Wollerton Old Hall Garden
Created 20 years ago around a Tudor house (not open), this quality garden has achieved the highest “Good Garden Guide” rating and RHS Partnership status. Designed by the owner , Lesley Jenkins, this outstanding garden combines a strong structure with clever planting combinations using perennials. The garden has significant collections of rare perennials, salvias, paniculata phlox and cle matis and some of these are available in the Plant Centre. The Tea Room provides excellent lunches and teas with all the food being prepared freshly on the premises. Image © Marianne Majerus
OPENING TIMES 2017
From Good Friday, every Friday, Sunday and Bank Holiday until the end of August; every Friday in September and also every Thursday in June, July and August, from 12 noon to 5pm.
Wollerton, Market Drayton TF9 3NA Tel: 01630 685760 www.wollertonoldhallgarden.com
SECTION 1 – YOUR SOCIETY
From Your Editor,
Brian Collingwood
Welcome to The Clematis 2017. As usual, I would like to thank everyone, home and abroad, who has contributed to this 2017 Edition of our Society’s annual Journal, The Clematis. Every contribution is greatly appreciated, and great thanks once again go to all Authors and to those who have provided excellent images.
This year’s Journal summarises the affairs of our Society over the past year; followed by a wide collection of original articles. Once again, we have a broad spread of interesting subject matter touching upon many aspects of the world of clematis.
Many of the best contributions are penned by everyday gardeners or unsung BCS members – no formal expertise is required for writing an article. If you have something you’d like to say about clematis, please do let me know and I will gladly include as much as possible in these pages. So, to all who read this 2017 Edition, whether your particular appreciation is in the culture, breeding, propagation, history or even the more technical aspects of Clematis, I am sure you will find something of interest and enjoyment in this 2017 Edition.
The BCS Regional Groups had another very busy year Regional Groups give members the chance to take part in BCS activities but without having to travel too far. You can get involved by contacting the leader of the Group you wish to join – just check the list of regional leaders in ‘Who Does What in the BCS 2017/18’ on page 3. In this year’s Journal (p.76) Sue Reade provides a full report on the Northern Group’s visits and activities. Great thanks are due to all those dedicated individuals who devise and run our local meetings and outings. Their ongoing work is key to the continuation and expansion of our Society and their efforts are highly valued and appreciatively acknowledged.
In his article on this year’s new Clematis introductions Duncan Donald touches on an important recent development in the world of clematis – the way we classify clematis cultivars is soon likely to be radically revised. We will provide more information in future publications A summary is available from the Editor at bcollingwood@ntlworld.com
We look forward to seeing you at our next AGM, which will be at Pershore on the 21st April 2018. Advance details will of course be sent to all members, in due course.
I hope you enjoy reading this year’s Edition of The Clematis as much as I have enjoyed compiling it. It only remains for me to wish all readers and their loved ones health, happiness and the very best of good fortune for the remainder of 2017, and beyond.
Brian Collingwood
Articles for TheClematis2018:please send to B. Collingwood, by post or email: bcollingwood@ntlworld.com. Hand-written submissions are most welcome. 600 words are suitable for a shorter article. If submitting technical articles, please include explanation that will aid the lay reader. COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP OF THE CONTENT OF THIS PUBLICATION RESIDES WITH THE RESPECTIVE AUTHOR OR AUTHORS. THE REPRODUCTION OF ANY PART IS FORBIDDEN WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION. PLEASE CONTACT THE EDITOR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Join Us
The British Clematis Society
Journal, Newsletters, Advisory Service, Seed Exchange, Lectures, Slide Shows, Pruning Demonstrations, Display Gardens, Lists of Clematis Nurseries and Open Gardens, Plant Sales, Tours
Membership runs from January 1st to December 31st
Single Membership Family Membership
Personal Membership 2 persons at same address
UK £25.00 UK £30.00 Europe £30.00 Europe £35.00
Rest of World £35.00 Rest of World £40.00
Junior (under 16) £10.00
Life Member Single (UK only) £300.00
Joint Life Membership (UK only) £350.00
Student (under 25) Membership £15.00
Application to join should be made to The Membership Secretary, Ken Black, Adswood, Townfield Lane, Mollington, Cheshire CH1 6LB Tel: 01244 851327 email: keneblack4@gmail.com.
Cheques payable to ‘The British Clematis Society’ Overseas payments by Eurocheque, Bank Draft, International Money Order (in Sterling), Internet (Paypal)
Or simply use your credit card at our Website http://www.britishclematis.org
RHS Affiliation No. 10586944 Registered Charity No. 1049107
Who Does What in the BCS 2017-2018
ELECTED OFFICERS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ROLES
Chair: Lizzie Gibbison, Saffron Gate, Tickners Heath, Alfold, Surrey GU6 8HU
Tel: 01483 200219 email: clematis@talk21.com
Hon. Treasurer: Peter Hargreaves, Grafton Cottage. Barr Lane, Barton-underNeedwood, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire DE13 8AL
Tel: 01283 713639 email: peter.hargreaves@smithcooper.co.uk
Contact for all society finance, with some assistance from Bookkeeper (Alison Booth).
Hon. Secretary: Julian Noble, 29 Froxfield Gardens, Portchester, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 8DN
Tel: 02392 376072 or 07552 922472 email: julian.noble@btinternet.com
Arranges committee meetings. Takes and circulates minutes. AGM focal point.
Membership Secretary: Ken Black, Adswood, Townfield Lane, Mollington, Cheshire CH1 6LB
Tel: 01244 851327 email: keneblack4@gmail.com
Deals with new members and renewals. Maintains membership records. Email coordinator for the dispatch of newsletter by email and all other communications to members on Society matters (shared with Glenn Rowbottom)
Journal Editor: Brian Collingwood, 11 Mirfield Drive, Monton, Eccles, Manchester M30 9LH
Tel: 0161 950 5329 email: bcollingwood@ntlworld.com
Bookkeeper: Alison Booth, 17 Imogen Gardens, Heathcote, Warwick, Warwickshire CV34 6FB
Tel: 01926 424582 email: alisonmbooth@gmail.com
National Events: Annette Stevens (jointly with Lizzie Gibbison), 8 Farm Walk, Ash Green, Guildford, Surrey GU12 6HX
Tel: 01252 319305 email: annettestevens2012@btinternet.com
Victoria Matthews: 13 Chatsworth Close, Market Deeping, Peterborough PE6 8AZ
Tel: 01778 380256 email: victoriamatthews167@gmail.com
Member of the panel of proof readers. Former International Clematis Registrar.
Newsletter Editor: Glenn Rowbottom, 549 Chatsworth Road, Chesterfied, Derbyshire S40 3JS
Tel: 01246 566046 email: plantsman54@gmail.com
Newsletter distribution: Sue Reade, 123 Andover Avenue, Middleton, Manchester M24 1JQ
Tel: 0161 643 2985 email: sue.reade@uwclub.net OR readesue@gmail.co
Committee and Northern Group Leader. Collates and dispatches Newsletter copies to members without email.
REGIONAL GROUPS
Northern Group. Leader - Sue Reade. Details as immediately above.
Midland Group. Leader - Josie Hulbert
Trentham, 56 Haden Park Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64 7HE.
Tel: 07939 664185 email: Jjhulbert1@aol.com
Wessex Group. Leader – Margaret Morris, 2c St Andrew’s Way, Freshwater, Isle of Wight PO40 9NH
Tel: 01983 759549 or 07703 120978 email via Hon Sec: julian.noble@btinternet.com
South East Group. Leader - Pam Davies 12 Oakway Drive, Frimley, Surrey GU16 8LF
Tel: 01276 28630 email: pameladavies42@gmail.com
OTHER SUPPORT ROLES
BCS Website and Internet Help Desk enquiries: Steve Christmas, 6 Hawthorne Close, Grateley, Hampshire SP11 8Jl
Tel: 01264 889735 email: stevechristmas1@gmail.com
Panel of proof readers: Mike Brown, Brian Cromie, Glenis Dyer, Victoria Matthews, Val Le May Neville-Parry, Roy Nunn. Contact details from Hon. Secretary.
Seed payments: Glenis Dyer, Elm Close, Binton Road, Welford-on-Avon, Warwickshire CV37 8PT
Tel: 01789 750793 email: glenisdyer@gmail.com
Sunbury Walled Garden: Denise MacDonald, 2 Ravensbourne Avenue, Bromley, Kent BR2 0BP
Tel: 0208 4601820 email: amacdo0530@ntlworld.com
Seed exchange: Paul Dunstan, 47A Plantation Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire HP6 6HW
Tel: 01494 724297 email: paul.dunstan@talktalk.net
Speakers’ Panel: Everett Leeds, Flat 1, 4 Hardwicke Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 9AG
Tel: 01737 247399 email: everettleeds@gmail.com
Slide Librarian: Ken Woolfenden, 3 Cuthberts Close, Waltham Cross, Hertforshire EN7 5RB
Tel: 01992 636524 email: ken@woolfenden.org
Notes from your Chair, 2017
Lizzie Gibbison UK clematis@talk21.com
On behalf of the British Clematis Society I would like to extend to all members a warm welcome to this year’s The Clematis, and trust that you will find plenty of interesting and enjoyable reading in our 2017 edition.
In my notes last year, I touched upon the necessity of attracting new members into the fold and we continue to promote the Society every way we can: at shows, regional meetings and many other functions. It has been another challenging year in moving the Society forward but I can report that we have achieved a steady stream of new joiners throughout 2017. Going forward, we need to multiply this as much as possible.
I would like to thank my Committee; once again they have been exemplary in supporting me personally and the Society as a whole, and have striven to put the BCS on a firmer footing for the future. A special acknowledgment once again goes to our Regional Groups organisers – their personal dedication takes our Society’s presence out to areas far and wide around the UK, and this is enormously beneficial to the BCS.
The weather this year has been up and down but I can report that my own clematis have been fantastic throughout the season – I hope yours have done just as well!
Some special 2017 highlights – members had a wonderful time in early spring at ‘Place for Plants’, and the Beth Chatto Gardens – fortune smiled upon us with superb weather and, judging from feedback received, all attendees thoroughly enjoyed the visits. We had fantastic news in winning a silver medal at the Malvern show and a bronze at Tatton! A huge ‘thank you’ to all who put in a titanic effort on behalf of the BCS.
We had a large turnout for a packed AGM agenda, with lots of Society business under discussion. The AGM was, as usual, sandwiched between our two speakers for the day – everyone enjoyed the presentations and the meeting went very well. We gave our thanks to Val and Simon Nicoll, past Honorary Secretary and Publicity coordinator respectively – they had completed their time on the Committee and were accorded well deserved appreciations and best wishes from all Society members. Sylvia Currie, our stalwart sales table lady, has decided to stand down after many years of highly valued loyal service. Our Membership Secretary Ken Black reported our current statistics and brought us up to date on the progress made in bringing our new database software into action; this will enable us to significantly improve our communications in the future. Ken is currently updating the membership details – if you have any new information, eg change of address/email etc please let him know so that we can keep as up to date and accurate as possible. We thanked Jack Gittoes for his many years of producing the BCS Newsletters; the baton has now passed to our new Newsletter editor, Glenn Rowbottom – I urge you to support Glenn by continuing to offer clematis related news, interesting snippets, scripts and pictures to be included in the Newsletter pages.
We remember with great affection members sadly lost this year – noteworthy BCS contributors Beryl Wells and John Hudson: we cherished their input and love of life and we will miss them profoundly. We send our heartfelt best wishes to their families.
I close my Notes in wishing all members a propitious end to the 2017 season; I look forward to seeing everybody once again at the 2018 AGM in Pershore, on 21st April.
Treasurer’s Annual Report
Results for the year to 31st December 2016
The society made a surplus of £571 (2015 £817). Volunteers continue to undertake the majority of day-to-day administration of society affairs, which would be expensive to provide, if BCS had to pay for external provision of these services.
