Re: Clematis paniculata
- Subject: Re: Clematis paniculata
- From: R* S*
- Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 11:10:40 -0700
Tony & Moira Ryan wrote:
> Richard Starkeson wrote:
> >
> > I have a question on this clematis, which I believe is from New Zealand
> > (Moira, I am guessing you would know). I planted two this spring, and
> > they have only grown to about 8 feet.
> > I was hoping they would grow quickly, since they only have five years to
> > do their thing. (The People's Republic of Berkeley doesn't approve of
> vines
> > on street trees, and removes them every five years.)
> a common NZ native. It is all in flower in the local bush
> as I write
>
> They will certainly grow higher than 8ft eventually (my book says
> 10-12m, say 30-40 feet), but a vine I planted many years ago took quite
> a time to reach the top of its tree. My guess is that yours reckon they
> have finished the year's growth and are now happy to wait till next
> year before elongating further. Seedlings take several years to flower,
> as they have to grow through a juvenile stage first, but cutting-raised
> plants flower much quicker If yours are from cuttings, provided the top
> is out in the sunshine you might get flowering at the 8ft level next
> year before they elongate further.
>
> I will hold my thumbs that flowering happens anyway well before your
> vandalistic council destroys them.
Hi, Moira,
Are these evergreen in your part of NZ?
I have them growing through a Metasequoia, which does not leaf out here until
mid-spring. So they should certainly be in the sun, no matter at what level
of the tree come early spring. As to the Council removing them, I planned on
cutting them back to about 3 meters, and laying them on the ground just before
the city workers come to remove them from the tree, hoping that they will
survive the drastic pruning.
