The Clematis Garden in Early AutumnWhat a joy September has been here in Norfolk compared to the blistering heat of July and the rain in August. The rain however was a blessing for the garden, which had suffered so much during July, leaving everything including the clematis parched and scorched.
Norfolk, and much of East Anglia, is prone to dry summers but this year was exceptionally hot and dry leaving us – who sell clematis (which like moisture) – concerned for the future. These thoughts led me to writing this!We have all heard much in ‘the media’ about global warming, the need to conserve water and generally changing our gardens to cope with the challenges which lie ahead. This year with global warming in mind, we have used the clematis in our garden to experiment to see which ones really do cope in drought conditions and to pass on our findings to you and our customers.
Our garden is ideal for this experiment, our soil is good, but shallow, very light and free draining. We have only one foot (30cms) of soil, beneath which is sand and gravel. The shallow soil is not ideal, but it is compensated by the fact we have excellent drainage – so important for growing clematis. The majority of clematis like plenty of moisture but they also require free draining conditions. Gardening on clay with poor drainage is a topic for another day!Over last winter my father placed a thick mulch of well rotted horse manure around the base of the majority of our clematis. Winter is an ideal time to do this especially once the soil is moist. The manure helps to hold the moisture in the ground and prevents it evaporating too quickly. It also adds a very valuable feed!
Through July when the weather here was at its peak our garden irrigation system was just used twice (each time for only 30 minutes) – the only times it has been used this year! It has been very interesting to see which clematis did well despite this.
We had a good display of early large flowered clematis through late May and June as they were blooming before the drought began. As summer progressed and the drought took hold the first flowers on the Viticellas and late large flowered clems were poor – then came the rain in August – suddenly all the clematis which had looked very miffy in mid-summer have blossomed.We are now having a classic ‘Indian Summer’. The days are glorious, warm and sunny and still a reasonable length, the nights are cool and we have occasional days of vertical rain (no wind with it!) – near perfect gardening conditions. It is a joy to see the autumn blooms on the clematis. For more details of those I particularly enjoy, please read the next section - Which Cultivars Have Flourished in 2006?
To conclude –
The manure has not looked particularly wonderful – but it has done a brilliant job –
It has held the moisture in the ground thus reducing the quantity of water needed -
It has provided valuable feed thus reducing the time needed to do an additional job!If you are not fortunate enough to be able to source farmyard manure (although your local riding school or horse owner may be glad to get rid of some!) try your local Garden Centre. Most garden centres sell bagged manure although this can be quite strong and may be better mixed 50/50 with compost (homemade or potting, or old Gro-bag compost)
So – Mulching with manure (or whatever) comes Highly Recommended.
Which Cultivars Have Flourished in 2006?The clematis in the Tangutica Group always do well in our garden, they like the free draining conditions, hating growing in soggy clay. Golden Tiara®, ‘Bill MacKenzie’ serratifolia, tangutica species and ‘Anita’ have all looked really good although the foliage of ‘Anita’ did sustain some scorch. All apart from serratifolia are still in full bloom in late September. And of course with the majority of this group come the added benefit of good seedheads for autumn and winter interest.
‘Paul Farges’ has been lovely, growing and blooming well. As good as always.
‘Polish Spirit’ in our Viticella Group is looking wonderful in the apricot climbing rose ‘Lady Hillingdon’ just outside the office window. This will bloom on well into October, even early November if we’re lucky. Also in our Viticella Group – ‘Carmencita’, ‘M. Koster’, ‘Blekitny Aniol’, ‘Prince Charles’, ‘Sodertalje’ and ‘Mary Rose’ have been stunning but finished blooming now. ‘Etoile Violette’ whilst miffy earlier, has begun to bloom again.The Heracleifolia Group has also flourished. ‘New Love’ and ‘Cassandra’ have been glorious but have now finished blooming. ‘Wyevale’, tubulosa, ‘Blue Dwarf’ and ‘Praecox’ are all still full in bloom (in late September) and will go on for some time yet. ‘Blue Dwarf’ has been particularly amazing this year, it is packed with flower and masses of buds still to come. We have all really appreciated the perfume from some members of this group over the last few weeks. On warm, sunny days the perfume has been simply gorgeous – I wish we could bottle it!