The finances of BCS remain strong and the committee continues to monitor costs. The Society is faced with challenging changes and increased reporting requirements in our affairs, in line with our status as a charity and the Society maintains specific reserves for such purpose. These summarised accounts do not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the financial affairs of the society. Copies of the trustees Annual Report, independent Examiner's report and Full Accounts can be obtained from the treasurer: Peter Hargreaves, Grafton Cottage, Bar Lane, Barton Under Needwood, Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 8AL peter.hargreaves@smithcooper.co.uk
British Clematis Society 27th Annual General Meeting
Held on Saturday 22nd April 2017 at 12.30pm at Benson Village Hall, Oxfordshire Present: Liz Gibbison in the Chair and 65 members of the Society
Minutes of the Meeting
1. Liz Gibbison welcomed everyone to the 27th AGM of the British Clematis Society
2. Apologies for absence: The Hon Secretary reported that apologies had been received from over 30 members of the Society.
3. Minutes of the meeting held 9th April 2016: These were approved as a correct record of the meeting (proposed: Mike Brown; seconded: Everett Leeds and passed nem con). The minutes were then signed by the Chair.
4. Matters arising from the minutes: there were no matters arising from the minutes.
5. Roundup of the year
The Chair presented a short report on the activities during 2016-17. National events included a winter walk at the Hillier Gardens, the Spring meeting and AGM in April. The highlight of 2016 was the well-attended 25th anniversary lunch and garden visit in August. Perfect weather and a wonderful show of clematis in Mike and Ann Brown’s garden was a delight and they presented £500 to the Society. The autumn meeting was cancelled due to very low numbers booking. During the year the trial ground was closed; the committee felt the trialling of clematis by the BCS was proving too costly without any tangible benefits. A sub-committee reviewed our presence at national shows for 2017. 2017 started with the winter walk in Suffolk visiting 2 gardens (Place for Plants and the Beth Chatto garden). During the year a number of members have passed away and they will be missed.
6. Financial report: Peter Hargreaves, Hon Treasurer, presented his report and the annual accounts (full copy attached in the minute book). During the year the BCS made a small surplus of £571. Sending the Newsletter to most members by email has reduced postage cost although some copies are still being printed and sent to
those without email addresses. These costs are being kept under review. Currently the Society has net assets of £39,907 made up of £16,907 in the General Fund, £10,000 Bursary Fund, £9,000 Administrative and Equipment Fund and £4,000 Research Fund.
The plan to change the financial structure of the Society is taking a long time but will result in changes to our banking accounts.
Questions from the floor raised concerns about the costs of the Journal (£5,560 in 2016-17) and a reduction in membership rate for those receiving the Newsletter by email. The Chair responded by asking members to be patient as we adapt to changes in costs and technology and emphasised the value of the Journal to all members including those overseas. A question was raised concerning the value of the sales stock held; the Treasurer replied saying that this is being written down each year and the stock held is being reduced.
The financial report and accounts were formally accepted by the meeting.
7. Membership reports: Ken Black, Membership Secretary, presented a written report (full copy attached in the minute book). Currently there are 469 members although there are 60 members whose annual subscription is outstanding. Gift Aid is starting to generate a moderate additional income with 136 members allowing us to claim. The Facebook page generates a considerable amount of interest. A query was raised about membership forms for use at events and a current life member suggested other life members might consider making additional contributions to the Society.
Facebook/website: selling pdf versions of Journal articles via the website is technically possible. Also, the question of how to get search hits for Clematis and getting the BCS site higher up in any search ranking was discussed.
8. Publicity report: Simon Nicoll, Publicity Officer, presented his report. Emails with news of events and the Newsletter have been sent to members; there are still some issues with incorrect email addresses for some members.
A new booklet, featuring the Montana Group, has been published with all those attending the AGM receiving a copy; it will be sold for £1 at events. The obelisks donated to the Society by Agriframes for use at the Trial Grounds are being moved to the garden of Richard Hodson.
Angela Nunn asked that the diary for the year’s events should be published in January each year. This was noted although full details of regional events are not always available so early in the season. The main BCS events will be published in the autumn for the following year.
9. Election of Honorary Officers and Trustees:
Chair of the Society: Lizzie Gibbison. Proposed: Iris Clarke; seconded: Carol Leeds. Vice-chair: no nominations received so post vacant
Honorary Secretary: Julian Noble. Proposed: Pam Davis; seconded: Carol Leeds
Honorary Treasurer: Peter Hargreaves. Proposed: Simon Nicoll; seconded: Annette Stevens. Membership Secretary: Ken Black. Proposed: Charne Griffiths; seconded: Ron Kirkman
The above were elected by a show of hands.
Committee members:
Sue Reade; Vicky Matthews; Annette Stevens; Alison Booth and Glenn Rowbottom. Proposed en block by Margaret Morris; seconded: Heather Cromie. The meeting approved their election. The Chair emphasised the need for additional members to join the committee. She noted that 2 officers of the committee, Valerie Nicoll and Simon Nicoll, have stepped down after several years; they were thanked for their work for the Society and were presented with a presentation hamper. Sylvia Currie and Beryl Wells are stepping down from their work running the sales table for many years. They were thanked for their work in supporting the Society.
10. Appointment of Independent Examiner: Peter Hargreaves proposed the continuing appointment of Smith Cooper as our Independent Examiner. This was approved by the meeting.
11. Honorary membership:
The meeting was asked to formally endorse the award of Honorary Membership to Jack Gittoes. A certificate was presented to Jack. Mike Brown spoke of Jack’s work for the Society both on the Committee and as Newsletter editor. This was endorsed by Denise Macdonald and Everett Leeds
12. Trial Grounds:
As reported earlier the Trial Grounds were closed in late 2016. Keith Shortland was thanked for his hard work in maintaining the trial grounds on a very problematic site. He announced the award of a certificate of merit to some of the varieties recently trialled.
13. Any other business:
National autumn meeting: at the Hall in Benson on Saturday 30th September with Stephen Barker from Abbotsbury Gardens speaking of his trip to Myanmar (Burma).
Volunteers: the need for assistance at events such as the BCS stand at the Malvern Show (11-14 May 2-17) and at the Sunbury Walled Garden.
14. Close of meeting: the Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.
The meeting closed with a warm round of applause.
The British Clematis Society AGM 2017
Brian Collingwood UK bcollingwood@ntlworld.com
Alovely warm April morning saw BCS members arriving for the 27th Annual General Meeting at Benson Village Hall, Wallingford, near Oxford. More than eighty members gathered for what turned out to be yet another greatly enjoyable BCS Annual General Meeting day.
As usual, proceedings commenced with tea, coffee and biscuits (this time, delicious chocolate ones) – plenty of time for everyone to greet friends old and new, from home and overseas, chat together and swap stories. Once the welcoming drinks, introductions and usual formalities had concluded, the meeting proper swiftly got under way. This followed our normal AGM format of dividing the day into sections: our first speaker at 11 o’ clock preceded the AGM proper at 12-30, then an excellent lunch was followed by the afternoon speaker, after which the meeting closed with refreshments and snacks, before everyone set off on their way back home.
Our first guest was the well-known plantsman, grower and showman Marcel Floyd. Among multifarious other involvements Marcel is the holder of the National Collection of Clematis koreana at his nursery in Calne, Wiltshire. Year 2017 saw Marcel celebrate twenty-five years of the firm’s existence, at the Malvern Spring Flower Show.
By way of introduction, your Editor notes the following details about Marcel’s involvement with clematis over the years: he first fell in love with clematis way back in 1984 (at the time, he was working in a local garden centre and was responsible for ordering the climbers) when he attended the Chelsea Flower Show. On the Treasures of Tenbury stand he saw his very first large-flowered clematis. This excited Marcel and before too long he had bought his own very first clematis, WADA’S PRIMROSE (C. patens ‘Manshuu Ki’), a lovely creamy-white large-flowered hybrid, which he planted next to an old red brick wall of the converted barn at his parents’ home. Next came C. cirrhosa var.
Marcel in full flow balearica – the beginning of an eventual ‘mass planting’ of eighty or so clematis on the walls of that barn! Others that made a big impression were ‘Victoria’, a beautiful pale lilac, flowering from June to September, ‘Walter Pennell’, the purple double and ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’, a wonderful pink for a north wall.
By 1987 Marcel had moved on to pastures new, running a wholesale nursery for Avon Valley Nurseries. He convinced the owner that they should start growing clematis and in the first year they grew 1000 plants and sold the whole lot within a week of them being ready, including the usual suspects ‘Nelly Moser’, ‘Niobe’, ‘The President’ and ‘Hagley Hybrid’, to name but a few.
In due course Marcel noticed that people generally seemed to be showing more interest in small-flowered clematis so he began to introduce some of them, including Viticellas, Montanas and Integrifolias. Amazing what happens when you put any fantastic plant, full of flowers, in front of people – those that sold especially well were ‘Madame Julia Correvon’, C. cirrhosa var. purpurascens ‘Freckles’, ‘Broughton Star’ and the fragrant
The Clematis 2017
C. × triternata ‘Rubromarginata’.
In 1992 ‘Floyd’s Climbers and Clematis’ was born: this started off as a wholesale nursery, growing between 15-20,000 plants a year, supplying the local garden centres. At that time, the best-selling plants included (large-flowered) ‘Doctor Ruppel’ and (small-flowered) C. heracleifolia ‘Wyevale’ (now C. tubulosa ‘Wyevale’). Another very popular cultivar was the beautiful blue ‘Fujimusume’. In 2000 Marcel and his wife Sara bought seven acres of land in Kelston, near Bath, Somerset and by 2002 had gradually started to become more retail-oriented.
Many plants available at the AGM
In 2003, he accomplished his first exhibition, at the Royal Cornwall Show: among the plants shown were ‘Alba Luxurians’, ‘Alionushka’, ‘Zobluepi’ (BLUE PIROUETTE), ‘Etoile Violette’, and C. × diversifolia ‘Heather Herschell’. The firm presented at the Devon County Show for the first time in May 2007; the exhibits included several newlyintroduced plants including the petite ‘Jolly Jake’ (Viticella Group), named for Marcel and Sara’s little son, Jake.
Since then Marcel has embarked on a steady expansion of the nursery and become a National Collection Holder, in this instance of the Clematis koreana Group. He spends the bulk of his time in running the nursery, presenting at shows during the season, and giving talks about clematis, up and down the UK. Although he still loves large-flowered hybrids Marcel completely adores the small-flowered plants, and feels that they have not yet reached anything like their true potential – they are only now slowly becoming more appreciated by the general gardening public, as more and more attractive new cultivars are introduced.
On getting to know and grow clematis, Marcel’s general advice, borne from huge experience, is to do the opposite of what many may initially suppose – don’t start with large-flowered plants, instead, start with small-flowered plants and species plants and then progress to include large-flowered plants at a later stage. Small-flowered plants are often much easier to grow, and can do very well even on relatively neglected soil, giving beautiful displays which any gardener, new or experienced, would be enthused and
excited about. You can go about it the other way around by all means, however, over the years, many customers new to clematis have lamented to Marcel that they have lost large-flowered hybrids due to not fully understanding their needs, whereas even inexperienced growers usually have success with the floriferous, easy to grow smallflowered plants. This imparts confidence and inspiration to try other slightly needier clematis (in culture terms) in due course. He added that a small-flowered clematis exists
Liz and the Committee tackle the BCS AGM business for almost every place in the garden and by way of showing us exactly what he meant, Marcel then walked us through the first part of his fantastic slide-show. This featured a large number of such plants, fully grown, from the whole gamut of the clematis Groups – almost too many names to mention, but including OCTOPUS (C. ‘Zooct’), ‘Ben’s Beauty’, Clematis koreana, ‘Pixie’, Clematis cirrhosa var. purpurescens ‘Freckles’, a huge plant of ‘Jingle Bells’ completely filling the width of a large polytunnel, Clematis tibetana subsp. vernayi ‘Glasnevin Dusk’, ‘Blue Eclipse’, ‘Broughton Bride’ and Maureen Hudson’s ‘Whirligig’. He emphasised the point by saying that even for the inexperienced, many of these plants will ‘thrive in relative neglect’ and still give a glorious flowering display.
