RE: clematis questions

Alyce, I have both the clematis you are considering pairing.  Purpurea Plena is a vitacella and gets quite large, it really wants to get 10-15 feet.  Mrs. N should stay a more polite size, 6-8'.  They will bloom at separate times (not sure you realize that).  Color-wise I would not pair them necessarily, but if bloom at separate times it may be fine.  The concern would be the size of your teuter -- can it handle both of these?  

One of my favorite clematis (I collect them too and have a little over 70 now) is Venosa Violcea (sp?).  Purple with white center bars -- quite striking.  Interestingly, the Northwest Clematis Society visited my garden last summer and someone mentioned they are also selling  VV as "Violet Stargazer" now, or some such name.

For those of you who have had trouble with clematis, I would encourage you to try any of the vitacellas.  They are practically bullet proof and will grow even in full shade.  They do get larger in size (although the flowers are smaller but PROFUSE) and they bloom in July rather than May-June.  Unfortunately, most growers don't identify the plants as a vitacella and just tag them a cultivar name.  It would be worth the effort to do a little homework on the internet and acquire the cultivar names of the vitacellas so you can recognize them when you run across them.  The ones I have in my garden that I can vouch for personally (off the top of my head, not a complete list) are:

Venosa Violcea
Purpurea Plena
Polish Spirit (truly outblooms them all)
Royal Velours
Etoile Violette
Blue Angel 

Try 'em!  You'll like 'em!


-----Original Message-----
From: Alyce Elliott [a*@northnet.org]
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 8:14 AM
To: perennials@hort.net
Subject: clematis questions


Hi everyone,

About clematis:  what do you think of using Mrs. N. Thompson and Purpurea
Plena Elegans on the same tuteur?  (I can exchange one or the other if
there's a better suggestion.) The following clematis I already have so
don't want to repeat:
Candide, Niobe, Gypsy, General Sikorski, Guernsey Cream, Mrs. Cholmondely,
Nelly Moser, Polish Spirit, Ramona, Serenata (still in the pot), Ville de
Lyon, Comtesse de Bouchard, C. terniflora, Sunset, Duchess of Edinburgh,
and Etoille Violette.  (Yes, I'm a collector.)
My local nursery has a great selection of clematis this year and I suspect
that what he doesn't have he could pick up the next trip to his supplier,
per my request.  Am I missing any 'to-die-for' clematis?  I was thinking
about The President; does the color mix easily?  What's your favorite
clematis?

Alyce Elliott
northern NY zone 4

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