In our Integrifolia Group –
‘Rooguchi’ has been in flower seemingly most of the summer – indeed since late June. It has been unaffected by the drought and has even been free of mildew this year. The abundance of flowers have looked wonderful, particularly when the sun has been shining, enhancing their glossy satin sheen – a delight – and a good cut flower as well!
‘Hendryetta’ is planted alongside one of our ‘Rooguchi’ and intertwines its nodding deep pink bell shaped flowers with its partner, which makes a lovely display. ‘Alionushka’ always performs well for us despite never getting watered. However, where they are planted to scramble through two ‘Swany’ shrub roses, is shaded by a low wall that helps prevent it from drying out.
x durandii is planted to clamber over a variegated prostrate conifer, its indigo blue flowers are perfectly displayed here where it never gets any water or manure and yet still performed brilliantly this year.
‘Sizaia Ptitsa’ is very similar in flower shape and size to the better known x durandii and I am sad that so few people try growing it. The colour is perhaps not quite so intense, being a subtle violet-purple, but it has performed equally well for us, particularly so this year. Perhaps the name puts gardeners off – please give it a go, I am sure that you would not be disappointed.
It is such a joy to me to see the lovely nodding dusky amethyst blooms of ‘Pamiat Serdtsa’ as it scrambles over other plants in the garden. I first saw this cultivar in our friend Jan Lindmark’s garden in Sweden several years ago and was very taken with it. I have not been disappointed!
‘Lord Herschell’ caught the eye of many visitors to our exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show this year. The tulip shaped flowers are a rich velvety reddy-purple, it is short growing so ideal for scrambling ‘front of border’, and blooms over a long period.
Also short growing are ‘Pastel Blue’ and ‘Pastel Pink’, both are still blooming in late September and looking gorgeous.Moving away from the Integrifolia Group now - ‘Odoriba’ climbs along a pergola outside the windows of our Packing Shed. It came into bloom soon after we arrived back from Chelsea, around early June, and has been in flower until about a week ago. Previous years it has flowered into October. The nodding deep pink blooms of ‘Odoriba’ are very similar in shape and colour to the well-known texensis ‘Etoile Rose’. However, in my opinion ‘Odoriba’ is by far the better garden plant. It does not mildew anywhere near as badly as ‘Etoile Rose’, and blooms for much longer. It also makes a good cut flower – excellent value for money.
On the end of the pergola, in front of our dining room window grows the specie clematis alternata. Given to us some years ago by our friend Hiroshi Takeuchi in Japan, alternata produces nodding urn shaped flowers the colour and size of large ripe raspberries. This delightful little clematis began blooming in June this year and has had flowers all summer. It is still in bloom as we near the end of September and with masses of buds to come, I expect it still to be flowering when the first frosts arrive. The foliage of alternata is also very attractive, and usually turns a good colour in autumn - the only clematis to do this.
Autumn in the clematis garden is further enhanced by three very late flowering cultivars – rehderiana a vigorous grower with hundreds of clusters of small cream nodding urn shaped flowers, has a delicate cowslip like perfume. This makes a lovely cut flower so that the perfume can even be enjoyed indoors!
terniflora (previously maximowicziana) is in full bud – literally thousands – it will shortly burst into bloom with its clouds of small white starry flowers filling the garden with a gorgeous vanilla / almond perfume. A joy to look forward to through October.
I am also looking forward to the first flowers opening on the evergreen clematis kweichowensis that grows in a sheltered well-drained corner of our house. Its deep golden-yellow, nodding bell shaped flowers are dark mahogany-red inside. It is a very unusual evergreen clematis that clings by prominent tendrils, sadly rarely seen.These last three clematis need to be grown in sunny well-drained positions to be at their best.Autumn can be a wonderful time of the year in our gardens, with many clematis still in bloom and some still to come. Despite the gloomy forecast for future Global Warming, I am convinced by our experiment this year, that we can all still grow clematis successfully! Good Luck with your hunt for manure!
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