Clematis ligusticifolia
Many years ago I brought a cutting of a clematis back from the
Okanagan Valley in the interior of British Columbia - sagebrush
country. I was wanting C. columbiana, a short vine with large blue
flowers, and the friend who took me to the site told me that is what
I was getting. It rooted, I planted it, and hovered over it lovingly
for a few years. It seemed not to be growing at all, just sitting
there. Then it got going, and oboy, did it ever! Up and over all
nearby shrubs and trees, along the wires. And then it flowered and
seeded, and I had the wretched vines growing all over. We pulled the
main one out with a chain attached to a truck. It pulled down a
wire, which fortunately was the phoneline, and not an electric one.
I still have to root out seedlings, about ten years after the
original plant was removed.
So - if you have extremely dry conditions, then C. ligusticifolia
would be a good choice. If you live in a more benign climate, don't
plant it.
Diane Whitehead
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
zone 8, Sunset zone 5, cool mediterranean climate
