Gardening Basics - Monthly Tips

Monthly Tips

August - Plant of the Month

Clematis - Viticella Hybrids

Legions, hordes, droves of clematis exist. Joy Creek Nursery, a mail order nursery, lists 25 clematis - for cultivars whose names begin with the letter A. So what's so great about these plants that the breeders have run amuck making so many cultivars?

Most clematis are vines that don't get too big - few are likely to eat your house like some other vines that will remain nameless. You could probably have a clematis in bloom in your garden every month of the year. The flowers range from charming bells to buxom daisy-like beauties 6" across. After the flowers are done you often get beguiling seedheads that are little balls of silvery fluff. You can find one in just about any color but orange.

Clematis 'Etoile Violette'

As difficult as it is for me to do with so many luscious clematis out there, I'm going to limit myself to the viticella group. These can reach 20' but if pruned back every year to 18" or so, you can expect them to get to about 12'-15'. These clematis bloom in the summer, and both flat-faced and bell-shaped cultivars exist. The flowers aren't as big as some of the other summer flowering beauties, but they are floriferous, charming, and easy to grow.

A lot is written about the care and pruning of clematis. The following has generally worked well for me. Dig a hole somewhere with sun or part sun where there will be something to support the vine. Make sure the support is adequate. Think, do you really want to put a vine that will reach 12' in a few years on that cute little 6' metal tutoyer? Probably not. Take the clematis out of the pot and, unlike just about every other plant in the world, bury it deep, so that some of the nodes (where stems or leaves come out) are beneath the ground surface. If your clematis succumbs to the dreaded clematis wilt, it will be able to come back from those buried buds. One of the nice things about the viticellas is that they are less prone to wilt than some others. Backfill with the same dirt. Water and continue to water; clematis aren't horribly thirsty but neither are they drought tolerant. Prune in late winter to a pair of strong buds around 18" above the ground.

Lots of books tell you to send clematis up shrubs or trees. This can be lovely, the flower color can be picked to complement that of the shrub or give your spring blooming shrub or tree a "second" bloom season. Take note before you try this - arborists I know don't approve of sending vines up trees. You do end up with a bunch of vines wound around tree limbs which is a pain to get off, and I suspect may have caused some branch death at my own house. Some clematis, if not thinned, can totally overwhelm their supporting shrub or tree. Lastly, you may have to train the vines to get them to latch on and go where you want them to go.

Interestingly, I grow 2 of the 3 viticella hybrids recommended by Great Plant Picks, C. 'Etoile Violette' (photo) with deep purple violet flowers, and 'Polish Spirit' with reddish purple blooms. Three others that I have seen and particularly liked are 'Betty Corning' pale lilac bells, 'Minuet' white with purple and 'Ernest Markham' with velvety red flowers.

Go to the nursery and look around, among the legions, you will undoubtedly find a clematis that works for you.

At the moment, soaker hoses are my favorite method of watering. A soaker hose is a hose perforated along its length with a zillion tiny holes from which the water weeps. Ideally you take it from its package and lay it in the sun for a bit so it becomes more pliable. Dig a trench, about 4" deep, where you want the hose to go, and lay the hose in the trench. It may not want to go in the trench. Sometimes it has felt like I am fighting a live snake, so as I am laying it in the trench I bind the hose into position with landscape staples (hefty wire bent into a u-shape). Cover it up; being sure that the end where you attach the hose is somewhere easily accessible. Then hook up a hose and turn it on low. To figure out how long you need to water, start it up and dig down and check periodically.

Hand watering can be useful. It forces you to take the time to look at the plants. It's also time-consuming so for most of us, it is not a good choice. If you do hand water, water the soil, not the plants. This means squatting if necessary to get the hose under the leaves.

Last words on watering. Every book and magazine will tell you to water deeply and infrequently. The only way to know if you are doing this is to dig down and check periodically until you get a feel for how long you need to water. Don't water too much or too frequently because plants need oxygen around their roots as well as water. Also, watering way below the root zone is wasted water. If you just planted something from a 4" pot, water to 6" or so and gradually water more deeply as the plant's roots grow. You'll also be told to group plants with similar watering needs. Don't put the bog plant by the rosemary; somebody is going to be unhappy. Every plant, however drought tolerant, should get watered for its first summer or two. Lastly, add mulch, it helps to reduce evaporation wonderfully.