From American Meadows (sister company of High Country Gardens), spring 2018
Clematis viticella 'Venosa Violacae'
From Bluestone Perennials fall 2019
Clematis 'Mrs George Jackman'
From Sooner Plant Farm spring 2021
Clematis 'Sweet Summer Love'
From Park Seed spring 2021
Clematis viticella 'Alba Luxurians'
From Brushwood Nursery in spring 2023
Bush clematis Sapphire Indigo
From Whiteflower Farm spring 2023
Photos Jackmanii
Photos Venosa Violacae
Photos Sweet Summer Love
Photos Sapphire Indigo
Expectations:
Clematis are heavy feeders and heavy drinkers!
I had super success with Jackmanii "Superba' in CT and knew that clematis could grow here in our alkaline soil, if watered and fertilized enough. It can get to look like this:
I saw a Jackmanii clematis growing on a wall at 8,000 feet during the "Behind Adobe Walls" garden tour in July 2018. It was obviously trimmed to be smaller, but the color, even at this altitude was rich.
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| July 17, 2018 |
The white variety of Jackmanii clematis, 'Mrs. George Jackman' is similar but with clear white blooms. (Jackmanii clematis are group 3 and can be pruned to the ground.)
Venosa violacae is a group 3 viticella clematis, similar to my Alba Luxurians in the past, so after this gets going in a season or two, prune every year down to the bottom, to 2 or 3 fat buds.
Clematis 'Alba Luxurians' is a viticella clematis and it was great in my CT garden.
Clematis 'Sweet Summer Love' is related to the giant sweet autumn clematis I had in CT, but not as rampant. It's still a big flowery thing and intensely sweet smelling (vanilla + almond), and the cranberry - purple -violet mix of colors is gorgeous.
It flowers mid summer, earlier than the white fall blooming sweet autumn clematis and it blooms longer. Cut this down each winter to a couple buds.
(Note: Sweet Summer Love is reported by gardeners to be quite variable. Some say identical plants in the same place produced blooms on some plants but none on others. Some say it did great for two years and then died. Others say it grew robustly.)
Pruning advice from Margaret Roach
Growing clematis from Impatient Gardener
Experiences:
I have a lot of clematis in my garden. Each one:
Jackmanii --
I planted the purple 'Jackmanii' in spring 2018 along the fence near the garage.
By June of 2019 it began blooming -- sparse and the vine was open and leggy, but it was still immature. I have to remember it took 3 years for my clematis in CT to do much and they were big plants to start with.
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| Purple Jackmanii June 10, 2021 & white Mrs. George Jackson August 4, 2021 |
In 2021 I added a white clematis (Mrs. George Jackman) alongside the purple Jackmanii to let them intertwine together on the trellis and fence.
The purple is a little dark for that corner and doesn't show against the brown coyote fence.
The purple flowered Jackmanii bloomed in May and June, but continued to be sparsely flowered in 2021.
In 2021, the newly planted white one, Mrs. George Jackman, looked great and re-bloomed in August.
In 2023 I decided to move both the purple and the white to a small tower under the Peggy Martin rose. Transplant set them both back. If they grow and do moderately well, I'll need to keep them pruned.
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| Newly transplanted June 9, 2023 |
Alba Luxurians --
In place of the Jackman clematis I put in Alba Luxurians. The white flowers will show up better against the fence.
Venosa Violacae --
I had planted this in fall 2019 to replace the weedy golden bells tangutica that was mismarked.
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| June 24, 2023 |
Then it suddenly wilted and crisped at Memorial Day. A second shoot with healthy looking leaves emerged from the base, but it never grew beyond a few small leaves on a tiny sprig. A no-show for anything in 2020.
In 2021 and 2022 it had only a thin, spindly shoot. It bloomed with a few flowers, but is not as vividly deep purple with white that I was hoping for.
In 2023 it was still nothing to look at, just a thin long shoot with a few flowers. I do fertilize and keep it irrigated and watered.
At 4 years, though, it is spindly and small.
Sweet Summer Love --
Sweet Summer loved was originally planted in 2021 in the brown urn by the gate, where I could smell it and see it close up.
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| July 1, 2023 |
In late April cold winds snapped the main leafy stem off, but it did seem to recover.
Then I set it back in fall 2021 by transplanting it to the new garden where the Spanish broom had been, to climb the slinky attached to a shepherd's crook.
This set up might be too flimsy?
In 2023 it bloomed pretty well, but flowering was a little hard to see. The flowers are small, so it needs a mass of them to have an impact. I did not notice any fragrance.
Sapphire Indigo Bush Clematis --
This is in a pot, to spill over the sides. I had it tucked in among the red salvias at the sundial in 2023, but later moved the pot to the corner of the patio where it will hold the clematis and a red gomphrena. The blue flowers are intense.
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| July 14, 2023 |