Marcel urged all members to try newly introduced plants as soon as they come onto the scene – ‘if you see it on sale in a garden centre and you don’t know it, you should buy it immediately and give it a go! Never miss the chance to grow a novel plant.’
A point of great importance is that before Marcel markets any new plant, it must undergo trials on his own nursery first. There is no rush – especially for newly-bred plants, as yet unknown to him. He likes to get to understand the plant closely by growing it in several locations, to see how it fares and what kind of show it puts on. That way, when customers want to know, he can question them about their garden site and give appropriate suggestions as to where might be the best spot for any particular plant, or what might be the best plant to try in any specific location. This leads to happy satisfied customers who return for more plants in due course.
For certain plants Marcel stressed the need to resolve to feed regularly, especially on poorer soils. This leads to bigger and brighter blooms and an all-round healthier and
more floriferous plant. In this regard, another reason for having more than one copy of a cultivar in the garden is that it allows for experimentation; the best insight is that which
Le May Neville-Parry is presented with the Certificate
you have earned yourself, by carefully comparing the performance of the same plant under different feeding regimes. By trial and error, there is always ‘the right level’ of feed and this is gleaned over the course of ‘just a few years’ of growing the plants at home. On the other hand, you must use common sense, and not fall into the tricky trap of overfeeding. ‘Once your plants are established’, said Marcel, ‘all they need is the correct water levels and the right level of nutrients – then they will look after themselves and reward you handsomely in terms of flower production’. Although the soil on his own nursery site is of a generally heavy clay nature, the slide-show of plants in copious flower clearly illustrated how the correct feeding of plants can still lead to wonderful displays. In Marcel’s view, most clematis do not need to be planted too deeply, except perhaps the large-flowered cultivars, which have much thicker, stronger, ‘bootlace’ roots which can go down to significant depths in search of moisture and minerals. Many of the smaller-flowered plants’ roots, however, are much less substantial and benefit greatly from efficient drainage and must never ever be allowed to become waterlogged – this will rot the roots and inevitably bring the plant to an early demise!
Marcel then explained his approach to some of the more common pests, and how to deal with them effectively. At one point he asked how many people in the audience had
Val
of Merit for Clematis‘Chris’
The Clematis 2017
had porridge oats this morning? Several hands were immediately raised! ‘No, not for breakfast, I meant for stopping the slugs getting to your prized clematis!’
Next came some suggestions on what to employ as host plants. Two of the slides stuck in my mind – firstly, a huge montana growing up, into and through a yew tree, the other one showing a combination of clematis with beautiful heucheras – a total contrast in form and colour producing an unexpectedly gorgeous effect. ‘Always experiment!’
Marcel closed his presentation with images of some of his favourites. His clematis tastes being far and wide, of course, these included ‘Dusky’, ‘Buckland Beauty’, Clematis koreana species, ‘Propertius’, ‘Broughton Bride’, ‘Simplicity’, the sumptuous ‘Guernsey Cream’, ‘Omoshiro’ and ‘Gillian Blades’. ‘Niobe’ is still the best red for him. At home, he grows (amongst many others) Clematis phlebantha, ‘Lord Herschell’, × diversifolia ‘Heather Herschell’, ‘Sonnette’ and other more recently introduced favourites including GISELLE (‘Evipo051’), SAMARITAN JO (Evipo075’), and SORBET (‘Zosor’).
Many of the audience participated in an extended questions and answers session and, judging from the sustained applause that followed its conclusion, it was clear that everyone had thoroughly enjoyed Marcel’s excellent AGM morning presentation.
The AGM and constitutional business was dealt with prior to lunch.
We returned from lunch refreshed and ready for Lizzie Gibbison’s slides, featuring many clematis from her own and others’ gardens, plus some pictures from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. The talk was entitled ‘Come into the garden Maud – A wistful journey through the eye of a camera into someone’s pride and joy’. We were then treated to a super selection of Lizzie’s images – lots of plants of all kinds but with the emphasis, always, on clematis. The talk was punctuated by lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, and the audience threw questions at Lizzie throughout. By the end of the presentation we had seen and heard a plethora of ideas for the culture of clematis – Lizzie’s enthusiasm for her lovely garden shining through all the while.
The meeting drew to a relaxing close with tea, coffee and more chat. Marcel had brought with him a terrific selection of plants (for purchase on the day) including many small-flowered cultivars, all of which were now speedily disappearing into car boots or anywhere else they could be crammed, ready for the journey home. It was the end of another great BCS AGM day that all who attended thoroughly enjoyed.
The Patience of a Saint Richard Munday UK rmmunday@yahoo.com
‘In the long run we are all dead’. This is a quotation from the famous economist John Maynard Keynes. He was not just stating the obvious but, rather, that if you left things to the natural economic cycle, then many people will have died before things start to improve. So it is with clematis – if you stick a plant in the ground and hope that in five or ten years’ time you’ll have some decent blooms, you may be disappointed! Or, as the man at my local nursery said to me, ‘I’ve noticed that older people buy larger plants’. I apologise for this funereal opening, especially to our younger readers but you get my general drift – you want a bit of action in a reasonable time frame!
Clematis can be very trying and the two that have most tried my patience are ‘Beauty of Worcester’ and ‘Lady Betty Balfour’. ‘Beauty of Worcester’ existed, rather than grew, in the ground for several years before I decided to put it in a pot. It grew a bit better, but nothing spectacular and then suddenly one year it produced some gorgeous double blooms – I was ecstatic. However, this was just a flash in the pan and it reverted to its old ways and then started wilting, even in the pot, so I chucked it in the compost bin.
It took me some time to realise I had ‘Lady Betty Balfour’. I had ordered a variety called ‘Wilhelmina Tull’ which, at the time, was heralded as an improved ‘Mrs N Thompson’. It has long since disappeared from the catalogues, though the latter is still available and is one of my favourites.
Anyway, ‘Lady Betty Balfour’ is one of my only two clematis that flower late in the year from September onwards, the other being ‘Madame Baron-Veillard’. The first time it flowered, most of the flowers were over the fence in my neighbour’s garden; my wife rescued it and brought it back into our garden and we enjoyed the show. I then read that it would do well in a south facing sunny location and would grow up to about 15’ . Perfect, I thought, to grow up into a yellow conifer on its south side. After five years I had not a single flower and growth was not vigorous. I then realized there is a big difference between a south facing spot into a tree and a south facing spot against a wall or fence, as the latter provide a lot of reflected warmth you won’t get when growing into
a tree. It is now back against a fence… and flowering again. ‘Madame Baron-Veillard’ ©Yvette Smith
The easiest way to get a bit of fast action is to plant clematis in a pot, where the early large-flowered hybrids, in particular, grow better than in the ground. I had two of the Estonian varieties growing in the ground –‘Ekstra’ and ‘Semu’ and I’ve put them both in pots, to great advantage. From a distance, the flowers of ‘Ekstra’ appear slatey blue and it makes a good display growing through a rhododendron. Visiting Mike Brown’s garden with the Midlands BCS Group I saw a lovely plant of ‘Semu’ in a pot, which gave me the idea The sequence of flower numbers over the years in the ground was three, five, three and two, so something had to be done to get it blooming!
The flowers of ‘Semu’ are like brilliant turquoise jewels, so it is well worth growing.
OOH LA LA (‘Evipo041’) grows well for me in a pot and is very floriferous and compact. Mine is in a plastic pot, which some authorities don’t recommend but I’ve not noticed that they do any better in ceramic ones, and really large plastic pots are much cheaper (and lighter). Quite a few of the Raymond Evison clematis are compact, making them easy to manage when grown in a pot
Growing clematis from seed can be wonderfully rewarding as you are creating something unique, which no one else will have. However, you do need patience as germination probably won’t be rapid. I don’t have a greenhouse, which makes things difficult but I did sow some seeds of ‘Fireworks’ back in 2008. Only two plants have survived to the present. One produced flowers of a ‘Nelly Moser’ persuasion; it grew so well in a container that I put it in the ground. Bad move that, as it promptly wilted. Last winter I put it back in a pot and it survived, so hopefully I’ll get some more flowers. The other surviving seedling has still not flowered, eight years on!
The Clematis 2017
In 2016, again with the Midlands BCS Group, we visited the garden of a lady who had some superb Viticellas romping to the top of fairly tall conifers. She said she had sandy soil. This made me think that perhaps I’ve been missing a trick, as I garden on heavy clay and have followed the advice about adding organic matter or peat, or replacing soil with John Innes No. 3 and adding grit – but I’ve never added sharp sand. On digging up some clematis they did seem a bit ‘clagged up’ despite my efforts, so this winter I’ve tried lightening the soil with sharp sand as well – the initial results seem encouraging. Mind you, sand is an ingredient of concrete so it doesn’t pay to get overconfident!
‘Honora’
Last November I found two bedraggled plants of Clematis ‘Toltae’ (TAE) languishing on a nursery shelf for £2 each, so I snapped them up. The accompanying label showed a muddy pink plant, whereas in reality the flowers have a picotee adornment, white with pink edging, star shaped. I planted them in November (including some of the aforementioned sharp sand) and was rewarded on 21st May with quite a few flowers, a reasonably instant effect. I now have three similar pink and white picotee plants all doing well – ‘Omoshiro’ is my best performing ELFH and a plant of ‘Fond Memories’ is now in its third year; in keeping with its Clematis florida parentage this plant is coming on strongly and this year has produced more, and larger, sumptuous flowers. (I’ll say this quietly, so it doesn’t hear) – it seems to be completely hardy. Last summer, I bought two plants of Clematis
‘Westerplatte’, a gorgeous velvety red; they have flowered well. I read that breeder Stefan Franczak would ‘trial’ some plants for over ten years before release.
‘Westerplatte’
In describing the growth patterns of the largeflowereds and Viticellas over a three-year period, a particular anecdote, popular recently, is ‘sleep, creep, leap’, so, you can see, at least a modicum of patience is required. I’ve met people who say that even if a plant wilts or disappears, don’t dig it up as it may reappear later. This has not happened to me, but I did visit the garden of someone who had a clematis which came back to life after disappearing for ten years. He kept accurate records, so I think it was true.
Clematis do have a very capricious nature. I decided to plant my two plants of ‘Kinju Atarashi’ deeper, last winter, as I thought that would improve their long-term survival chances. One plant died; the other one was growing spectacularly well but wilted in the heatwave. Whether this was due to wilt disease or lack of water I’m not sure We’ve also been absolutely plagued with snails this year, especially the small brown ones, so that is another possible reason. Some people say that clematis sulk for a year after transplanting, so that’s a good reason to get the planting right, the first time around.
Generally speaking, the later large-flowered hybrids and the Viticellas are more reliable than the early large-flowered hybrids. In the first category is clematis ‘Honora’, a variety I really like and which is also given a good write-up in Linda Beutler’s excellent 2016 book. The colour is a plummy purple which she describes as ‘dark and dramatic’. She also says ‘this cultivar can have a wonderfully long season, as just when you think it is fizzling out, a shoot will drape another metre-long arm of blooms around the shoulders of a tall shrub’. This has proved to be the case with me – I have one growing through a rhododendron where, suddenly, an ‘arm of blooms’ will appear. Of course, it
The Clematis 2017
is not always onwards and upwards – my plant of ‘Negritianka’ has fewer flowers than last year despite being fed, so I’ll need to investigate that.
