Viticella group does not. They are tough, generous of growth and flower abundantly over many weeks.
The first to flower in my garden is C. vit. 'Margot Koster'. She grows bigger, and flowers earlier each year, continuing into early autumn, with an abundance of flowers.This year saw far more mildew than ever before, and I had to cut 'Margot' down to 4ft. in August for the first time.She made good growth and has a few blooms now [21st. Nov.] with lots of big buds, which are unlikely to open.
The extremes of wet and dry this year are probably to blame for the mildew, as Clematis need consistent irrigation. Being busy with 'the wedding' I neglected my normal routine of care. This involves watering in a scoop of clematis food every 2-3 weeks, and making sure that each plant has enough water. We do have some seep hose along the base of the walls, but this needs turning on and off as necessary! Otherwise I have to lug the hose around and stand over each plant that needs it. Copious amounts of compost, and bone meal is dug in to huge planting holes when first planted, and a 6 inch deep layer of cow muck heaped around each plant [but 4in. clear of the stems] as a moisture retaining mulch, each spring. This may seem over the top to some but to produce their generous growth they do need food and water- as do we all! Bolam soil is not ideal, so suitable nurture has to be given, and this is what gardening is about. I love clematis for their vigour, hardiness and sheer flower power. They provide a very long season of interest, and are cut down to the ground in winter. There are about 100 clematis in the garden, and the majority are Viticellas.
Several still have a few flowers but the latest to come into bloom, and have the most now are C.v.'Blue Belle', and C.v.'Polish Spirit', both dark blue/ purple. The latter teaming up very well with the late, small Aster 'Violet Queen' at it's feet. What plantsman Bob Brown calls 'Violent Queen' for her intense colour!
I recommend all three as excellent, garden worthy plants.
Good books on the subject are
'Trouble Free Clematis The Viticellas' by John Howells
Pub. Garden Art Press
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Clematis
by Mary Toomey and Everett Leeds
Pub. Timber Press in association with the British Clematis Society
