Prune your clematis to make it look tidy and produce a burst of flowers. But first, find out if it blooms on old or this year’s wood.
If it blooms on old wood, prune it sparingly, cutting out only the weak, thin, or straggling branches after the vine flowers or early in February. If it blooms on new wood, prune it to a few feet off the ground early in spring.
Wyman’s Pruning Classes
Donald Wyman, in “Shrubs and Vines for American Gardens,” singles out some of the more popular varieties in both pruning classes.
On old wood:
- Alpina
- Belle of Woking
- Duchess of Edinburgh
- Edouard Des-fosse
- Florida, Lasurstern
- La Lorraine
- Macropetala
- Miss Bateman
- Montana
- Ochroleuca
- Paten
- Sir Garnet Wolseley
On new wood:
- Ascotiensis
- Comtesse de Bouchaud
- Crimson King
- Duchess of Albany
- Elsa Spaeth
- Gypsy Queen
- Jackmani
- Jouiniana
- Lady Caroline Neville
- Lanuginosa
- Lord Neville
- Madame Edouard Andre
- Mme. Van Houtte
- Mrs. Cholmondeley
- Marie Boisselot
- Nelly Moser
- Orientalis
- Otto Froebel,
- Paniculata
- Perle d’Azur
- Prins Hendrik
- Ramona
- Tangutica
- Texensis
- Villa de Lyon
- Viticella
- Vitalba
- Viorna
Training Clematis
Since clematis enjoys nothing more than twisting around themselves, you must, besides pruning, train them. When growth is young and soft, it is easy to keep stems, flowers, and tendrils apart.
Even though you pull them apart roughly, you will not hurt them at this stage. But be warned: growth is speedy in spring, often 3″ inches in 24 hours! You must be vigilant to keep ahead of it.
When I prune the varieties that flower on old wood in February, I cut all old, wiry stems close to one main stem. This is the only way to handle old stems; they wrap themselves around everything and anything so tenaciously it is impossible to pull them apart. New growth, as I said, is easy to train later.
Large-mesh chicken wire, fastened firmly to a fence or wall, is good support. Using it, you can keep vines from growing too tall. Draw all shoots you want to go down and around, and tie them firmly with a soft string.
Clematis From Spring To Fall
If you like, you can have clematis from spring to fall. In my garden, at Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, the Duchess of Edinburgh and Nelly Moser are the first to bloom. Then come Ramona and C, Lawsoniana, and Elsa Spaeth.
These are followed by C. henryi, C. lanuginosa candida, and Prins Hendrik, the noblest of all. Comtesse de Bouchaud, Gypsy Queen, C. jackmani and Huldine come next. Then Mme. Baron Veil-lard and Perle d’Azur. This is only a handful of the better-known varieties.
This sequence will span over two and a half months, generally starting in early May. Perhaps the four best and are the easiest to grow for beginners are the prolific, rich purple C. jackmanii, large, bluish violet C. lawsoniana, and the heavy substance, pure white C. lanuginosa candida and Ramona.
Nelly Moser is another good one for the beginner though it is pink and tends to fade as the flower ages. Almost all varieties, by the way, bear any number of flowers in fall, often till hard frost.
Hollanders are said to grow a hundred thousand clematis plants just for the cut flower trade, shipping them all over Europe. And in England, the clematis rivals the orchid as a corsage flower.
Superb Clematis Cutting
Clematis are, indeed, superb for cutting. Mine keeps fresh in vases for at least a week when I put a flower preservative in the water. The feathery, fruiting heads, like hairy balls, are charming in vases, too, but the foliage is difficult.
I remove it entirely and use broad-leaved evergreens like Pieris or laurel instead.
The late Col. J. E. Spingarn, dean of clematis growers in this country. once said, “I hope to see the day all these United States of ours blaze with clematis.” I, too, hope to see you that day!
For information on how to plant and maintain a clematis vine, see Dorothy Platt’s article on clematis in the September 1957 issue. – Editor
44659 by Dorothy Falcon Platt