OOH LA LA (‘Evipo041’)
Despite the greater reliability of the later large-flowered hybrids I can’t resist the flashy, flamboyant blooms of some of the early large-flowereds. One fitting this category (which I saw for the first time, at Chelsea, last year) is Clematis ‘Dazzle’: large mauve blooms with a deeper pink stripe. I saw it for sale in a local nursery, so I’m giving that one a whirl. To sum up then – yes, they can drive you bonkers but a superb display of sumptuous flowers in beautiful colours can make it all worthwhile.
Except where indicated, all images ©Richard Munday
And How Was it for You?
Everett Leeds UK everettleeds@gmail.com
Every year is different and I suppose that’s what keeps us on our toes with anticipation and exasperation! Every year I say to myself I’m going to keep a record of the weather patterns, just so that I can talk from a position of strength and put a plant’s performance down to the weather instead of my lack of feeding, watering or judicious pruning. This year in my neck of the woods clematis have thrived.
C. heracleifolia
‘Cassandra’ have grown much taller this season and have come into flower slightly later, probably at the right time too. There is much talk about global warming having its effect on bringing plants into flower earlier than before but every now and again nature throws this back in our faces.
Everett at work
I can only talk about the south of England that seems to get better weather than the north – or does it? Husbandry, soil conditions and
weather really are the controlling factors for plant life and we have some say in the first two but no control over the third. I suppose this does not really cover plants in containers as we have control over the watering of these. How often does a partner say ‘it’s rained, so they don’t need watering’ whereas in fact the surface area of even a large container doesn’t get much even after a heavy downpour. I find the problem with containers is they are labour intensive and also a test of fading memory problems. When did I water them last? Did I put liquid fertiliser in the last time? Did I actually use the provided plastic measure to get the right mix? (Probably not!) Generally speaking, pots are either bone dry one day and with flood conditions the next, whereas when clems are planted in the ground the soil temperature and moisture is kept at a more equable level.
Talking of containers, when I give talks to garden clubs I try and stress to keep containers as cool as possible because clems will not thrive if their roots are too hot. Have you ever touched the side of a plastic pot on a south facing patio? They do get quite warm. A way around the problem is to line the inside of the container with bubblewrap or polystyrene before putting in the soil and plant. This helps to insulate the inside from the outside. Another way would be to put the plant’s pot inside a slightly larger one so that there is an air gap between the two but this doesn’t look quite so good aesthetically. On the same theme, books used to talk about putting slates and stones around the root area on the soil surface to keep the soil cool and moist. However, this only provides slugs and snails with a lovely place to be in the daytime so they can attack at night. Try an un-demanding cover of annuals or perhaps small heathers to cover these hot-spots on south-facing areas.
For plants in the ground I find watering an absolute bind. How often do you give as much as your time allows when really if you scratch the surface you would find miserable penetration and probably nothing actually reaching the root system? This only encourages shallow rooting when really we want the roots to go down and get better protection. Where ever possible I bury a short length of drain pipe at the initial planting stage so all I need to do is to pour the water down it and it serves the roots much better. Have the top of the pipe above ground level to that our friendly beetles don’t fall into the void. As a precaution to save our slug munchers I put a twig into the pipe to act as a ladder for our friends to get out in the unlikely event of them falling into the chasm.
On the topic of saving the planet, I recount the time I found a drowned Robin in my watering can left in the greenhouse. So, never leave a halfempty watering can/container; always completely empty or completely full or the top covered over. I felt so sad and guilty when I found the consequence. Finally, the recent advice on Gardener’s World ‘how to take clematis cuttings and raise seedlings’ really gave the whole world a lesson of ‘how not to’. Oh dear, the power of television!
This year’s ‘Top of the Pops’
Glenis Dyer UK glenisdyer@gmail.com
All the clems this year seemed to get off to a good start; it must have been the sensible amounts of rainfall we got over the previous winter. Even a couple of cultivars which had been given up for dead decided to put in an appearance, although hardly enough to make a song and dance about. We had one of our best ever displays of Atragenes this year, with ‘Broughton Bride’ taking pride of place. C. armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ , also, flowered prolifically (probably due to the more than vigorous pruning it received a couple of years ago from our two over-enthusiastic grandsons!)
‘Pamiat Serdtsa’
Montanas also performed extremely well, with C. montana var. wilsonii giving its regular star performance despite having had a fairly close haircut just the previous July.
‘Prince Charles’ with ‘Gravetye Beauty’
But our garden is mainly about Group 3 varieties, and they did not disappoint. Particular stars this year were the wonderful ‘Emilia Plater’, the Russian sisters ‘Alionushka’ and ‘Pamiat Serdtsa’, ‘Prince Charles’, ‘John Treasure’, ‘Forever Friends’, ‘Romantika’, ‘Viola’, delicately-scented ‘Betty Corning’, and ‘Blue Pirouette’.
‘Ekstra’
We are always amazed by the displays from ‘Odoriba’ , ‘Juuli’, ‘Ekstra’, C. × triternata ‘Rubromarginata’, ‘Etoile Violette’, ‘Julia Correvon’, the supremely fragrant ‘Cassandra’ which is currently flowering its head off, and of course all my beloved Viornas, which seem to be bomb-proof.
Some are usually too vigorous, ‘Entel’ in particular, so I Chelsea chopped’ it at the end of May –but this year that proved to be a disaster. The following 10+ weeks saw our neck of the woods with NO RAIN AT ALL! ‘Entel’ was stopped dead in her tracks, and has only just (late August) started putting out flowers and some more growth! Two of our favourite ‘thugs’, however, ‘Minuet’ and ‘Mary Clematis× triternata‘Rubromarginata’ Image ©Elmer Aagesen, Denmark Rose’ were not restrained in any way and romped through the bed, as usual.
The prolonged drought, exacerbated by three consecutive days at 35°C (and sweltering nights, too, if you remember), meant that many of the normally good doers simply ‘shut up shop’ for the year. Such water as we were able to give them (at our age
Above, ‘Kaaru’; below, ‘Minuet’ and ‘Mary Rose’ we have retractable hoses, front and rear of the garden) was a drop in the ocean, and our primary concern had to be to save the more shallowrooted plants like camellias, rhododendrons, etc. Yet some clematis are still in flower. Clematis × triternata ‘Rubromarginata’ is still romping away, ‘Princess Diana’ still peeps coyly through the
Above, ‘Julia Correvon’; below, C.viorna
euonymus, ‘John Treasure’ , ‘Alionushka’ , ‘Cassandra’ , ‘Etoile Violette’ , ‘Odoriba’ and ‘Prince Charles’ are all strutting their stuff, with a few stray flowers on ‘Betty Corning’, ‘Kaaru’,
‘Aetaroa’, ‘John Howells’ and ‘Maria Cornelia’ and of course the Viorna Group, which are only stopped by frost, still romping merrily away.
And I must mention ‘Queen Mum’; such a good little doer and so reliable – I bought three plants and they are all getting established very nicely now, as is ‘Princess Kate’ Perhaps I should try the rest of the royals, too.
‘Princess Diana’
No two seasons are identical, and with the somewhat more extreme swings in the climate which we seem to experience now, one can never predict in advance which of our favourites will be the particular star of the show; I love them all! Except where stated, all images ©Glenis
Dyer
Two Observations - Horizontal Planting
of Clematis
& The Pruning of Newly Planted Clematis
Werner Stastny, Sweden werner-stastny@tele2.se
Now that I have vacated the house and garden where I lived for forty-five years, I have become more and more interested in gardening programmes on television. I have access to several channels via satellite and the choice of programmes is astonishingly good. I know it is only a substitute for the real thing but it does, nevertheless, open up to me a window into many fine gardens, in all parts of Europe.
Last September (2016) on Austrian TV, Karl Ploberger, the presenter of the gardening programme showed me a new way of planting a clematis. His idea about it is: ‘what’s the point of digging deep holes, when most clematis hardly ever go very far down with their roots, anyway?’
When digging in a typical garden, after 20-25cm (8-10”) one frequently reaches clay or some other compact, heavy material. However, all life, fungi and the good bacteria are usually to be found much closer to soil surface level.
In all the clematis books I have ever read, and on most planting instructions labels for clematis I invariably see some variation of: ‘dig a deep hole, at least 50-60cm (20-24”) then fill it with compost blended with a proportion of organic matter, and plant the clematis in this material.’ Yet, the hole is often completely surrounded by a compact wall of clay or some other dense material!
Karl Ploberger recommends only a 25cm (10”) deep, but wide, hole and lays the plant in on the horizontal. That is to say, at just such a depth as necessary for the first buds on the stem to be covered with compost.
Well, all you clematarians, what do think about this theory? Plants of the Atragene Group, in particular, never go deep with their roots. It would be interesting to start a discussion – perhaps you could send your comments to your Editor at his email address
bcollingwood@ntlworld.com. Brian would be happy to post any of your comments or any thoughts offered onto the BCS Facebook page. I’m also a member of the IClS and have written the same note to their Journal. Ordinarily, I do not write on the same topic for both Journals, but this time I would really like to reach as many clematarians as possible and I am very curious about any feedback that might arise from this idea.
Next issue: I’ve been asked this one many times, over the years. ‘Why has my new plant done well for some weeks, only to suddenly wilt and collapse? This mainly happens following spring planting.’ The way I explain it is as follows: ‘The plant is not ‘wilting’ in the normal sense of the word, but it is so eager to grow quickly and produce flowers that the roots don’t have enough time to develop sufficiently to fully support the production of voluminous energy-sapping new growth.’ The best time to plant clematis is always at the end of summer, when soil temperatures become more moderate, meaning cooler.
In reference to this point, I read in a Swedish garden society’s monthly newsletter that a lady has made the following observation. When planting a new clematis, mainly large-flowered, she prunes the plant down to two or three pairs of leaves, several times, during the first season. The plant, therefore, puts most of its work and energy into forming roots instead of producing new shoots and flowers, which may exhaust it, as said above, in that first year By treating the plant this way its root mass becomes very well developed and established after just one single season. We can deduce from this that the lady’s pruning habits perfectly exemplify how important just one season of excellent groundwork is for the success of a plant over many future seasons! Please, all you BCS members and readers of the Journal, express your opinions and offer your experience about these issues!
Clematis for Hibernators
Dr John Feltwell UK john@wildlifematters.com
Whilst cutting a Clematis montana var. rubens ‘Odorata’ to the ground with a bowsaw I was surprised to find a slow worm within a rot cavity at the base of the fibrous stem, and then, a week later, cutting the base of a Clematis vitalba to ground level, a small newt appeared. Clearly, if the base of a clematis is part rotted through, providing an access to the heart of the stem, then this is an ideal place to hibernate for both this reptile and amphibian for the winter. Being a few centimeters off the ground and surrounded by a thick layer of fibres, this hibernation spot provides a constant, slightly humid and not too dry, predator-free environment for animals that do not want to be disturbed during the colder times of the year.
Who would have thought clematis contributes to wildlife conservation?
Growing clematis in pots
Ken Black UK keneblack4@gmail.com
Some time ago I attended one of the British Clematis Society Northern Region outings, where Harry Caddick gave a fantastic demonstration on taking cuttings. One of his messages was that he believed that some clematis thrived better in pots than being planted in the garden and that if a clematis was not doing so well in a border, it would recover by being replanted (during the dormant season) in a pot.
At that time, I had, in my long border, a spindly REBECCA (‘Evipo016’) which only produced a handful of flowers each year. That autumn I dug her up and potted her into a 10 litre plastic pot using a rose tree and shrub compost with extra feed, and wow, next year she flowered her head off. I was instantly convinced of the merits of growing clematis in pots!
Now, I know that pots may not be a long-term solution for all clematis because some are too vigorous (although Val Le May Neville-Parry does grow some of her Montanas in large pots), but many clematis benefit from the controlled environment that a pot and a good potting mixture provides. It is now the starting point for most clematis in my garden whether they have been purchased as young plants or grown by me from seeds or cuttings. I find that it takes about four years for a clematis to outgrow a 10 litre pot, by which time it has a very robust root system which is far more suited to making the transition to a garden border than a younger plant. Too many people, in my experience, plant clematis in garden borders before they are really equipped to cope, but by using pots for the first three or four years of its life, any plant’s chance of adapting to such conditions is greatly enhanced.
At the risk of offending commercial clematis growers, I would also suggest that clematis purchased as two-year-old plants don’t all necessarily have a sufficiently developed root ball to be planted straight into the border. I have purchased such plants
myself, only to find that the transfer to a 2 or 3 litre pot in the nursery had been recent, and that the root ball was in fact still at the 1 litre pot stage.
My method for the growing-on of a clematis is to use a plastic 10 litre pot with three 1.5 metre canes tied at the top to create a wigwam. I find that this structure accommodates all the early and late largeflowering cultivars, Viornas, Integrifolias and even Viticellas. Once new growth reaches the top I begin to tie the stems back down the canes again, to create a ‘pillar’ of flower. If you go onto the BCS Facebook page you will find a great example of this in the video of ‘Suzy Mac’, posted by
Using a cane wigwam is only one way of providing structure: small metal obelisks and hooped canes are also good ways to display clematis. I use some of the taller potted clematis to fill gaps between the established perennials in our long border, or I angle them into shrub roses that have finished flowering. This allows me to play around with colour combinations before deciding where each clematis should finally be planted out.
The black plastic pots that I use are not excessively attractive so for display I hide them in slightly larger outer pots. For permanent positions I use ceramic outer pots, but for shorter term displays I use much lighter-to-move plastic ones.
Brian Collingwood.
Why just stop at one clematis per pot, however? For part of the BCS display at Tatton this year I planted three 15 litre pots with young clematis which I had bought at the Malvern Spring Show, in May. I used two hooped canes in each pot, tied at the top to create a three-dimensional dome. One pot contained four ‘Etoile Violette’, one contained four ‘Pink Fantasy’ (although one of the plants turned out to be a different variety) and one contained four ‘Star of India’ plants. In the end, only the pot containing ‘Etoile Violette’ was good enough to take to Tatton, but the others, warts and all, provided some lovely late summer colour on our patio, at home.
When planting directly into a ceramic pot, be careful about the shape of the pot! A few years ago, I planted ‘Cragside’ and C. macropetala ‘Wesselton’ together in a large pot and for the first four years they looked really good together. However, this year the flowers on both plants were less spectacular and I realised that they had reached the potting on stage, or required planting into one of the garden borders.
‘Cragside’ and C.macropetala‘Wesselton’
Unfortunately, as you can see from the next picture, the shape of the pot will not allow me to take either clematis out without inflicting severe, and possibly terminal damage to the roots. The alternative is to break the pot! This dilemma has been the subject of high level discussions in the Black household, with my wife taking the view that the pot is more attractive than the clematis (‘and surely you have enough of them already, Ken!’) whereas I can’t bring myself to sacrifice two established clematis just to save a ceramic pot, nice though it is. The moral of this story, therefore, is never plant a clematis into a pot with a shape that won’t allow easy ‘sliding out’, at a later date!
Over recent years there has been a commercial trend of producing shorterstemmed clematis suitable for patios. All make lovely container plants but many old favourites can also be enjoyed in this way. Of my current collection of over 200 clematis (excluding seedlings and young plants) I now have approximately seventy in pots, which I move around the garden when in flower. At the time of writing, one of the positions on our patio is occupied by ‘Błękitny Anioł’ (BLUE ANGEL), but earlier in the year the same spot accommodated ‘Helsingborg’, followed by ‘Guernsey Cream’, ‘Fireworks’, ‘Mrs N Thompson’ (pruned for late flowering), ‘Suzy Mac’ and C. florida var. florida ’Sieboldiana’
Of course, a prerequisite of rotating clematis in this way is to have somewhere to store them before and after flowering – I do appreciate that not everyone has the space for this. The area around our greenhouse is now crammed with clematis at various stages of growth and I am told that it looks more like part of a garden centre display than part of a domestic garden. Obsessions can do this though, can’t they!
In his book Clematis for Small Spaces and in his live presentations, Raymond Evison extols the virtues of companion planting even for pot grown clematis. Whilst it is true that clematis look very good with companion plants I would not advocate putting them in the same pot because of the problems and risks of disentangling root systems when planting out, or repotting. By all means surround the potted clematis with lower growing perennials or annuals – but don’t use the same pot unless the plants really are destined to be long-term entwined companions.
Whilst pots provide a good way of temporarily enjoying clematis on patios or in areas of the garden that would otherwise be problematic to fill, they can also provide more permanent solutions. For difficult areas, I have successfully used 20 or 25 litre pots with their bases removed. By part-sinking them into the ground to provide stability (and by using a good compost) they make beneficial environments for clematis whilst also allowing plants to extend their roots into the ground below. If you have access to an angle grinder, a ceramic or terracotta pot could be used – but I use robust plastic pots.
Of the hundreds of questions arising at the BCS stand at the Tatton Show this year, a significant proportion concerned problems with growing clematis in difficult locations or in poor soil. A lack of success from planting young clematis was another recurring theme.
As a possible solution to all these problems, growing clematis in pots was something that many had not thought of trying; however, this idea was immediately latched onto, with enthusiasm, by all. I therefore thought it was worthy of sharing here in our Journal.
References/Bibliography
All images ©Ken Black
Harry Caddick; Retired owner of Caddick’s Clematis Nursery, Thelwall, Cheshire
Val Le May Neville-Parry; Holder of the National Collection of Clematis montana
Brian Collingwood; BCS Journal Editor
Raymond Evison; Clematis for Small Spaces 2007 Timber press, Inc
Experiences with Clematis in Hanikka, Espoo, Finland
Timo Löfgren Finland timolofgren43@gmail.com
We’ve lived in a forested area in Espoo, Finland since 1984, on a parcel of land sloping towards the beaches of the Gulf of Finland. The garden is divided into two parts, with different kinds of soil. The upper part between the house and the driveway consists of a thin layer of garden-soil on a thick layer of heavy clay; the lower part has, under the garden soil, a thick layer of very fine sand and under that, clay. Around this lower garden we have a fence to keep out Roe and White-tailed deer (Capreolus capreolus and Odocoileus virginianus) and it is also furnished with metal screens against the Mountain and European hares (Lepus timidus and L. europaeus).
My main garden interest over the last twenty years has been Clematis. Börje Fri’s Sofianlehto Garden Center in Helsinki was then already offering, and still offers today, the largest supply of clematis in Finland. My collection also increased following visits to Estland (Estonia) and other countries and I have not always had sufficient willpower to resist the temptation of F.M. Westphal’s (Germany) and other internet suppliers. I have also experimented with cuttings and, inspired by articles by Brian Collingwood, I likewise started to grow clematis from seed. In web forums, my motto has always been ‘It is more difficult to find a place for the first ten clematis than for the next hundred’. I still have far too many clematis, but nature has several tricks to win back some of the space. In these notes, I will tell you about some of my experiences and problems.
Water voles
(Arvicola amphibius)
When we moved to this place, over thirty years ago, water voles were already a major problem, eating the roots of apple trees and
The Clematis 2017
ornamental plants. I therefore planted my first clematis inside metal cylinders, which acted as protective screens. Soon, though, we had so many voles that every now and then one’s boot would go ankle-deep into the soil! I started to make underground barriers. They consisted of galvanized 50cm high screens which I dug into the ground, leaving only a few centimeters visible. Over the screens I placed plastic sheets. I made many barriers of several square metres,
side by side, until most of the lower garden was protected. What a job, but it has helped! Now, the water voles have found the higher part of the garden. They seem to prefer phlox and clematis – Grrr! I’m too lazy now to dig in the heavy clay. Instead, I’ve tried applying poison but it was not tasty enough, compared to plants. One year I tried silage
liquid where formic acid was the effective acid component. I wetted moss with the acid and pushed it into the holes – it may have helped for a fortnight or so. My latest experiment has been with ammonia, produced by a reaction between diammonium phosphate (DAP: (NH4)2HPO4) and calcium hydroxide (CaOH). I poured a few watering cans of calcium hydroxide slurry in the holes, then after that an approximately
equivalent amount of DAP solution, and before packing the holes tightly with soil. I don’t know how the voles reacted (!) and the plants are still alive.
Sawfly (Eurhadinoceraeaventralis)
Many clematis growers in Finland have problems with sawfly, but not us; I have only ever seen a few of them in our garden. I believe that tits (Parus major, P. cearuleus) and other small birds are the main reason for that. I normally feed the tits during winter but also give them a few peanut halves every now and then, in other seasons, to keep them happy. As well as the tits, in past years when the garden was less rampant red wood ants were very active in the plot, and I would see large amounts of larvae being transported by the ants, a proportion of which were sawfly larvae, to their nests outside our parcel. Root knot nematodes (Meloidogynehapla)
In November of 2004 I was removing some clematis plants which had been grown in a big ceramic tub (in individual plastic pots) and I found odd ‘knots’ in the root system of
one of them. I tried to get information from web forums, but couldn’t find anything of value Then, one month later, I happened upon an article in Clematis XIV (2004:2) (the Journal of the Swedish Clematis Society) written by Maj-Lis Petterson. There I got a name with which to search,
Lower roots of ‘Abundance’. Some knots can be seen, possibly M.hapla.
in Google. Prior to seeing the article, though, I had already inadvertently made an error: I had made use of the soil outside the small pots by adding it to a soil mix which I then used for some cuttings; later on, I realised it was necessary to completely eliminate it altogether.
According to Petterson it is almost impossible to get rid of M. hapla. Maybe so. It turned out that one of my large-flowered clematis was very badly contaminated. It looked so ugly that I immediately buried it back in the ground and left it for several years. Since then I’ve added compost and grass clippings to the surface several times, to try to increase the activity of other living organisms, hoping that something among them could fight the nematodes. During the first winter, I removed the snow or piled it to one side, in order to get the soil around the roots to freeze as deeply as possible.
I discussed the problem with Sixten Widberg, who was familiar with it and had in fact lost a large number of plants with this problem (see Clematis International 2011, pp. 45-46). He recommended Tagetes minuta (Mexican Marigold) and sent some seeds. I grew them on that spot and, later, cut the plants into small pieces; however, I did not want to disturb the soil by digging them in so I just left them on the surface, mixed with grass clippings. It wasn’t until last autumn that I dared check the results. The contaminated roots had totally disappeared! Instead there was now a tiny, healthy looking clematis which I potted up and grew on for a year in an isolated place, so as to prevent any possibility of it infecting other plants. Recently I checked it again: clean!
Three years ago, I decided to divide an ‘Abundance’ clematis, which I had grown in a cut-off bucket for the purpose of propagation (see my other article, on propagation by ‘mound layering’). The roots inside the bucket looked clean, however, lower down in the root system there were a few knots. I decided to divide the healthy part into four portions, then potted them up with great care and cleanliness and placed the pots where they could not contaminate any other plants. I had removed all the infested roots and the soil nearest to them. After a full year the young plants were still clean and were planted out into the garden. The hole they had come from was then filled with clean soil mixed with a helping of calcium hydroxide – nothing would grow there again for at least a full year
Last summer the ‘knot problem’ revisited me. I had been sent a beautiful red flowered × diversifolia plant from England. For some unknown reason it grew really poorly, so I dug it up… and noticed so many knots in the root-system that I threw it, and three bags of soil, straight into the rubbish bin. In the meantime, I had read somewhere that ammonia could be effective against the root knot causative agent and I had purchased some diammonium phosphate (DAP) to test what I’d read. I coated the bottom and sides of the hole with solid calcium hydroxide, filled it with pure soil and then watered the patch with an aqueous DAP solution. I placed a plastic sheet over the whole area for several days. I’m not sure if there was any effect against the nematodes but all the plants around look fine.
The first knots were caused by M. hapla but the others could have been a different organism? Whichever, nowadays I am very careful – after working on a suspect place I destroy any dubious-looking plant, disinfect tools and boots with calcium hydroxide slurry, and avoid ever putting any deep-rooted weeds onto the compost heap.
An Artist in Her Garden – How Thistle with Skipper butterfly her long-ago musings evolved into a conversation Fran Palmeri USA franpalmeri@gmail.com
[Ed) DearBrian:IamsendingthisinhasteasIpreparetoleaveFloridaaheadof hurricaneIrma.Itlooksbad.Godhelpusall.IhavenoideawhereIwillendupbuthope tobebackintoucheventually.Iwillbecarryingmycellphone(andemail)withme. Sendingafewphotos,too.Fran.
Anna Lea Merritt appeared in my cellphone one day when I was searching for clematis. An Artist’s Garden Tended, Painted, Described came up on the internet address www.babel.hathitrust.org. After reading just a few pages of her book, I realised what a treasure she was – not only as a renowned painter, but as a writer and a gardener.
Born in 1844 into a Philadelphia Quaker family, Anna studied art on her own. ‘I simply determined to paint, because I couldn’t help it’, she wrote in her memoirs Love Locked Out. Later, after moving to Europe with her family in 1865 she took instruction from ‘masters’ in Germany, Italy and France. Art schools were closed to women in those days. In 1870, she settled in London and studied with Henry Merritt, who exhibited
regularly at the Royal Academy, over many years. Her neighbours included painters James McNeill Whistler, William Holman Hunt and George Watts. ‘Born in America, grafted on England, each country has a hand’, is how she described herself in ‘A Letter to Artists: Especially Women Artists’.
In the 1870s and ‘80s Anna painted dozens of portraits including luminaries such as James Russell Lowell (in London, where he served as the American ambassador), Mrs Stirling and Ellen Terry, as ‘the Nurse’ and ‘Juliet’, Oliver Wendell Holmes (painted in seven hours, in Boston) and Sir William Boxall, many of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy. Her etching of Sir Gilbert Scott was published to acclaim in the American Art Review in Boston. In 1889, Henry James sat for her. Imagine the conversations which took place during those sittings!
In addition to the Royal Academy, Anna’s paintings were exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Manchester City Art Gallery and other places, and won prizes at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and the Exposition Universelle in Paris. ‘Love Locked Out’, painted in 1889, commemorated her teacher Henry Merritt whom she married in 1877; tragically he died only three months after the wedding. Her painting was acquired for the Chantrey Collection by the Tate Gallery, the first by a female artist.
Enter Clematis.
After twenty years in London, Anna retired to Hurstbourne Tarrant, in Hampshire. A bout of boredom with village life prompted her to step out her back door into a tangle of weeds, including Traveller’s Joy in the hedgerows.
‘In the windswept hedgerows, the wild clematis still wears garlands of its gauzy seed vessels, more beautiful than its flowers and glimmering on pallid winter days like ghosts of summer’, she observed in the cold December garden. ‘Amen!’ said I, having seen the seedheads in the tawny winter landscapes of Florida. ‘gauzy seed vessels’ Anna was reinvented by her new calling – transforming a long-neglected plot into a work of art. ‘There is no philosophy of life, no beauty of art, which has not its seed in the earth or can flourish without knowledge of a garden’, she wrote in A Hamlet in Hampshire, her book about village life.
Making a pivot from canvas and paint she gardened with abandon. ‘At last it occurred to me to balance the whole duties of an artist against those of a gardener, I found the latter far more important, the rewards a hundredfold greater, and the garden our greatest teacher of colour, of composition and of form.’
Suddenly we are having a conversation….
She allows that ‘painting has been toil and trouble’. I sympathise and admit that I have it much easier. Photography has become second nature. I frame a picture, push a button and then rely on electronics to bring my creation into being. Hers is a painstaking process of transferring paint to canvas requiring years of training and hours of work and ‘far more physical and nervous endurance than the recreations of horticulture’.
How I resonate with ‘…the care of my flowers became a passion. Their wants and needs I studied as though they were conscious beings, as indeed I believe this to be.’ Though my flowers are wild, I tell her, they too require tending on a planet where wild places are growing scarce.
Our approaches to gardening are different, also. ‘An artist’s interest in gardening is to produce pictures without brushes’ she writes in the introduction to An Artist’s Garden. Mine is much more practical. Planting shade in this increasingly hot world is a top priority. For her it’s more an aesthetic value. ‘…shadows must be respected, not frittered away by planting insignificant things to destroy their broad silent depths. Masses of shadows are required as a foil for the colours that live in sunlight, painted by the gayest flowers.’
Another priority for me is providing for wildlife which live on the fringes of human existence. Each evening I compost the day’s fruit and vegetable clippings which are consumed by the rabbits, possums, raccoons and birds who frequent my garden. Cardinals and blue jays love squash seeds. I leave sabal palms untrimmed to provide housing for owls and bats and grapevine which hides the entrance to the rabbit’s burrow. We both agree that beauty is ever important. ‘There is immense beauty in the blooming of lavender. The flowers are so small and dim in colour but when the sun shines through them, the little bush looks like a cushion filled with long hat-pins and Gaillardiapulchella:‘Blanket flower’
Syngonanthusflavidulus:‘Hatpins’
every pin glistens with amethyst jewels.’ I have never seen lavender in Florida’s wild places but I do photograph a wildflower called ‘hat-pins’ regularly, in the pine flatwoods.
Adept at the art of gentle instruction, Anna Lea describes what to plant on garden walls in great detail: ‘the wall might be covered with yellow honeysuckle and white clematis, in front of which, plant clumps of yellow Doronicum and white Pyrethrum (now Chrysanthemum or Tanacetum), Gaillardia , a few yellow Pyrethrum or sunflowers, white and yellow lilies, Japanese anemones, white foxgloves, white snapdragons…the third wall, cover with Clematis ‘Jackmannii’, Wisteria, grape vine and blue passion flower.’ Some of these flowers I photograph in the wild.
She even provides a schedule for taking care of clematis: ‘Towards the end of February is the time to prune the Clematis ‘Jackmannii’. The tangle of last year’s branches hangs along the top of the wall, and if not pruned freely the new growths would be weak and far away from their allotted place; through severe frosts this tangle is protection to the lower buds and I wait until late in March to cut down the old wood, to new buds. The same method is to be observed for Clematis flammula, which in September is a mass of deliciously fragrant white. That is hardier and may be cut down in the autumn. Clematis montana blooms early in May, while its leaves are scarcely unfolded. These beautiful white stars come on the wood of last summer, therefore not until after they have bloomed is it time to cut them back to the point where new shoots may be formed for next year’s flowers.’
Throughout the evening she sits with me and by some miracle we span the years between us.
‘Yes, yes, yes!’ I say, when she observes that ‘the most beautiful hours in a summer garden, the most perfect moments of the year are lost by those proper people who dine
Passifloraincarnata:Passion flower
at eight and go to dress just as the sun’s low rays, slanting over the ground, illuminate spires of fairy bells, kindle a flaming heart of roses on high walls while the whole earth a quiet stillness holds. Flowers then appear to be free from all shadow, in unearthly clearness of colour, more tender yet more distinct than in the glare of sunshine.’ Most evenings I’m at Oscar Scherer State Park where sometimes I’ll hear the clink of ice cubes in highball glasses from across a fence. It’s cocktail hour for those who live on a schedule. Me – I’ve put off eating so I can catch the sunset through the pines. ‘I am so thankful not to be in the least bound by polite customs, so that my food can be gobbled at any uninteresting moment, that I am always able to linger out of doors until this wonderful evening glow has faded’, she tells me.
Field of thistle, Florida
All evening, Anna and I talk plants and art and life! When she mentions clematis ‘climbing with little green hands catching hold of any friendly twig or clasping each other in the rush up the old wall, until they can ride on the top and then festoon it with garlands of purple or pale blue stars. ‘Traveller’s Joy’ and ‘Virgin’s Bower’ are names that testify our gratitude to the glorifier of thorny hedges.’ I’m thinking how once, by an old quarry near Brooksville, those ‘little green hands’ transformed a rusty chain link fence into a work of art.
Most of all I enjoy accompanying her on a jaunt out into the countryside to look at ‘the plants whose poor or humble relations are running wild about the fields and hedges of the country which will best reward culture in the garden. I take the things that will do best and plant them in large groups.’ I’m more conservative in these days of habitat loss but sometimes if there’s a group of ‘commoners’ along a wayside I will pluck a few to
The Clematis 2017 take home to the garden, for the butterflies which hang out there. As for getting lost and having to ask for directions back home, I’ve been known to get turned around too, I tell her.
How delighted I am too at her inclusion of my favorite wildflower, ‘Horrible Thistle’ Cirsium horribilis. ‘How wonderful is the whole family of thistles, with its taste for travel?’ How I would like to drive her down Florida’s back roads to see fields of thistles blooming in springtime. We would pick a few and I’d package up a few blooms for her to take home, as a memento of her visit. Never have I experienced such rapport with someone via the written word.
Clematisbaldwinii, Florida
Her reference to having a Noah’s ark in childhood brings a chill: I have been trying to picture my home beneath the waves of the encroaching Gulf of Mexico. It’s impossible to visualize and dreadful to anticipate but it appears it might happen soon. I am writing this just before fleeing south Florida ahead of hurricane Irma!
Anna’s safe remove is bittersweet comfort. I envy her hundred years’ distance. Now my nature outings make me feel like I am using up a line of credit that will have to be repaid eventually.
She reassures me that ‘change is life’. In the meantime, ‘the sacred joy poured out to lonely people who live silently among the silent green things of the earth, among whom we find companions and angels who praise the Lord. At first, we care for flowers, and then they care for us, and carry us beyond the realm of dreams, among the mountains of rapture, where we recognize in myriad forms most various, most beautiful the living thought of God.’
Anna Lea Merritt’s ‘Excuses to garden through the week’.
‘For people who are not painters I have codified a set of excuses, adapted to most circumstances, which will enable to argue their conscience into silence and literally to turn over a new leaf. You, dear reader (and gardener) will surely recognize at least some of these.’
Sunday – you may work in the garden because it is not really work, but all happiness and holiness. Draw the line at digging.
Monday – work all day in the garden so as to have it off your mind for the rest of the week.
Tuesday – continue to work in the garden because this is early in the week.
Wednesday – begin the other things but bring your reading or sewing into the garden, where you may enjoy it as background. It will immediately become a foreground.
Thursday – work in the garden because you did not yesterday.
Friday – work in the garden to make it quite tidy by the end of the week, as you don’t intend to work on Saturday.
Saturday – work in the garden because it is a holiday, and you will do as you like. Other reasons: When quite well and happy, work in the garden because you are glad.
SOURCES
An Artist’s Garden Tended, Painted, Described. 1908 London. George Allen and Sons Guide to the Anna Lea Merritt Papers, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Archives and Special Collections, Library and Research Center, Jason Steiber, 2006
‘A Letter to Artists; Especially Women Artists’, Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Volume LXV No. 387, March 1900, pp. 463-469.
Love Locked Out - The Memoirs of Anna Lea Merritt, Edited by Galina Gorokhoff, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
A Hamlet in Old Hampshire London 1902
A Brief History of John Richards Nurseries Ltd: From Percy Picton to Vince Denny
John Richards UK www.johnrichardsnurseries.co.uk
The UK horticultural firm known as John Richards Nurseries Ltd – specialists in the production of clematis and other climbers, heathers, trees and shrubs – first began life in a very small way, back in 1969.
In the five years prior to this, the owner, John Richards, had been employed by the late great horticulturist Percy Picton, famous, amongst other things, as the raiser of the Clematis ‘Percy Picton’, ‘Hagley Hybrid’ and (Montana Group) ‘Picton's Variety’ . At that time, Picton owned and ran Old Court Nurseries Ltd in the nearby village of Colwall; the business is now being continued by his son Paul and granddaughter Helen. John joined this firm straight from school and, while studying horticulture at the nearby Pershore College of Horticulture on a day release basis, also learned a great deal about the nursery trade – which one cannot learn at college – from his job at Old Court Nursery
Picton had worked for fifteen years alongside Ernest Markham, Head Gardener to William Robinson, owner of the famous gardens at Gravetye Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex. The three above mentioned cultivars were raised from seed collected at Gravetye and were named when they flowered at Hagley Court, Hereford, where Picton had taken up the job of Head Gardener. He later obtained seed from Benary in Germany and from this raised the following new cultivars: ‘Blue Diamond’ , ‘Eva Maria’ , ‘Paul Picton’, ‘Grey Lady’ , ‘Silver Moon’ , ‘Twilight’ and ‘Joan Picton’ (Percy’s wife). The first four cultivars are probably lost to cultivation. ‘Blue Diamond’ was very good but ‘Eva Maria’, though attractive in flower, had stems as brittle as glass rods!
Picton came to Colwall in the late 1940’s to reinvigorate and expand Ernest Ballard’s nursery, following the dark days of the war years. He was, by then, acquainted with many of the greatest gardeners of the day and had accumulated an encyclopaedic
Jim Fisk, pictured by John’s grandfather Fred King, around 1987
Flashback to ca. 1987: in the days when John’s father, Graham Richards, delivered saleable Clematis to Jim Fisk’s nursery at Wesselton, largely to meet orders that Jim had taken at Chelsea, the previous May
Sumptuous ‘Ruby Celebration’, raised at John Richards Nurseries Ltd knowledge of plants, especially clematis. He had helped Walter Ingwersen set up Birch Farm Nursery, on the Gravetye estate, and this great plantsman enthused the young Picton into a lifelong love of alpines. From his experiences with Robinson and Ingwersen, Picton came to understand the critical importance of the passing on of knowledge of plants and their culture to other younger gardeners, further down the line. In due course, Picton became the owner of Old Court Nurseries Ltd. He later became a TV personality, along with Percy Thrower, firstly in ‘Gardening Club’ and later in ‘The Garden Game’. He always encouraged young people to further their interest in plants. He inspired John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries and John Richards of Mathon, both of whom are now well known and respected actors on the horticultural stage
‘Spring Velvet’, a striking seedling, raised at John Richards Nurseries Ltd
Following Picton’s passing, his friends created a fitting memorial when, in 1987, the Wyche and Colwall Horticultural Society founded the ‘Percy Picton Memorial Fund’, to provide grants to students of horticulture. The trustees ascertained that some students needed help to gain ‘hands on experience’; co-operation with Ashwood Nurseries, Great Dixter Gardens and Chris Pattison resulted in the provision of short term working and learning placements. Every academic year, at Pershore College, the student who presents the best dissertation receives an award of £50 from the Percy Picton Memorial Fund. John Richards had always intended to one day ‘run his own show’ and this was fully understood by Picton, who gave him much help and encouragement in the early days. The first step was the rental of ‘his own plot of land' extending to an acre, about half way between Old Court Nurseries and the present site of the John Richards Nursery,
A stunning new cultivar (not registered yet) – the intention is to name it ‘Hope’
This beautiful new cultivar has not been registered yet: the intended name is ‘Joy’ while still working part-time for Mr Picton. The early crops grown on this rented land were somewhat different from those produced nowadays, not least in that some of them were edible (lettuce and salad onions are some examples that spring to mind!). However, these edible crops (the main reason for growing these being a quick return – provided all went according to plan) were soon grown alongside one or two examples of the
forerunners of today's available stock; clematis, heathers and Acer pseudoplatanus 'Brilliantissimum' (sycamore 'Brilliantissimum').
If the crops grown and number of acres were initially on a scale much reduced to that of today's enterprise, so also were the tools and equipment. Richards’ first ‘vehicle’ had two wheels only – a Honda 50cc motor cycle! – and a fair bit of the paraphernalia could be carried on the back of this motorbike – watering can, spade, as well as bundles of plants and bags of cuttings.
By and by, another plot of land (about half a mile further along the road and part of the site of the present Nursery) was purchased and by this time the part-time job at Old Court Nursery had been given up. The business had begun to develop and more time was needed to tend to the increased acreage and range of crops.
To begin with, family members (parents and grandparents) helped with propagation and other essential tasks, then, as the business slowly grew, a few staff were taken on. Over the years, neighbouring land has been purchased and on the present site the original 2.5 acres (0.8 hectares) has been expanded to 13 acres (4.2 hectares) and, as you might imagine, the crop range has grown correspondingly. In 1970, approximately 900 clematis (25 varieties) were offered, today the figures are 50,000 clematis in 180 varieties; then, around 400 heathers (9cm pots) in about 12 varieties, today, 180,000 in 150 varieties. Clematis and heathers have been propagated and sold right from the beginning, but in 1970 just a very limited range of conifers, trees and shrubs appeared in the (one page) availability list that was given to customers. Today, a wide range of these are grown and John is always seeking to expand the ranges with new and interesting plants.
Clematis has always been a particular speciality. Many nurseries produce these in relatively small pots, either a 1 litre or even 0.5 litre size. One of the distinctive features of the John Richards Nursery is the insistence upon producing plants in a minimum size of 2 litres. The extra root ball size of 2 litres (due to the plants being produced over two full seasons) leads to much quicker establishment and significantly reduced first year mortality in customers’ gardens. As well as 2 litres, the option of 3 litres size is provided for a certain number of varieties. It is important to remember that clematis belong to the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) which means they enjoy rich, moist (but not waterlogged) soil. They are stem rooting plants so they should be planted 2-3” (5075mm) deeper than they were growing in the pot. This ensures that there will be several buds below ground level.
In order that customers can actually see flowers at purchase time, the plants’ vines are supported on 4 feet (1.2m) bamboo canes (the cane height is of no relevance for ‘dormant season planting’ though – actually, plants should in fact be cut down to around 1.5 feet (0.5m) when planted out during the dormant season).
Where greater quantities and an extended range of plants are to be produced, many more people are of course needed; even though many of the stages of plant production are now automated or at least semi-automated (eg compost mixing, potting, irrigation) there are still many tasks in this trade which are ‘labour intensive’, for example, plant propagation, pest control, caning and tying-in of climbing plants, labelling, preparing plants for dispatch to customers etc. While some mechanization can be incorporated where it gives an overall advantage, methods are nevertheless constantly being assessed;
‘Sir Edward Elgar’, another stunning plant raised at John Richards Nurseries Ltd
however, often a job ‘by hand’ is still the best option. At times, chemicals still have to be used to control pests, diseases or weeds but the search is always on for ways of solving such problems using exclusively organic means.
One almost unique feature about the Nursery is that in recent years there has been an incremental change in the approach as to what is regarded as the best medium: initially, a switch from a mulch produced from cocoa shells to a product called ‘Forest Gold’, made up of pulverised chipboard; then, a graduation to pulverised pine bark, then, more recently, to a blend of bark and wood chips. The purpose of this is to cover the compost surface with a layer of organic material – this discourages the growth of weeds, especially moss and liverwort. Such a material should 1. meet those objectives; 2. be visually attractive; 3. be relatively durable; 4. hold together while allowing free movement of air and water; 5. be pleasant to handle and 6. ideally be a by-product from another industry.
The nursery is situated just to the west of the Malvern Hills, these being a granite outcrop approximately nine miles long, running north to south. In many ways the area is like a small-scale version of the Schwartzwald area of Germany. It is an area of interest geologically, the main Hills being of plutonic rock, the foothills being of Silurian shale and the area where the nursery is, at 450 ft. above sea level, being on the edge of old red sandstone. Fair-weather visitors often remark on the pleasant surroundings but they do not realise how cold the area is, especially when the winds whistle in from the north east. From that direction, there is no land higher than the Malverns (max. 1300 ft.) before the Ural Mountains, where Europe gives way to Asia.
Office procedures have also changed dramatically over the years. At the beginning, records of plants propagated and sold, together with purchases, other miscellaneous files and so on could be contained within a small desk. Nowadays, of course, computers help with these and many other record-keeping tasks.
This all means that the single employee, back in 1970/1, has become anything from, say, twenty-five employees at the less busy times of year to thirty-five to forty at the peak of the season; also, the Honda motorcycle has been replaced by six delivery vehicles of varying sizes, to transport customer orders (often on Danish trolleys). As for the spade and watering can – well, they can still be found on the nursery (not the original ones, perhaps!) but they are of course nowadays supplemented by a huge range of other more sophisticated tools, and the nursery has evolved numerous novel methods of production over the years.
More recent clematis introductions raised at the nursery include ‘Spring Velvet’ , ‘Ruby Celebration’, ‘Sir Edward Elgar’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Joy’. All these plants are second generation seedlings from the original Denny plants, simply harvested from naturally pollinated flowers.
John Richards
John Richards Nurseries Ltd, Mathon Road, Colwall, Herefordshire, WR13 6EW ‘GrownandnurturedatthefootoftheMalvernHills’
Twenty-Five Years of ‘Floyds Clematis
and Climbers’
Marcel Floyd UK sales@floydsclimbers.co.uk
IAt
Chelsea, 2016
t all began in the summer of 1992. I had been running a wholesale nursery (for somebody else) for the previous five years and one day I thought to myself ‘I’ve had enough of this!’ and decided to go it alone – which was not a straightforward thing to do by any means. I had to find money for the mortgage on my home every month plus all the set-up costs for my new venture. I worked at a garden centre four days a week to cover the mortgage whilst every spare moment was put into building polytunnels and then covering them, at my site at Kington Langley, just outside Chippenham in Wiltshire.
We potted up our first clematis liners in June of that year; they came from Guernsey Clematis, Bradshaw Nurseries and Miles Nurseries and I still remember it to this day The first clematis I ever sold was the lovely scented Clematis × triternata ‘Rubromarginata’ – forty of them, to Bowood Garden Centre in the September of 1992: Floyds Wholesale Nursery had begun! Over that winter I was on the road contacting all the people with whom I had dealt over the previous five years, and going about finding new customers. I remember calling in at Westonbirt Plant Centre in February of ‘93 and saying to Glyn Toplis, the plant centre Manager ‘Try some of my clematis!’ He said he would, but didn’t expect to sell many, so I dropped fifty plants – five plants each of ten varieties – on the Friday to see how they might go over the weekend. On the Monday he was on the phone asking for another hundred and it went on like that from March to September! One - two hundred plants every week, a mix of climbers and clematis.
Soon they were one of ten or so garden centres I began to supply regularly and everything mushroomed and developed very well over the next twelve to fifteen years or
so when, all of a sudden, I lost three managers at my best-selling garden centres in the space of six months. Things were about to change and I realised that if I didn’t change with them, we would be ‘no more’!
At Malvern: Shipwreck
It was in 2005 that someone suggested that Floyd’s Climbers and Clematis should hire a pitch at the Royal Cornwall Show. Now, I had always said to my wife Sara that I did not want to ‘ go retail’…but I would give it a go. We needed to create a good eye-catching display of some kind, and with the employment of some imagination we brought in some artistic metal tree structures and
bedecked them with the clematis, so that it appeared that the plants were sprawling up, over and into them. We used ‘Alba Luxurians’ (Viticella Group) and ‘Aphrodite’ (hybrid of C. florida) to name but two, and won a silver medal for our efforts – not a bad first try!
At the end of the show Sara and I realised it was time to start changing things, so by the end of 2010 we had got out of wholesale for good I have to say it was great not to be sitting on 10,000 plants reserved by garden centres only to find they would take just the 5,000 ‘because of a wet spring’
Between 2005 and 2010 we expanded into all the County shows, winning ‘Gold’ and ‘Large Gold’ along the way – our exhibiting skills improved with each show we attended. In 2010 we did our first RHS Show – the Malvern Spring Flower Show. We only got a Bronze but that didn’t matter because it turned out to be a fantastic event for us. We had an amazing display plant of CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN ‘Fairy Blue’ and, due to the tremendous thrill it created among the public, we sold over 400 plants of that single cultivar alone.
With that last event in mind I reflect on our earlier years. The comparison is quite incredible – looking back on my records of what we sold to garden centres, here are the top ten selling varieties, as a wholesale clematis supplier:
Best-selling plants as a wholesaler to Garden Centres and similar outlets:
Sales Volume Plant
Best seller ‘Dr Ruppel’
2nd ‘Niobe’
3rd ‘Carnaby’
4th ‘Vyvyan Pennell’
5th ‘Nelly Moser’
6th C. montana var. rubens
7th (Montana Group) C. ‘Elizabeth’
8th (Alpina Group) ‘Pink Flamingo’
9th (Alpina Group) ‘Frances Rivis’
10th (Forsteri Group) ‘Early Sensation’
Now, the big shows are totally different – it is all about what is on your display. Here is a current list of the most popular plants in the show arena. For us, Clematis VIENETTA (‘Evipo006’) is currently by far the most requested cultivar at our shows.
Sales Volume Plant
Best seller VIENETTA (‘Evipo006’)
2nd
3rd
REBECCA (‘Evipo016’)
PRINCESS KATE (‘Zoprika’)
4th CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN ‘Fairy Blue’
5th × cartmanii ‘Avalanche’
6th ‘NUBIA’ (‘Evipo079’)
7th ‘Omoshiro’
8th OCTOPUS (‘Zooct’)
9th ‘Charlotte’
10th ‘Tie Dye’
The above are some of the plants you’ll see generally looking good at the main RHS shows. Obviously, the selections vary, but these are our own most requested plants.
Now, compare the above group with our website top sellers, below:
Sales Volume Plant
Best seller (VITICELLA GROUP) ‘BETTY CORNING’
2nd (VITICELLA GROUP) ‘Jolly Jake’
3rd ‘Charlotte’
4th
REBECCA (‘Evipo016’)
5th C. urophylla ‘Winter Beauty’
6th ‘Sonnette’
7th ‘Ben’s Beauty’
8th (Koreana Group) ‘Broughton Bride’
9th ‘Rōguchi’
10th (Koreana Group) ‘Blue Eclipse’
The Clematis 2017
What can be noticed is that most of the plants that sell from our website are the smallerflowering varieties and, also, plants which are in short supply in the garden centres.
On to what we enjoy doing
Celebrating 25 years most on the show circuit – displaying plants which are of interest to the public but also fun to do for ourselves. In 2015 we created our ‘Clematis Shipwreck’ themed display and presented it for the first time to the Malvern Spring Flower Show audience. We featured on ‘Gardeners’ World’ with Rachel De Thame – clematis sprawling out of cannon ports, clambering up masts and netting and spilling out of the treasure chest amongst diamonds and gold doubloons: the idea behind it –Henry Morgan and the first clematis arriving upon our shores, Clematis viticella, in 1569.
At Chelsea in 2016 we were on ‘Jolly Jake’ was named for our son TV again with our Japanese Tea House, inspired by Robert Fortune and the largeflowered clematis he brought into Japan from China in the 1800s, from where he introduced C. florida, C. patens and C. lanuginosa, the parents of so many of the beautiful large-flowered clematis in our gardens today.
We have now reached 2017 and we celebrated twenty-five years of Floyds Climbers and Clematis with a ‘Champagne Glasses’ display at Malvern. It has been a tough twenty-five years in the business of these lovely climbers I have often thought ‘there has to be an easier way to make a living’ – yes maybe – but as colourful? – no – and when those shoots start coming up in the spring and the first flower buds begin to break, nothing can beat it! Hope I manage another twenty-five!
Denny’s Clematis Nursery Catalogue
Brian Collingwood UK bcollingwood@ntlworld.com
How pleasing to see the Denny’s Clematis Nursery catalogue again, after so many years! It was kindly sent to me by Denise and Harry Caddick and brought back fond memories of the many visits I made to Sylvia and Vince Denny’s special nursery, in the ‘90s. It was only half an hour’s drive away and I would call over from time to time to browse plants, talk clematis and gratefully garner knowledge from two of the UK’s authorities on the genus Clematis. No-one could ever be more generous and encouraging than Vince and Sylvia! Almost every time I left, Vince would insist that I take with me such and such a plant, or this batch of seedlings or that batch of seed. Many, many times I drove home with a bootful or back seat full of very exciting plants.
The Dennys by then were long since acknowledged ‘greats’ in the clematis world; what a privilege it was to be able to chat with them at length – I will never forget the incredible kindness and friendliness afforded to me.
When I browse this list of plants I still marvel at how two individuals could produce and keep in stock such a fantastic range of clematis cultivars and species plants. It was like an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ for the clematis lover, and has stayed firmly in my thoughts. It was marvelous to wander around the place, see the plants and take it all in.
But this, of course, was only half the story – the real jewels lay behind the scenes: Clematis texensis, C. viorna, C. fusca, C. addisonii, C. crispa, C. florida, C. koreana and many more, all found their way back home to my greenhouses. Most of these plants ranked as ‘extremely rare’ in the UK at that time and my gratitude was, and is, immense.
I decided to reproduce the catalogue (Sylvia thinks it is year 2001) in this year’s The Clematis in the hope that it might bring back good memories or interest for you, too.
Clematis‘Vince Denny’
Clematis‘Sylvia Denny’ Sylvia receives a Certificate of Merit
Northern BCS Group 2017 Visits
Suzanne Reade UK readesue@gmail.com
As usual, we began the year with a ‘snowdrop walk’ but this time to a different location. I’d been to Lyme Park early last year and found lots of spring interest, so the Park was adopted for this year’s snowdrop walk. It was arranged for a Friday because parking there at the weekend is always problematic; the garden isn’t open every day, either. A few hardened BCS souls braved the weather to enjoy the different vistas. Kath Etherden, who volunteers at the garden, was our leader and with her inside knowledge (and a copy of the garden guide) we had a personal tour, including views seen in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice.
A larger number of members took up the invitation from Taylors Clematis’ to visit their nursery (21st May), for a day just for BCS. Chris and Suzy Cocks, the owners, brought us up to speed about the latest introductions onto the clematis scene, while we enjoyed coffee and cake. One plant I saw, ‘Charmaine’, looked particularly showy It occurred to me that she would make an excellent present for my friend of that name –so that was my first purchase.
Chris then took us on a tour of the nursery, showing how they manage the development of the plants in their many polytunnels. There was a fine example of C. ‘Apple Blossom’ (Armandii Group) in the evergreen house. This instantly caught my eye because I had once seen this plant (while away on holiday) covering a whole wall – I wanted to get one to perform a similar task for my daughter. Chris then gave us some insight about the mammoth commitment and effort involved in managing such large numbers of plants, at all stages of growth from cuttings to full plants, which of course most folk outside of the day to day world of the clematis nursery trade would not immediately appreciate: for example, on Sundays, when there are no staff in work, they often spend six or more hours just keeping plants adequately watered. What a task! It is hard work but makes all the difference in terms of the quality of plants sent to buyers.
ClematisarchesatDunham
One of Chris’ current projects is the creation of an archway of clematis over a frame of ‘agricultural netting’ and he stopped to explain to us the floral effect he was trying to achieve. It reminded some of us of the arches at Dunham Massey. (This stimulated us to decide to revisit Dunham later in the year, when the Viticella Group plants would be flowering. This took place on August 13th, see later in this article.)
At the conclusion of our tour we all wandered off to satisfy our clematis purchasing urges, convincing ourselves that one could always find room for one more plant. It was hard to choose because there were so many to select from, and all in such beautiful condition! It was a really great day, both interesting and informative. Our appreciative thanks to Chris and Suzy for affording us the time out of their extremely busy schedule.
In early June, Garden Centre Plants gave us a tremendous insight into the operation of their Nursery, which produces thousands of clematis each year for the Garden Centre trade. The clematis were housed in an enormous tunnel. In one section there were plants with no canes – the reason being that they keep them cut down very low for two full years, thereby encouraging the plantlets to form a very strong root system. Brian Collingwood has given a full report on this visit elsewhere in the Journal.
Our next outing, on 9th July, was to revisit Newby Hall to see the recently replanted herbaceous borders. I was thrilled to be able to book us in for a guided tour by the head gardener. He doesn’t normally do such tours on a Sunday but a group of visiting Americans also wanted a tour, so we followed on from them. It was a fascinating outing as he related the reasons for their choice of plants and the problems they face. Plants also die for no apparent reason for them, too – we all felt slightly comforted by this!
Throughout the garden the hard landscaping is very formal, with three distinct sunken levels paved with York stone and brick. An ancient stone Byzantine corn grinder is the ornate centrepiece. All three levels are now planted to flower all through the season, to give long-lasting interest. Some plants have been sited in conventional style such as the four Rosa ‘Ballerina’ in the lower beds and Iris flavescens (Yellowish Iris) on
A fantastic day at Taylors Clematis
At Newby Hall
some of the main axes Most of the planting, however is of a relaxed nature, using plants such as Paeonia lactiflora cultivars and Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ during the early season, moving through to Gaura lindheimeri, Dahlia merckii, Delphinium cultivars, Argyranthemum and Thalictrum delavayi ‘Album’, to name but a few, later on in the year.
In the past few years the entire border has been replanted; even though many of the plants were performing quite well, they were ready to be lifted and divided. This was an opportunity to completely overhaul the planting scheme, and adopt a more cohesive design. The work was undertaken in two phases during the closed seasons; the first stage was completed in the Autumn of 2013 followed by the larger second phase during the winter of 2015. Plant establishment has been excellent, with many bulking up rapidly and achieving almost their full mature height in one season’s growth. This is a testament to the importance of soil preparation and the overall excellent siting of this border, which provides near perfect conditions for herbaceous plants to flourish. A new, modern palette has been incorporated, with colour and form carefully selected by garden curator Lucinda Compton. Softer pastels are strengthened by vibrant lilacs, magenta pink, lime green, claret and silver. Within the new design, Newby favourites such as Delphinium cultivars and Campanula lactiflora are still well represented, and these sit comfortably with the many exciting new introductions.
Cornusat Newby Hall
Forms represented by Cynara (globe artichoke) and Eryngium, are strengthened by the giant Scotch thistle, Onopordum acanthium. Crambe cordifolia gives a wonderful bridal bouquet of white flowers in late May, and, later, a fine skeleton of tiny dew drops. Aster species have readily bulked up – full of flower in late August, their pinks and lilacs complementing the strong claret of Dahlias ‘Hillcrest Royal’ and ‘Admiral Rawlings’. Colourful frontal plants including Sedum ‘Red Cauli’, S. ‘Green Expectations’ and Origanum dot their way down the length of the
Members of the Northern BCS Group at Dunham Massey, with 'Hågelby Pink' beds, punctuated by the magenta of the long-flowering Geranium ‘Patricia’, thus ensuring there is colour from late spring through to late summer. The border is a wonderful haven for bees, butterflies and dragonflies.
Stephanie Warburton presents new BCS member Martin Rogers with a baby clematis plant - all new joiners receive a plant on attending a Norther visit!
Newby Hall’s National Collection of Cornus was started by Mr Robin Compton VMH in 1990. He was an astute plantsman with a passion for trees and shrubs. The collection was started when Mr Compton moved a stressed Cornus
The Clematis 2017
florida f. rubra from near the Hall and replanted it in what later became Cornus Bed 1. The specimen recovered and grew well, and the collection was born. His father, Major Compton, had been growing species such as Cornus kousa and C. mas for many years –the oldest C. kousa was originally planted in the spring of 1937. 'Hågelby Pink' at Dunham Massey
We revisited the Dunham Massey rose garden in August. Here, there are wide arches and gazebos filled with lots of beautiful clematis, plus seats to sit on and admire them from, but, strangely, there is no mention of this feature to alert visitors to it! They were not as gorgeous as last year as many were now past their best but it was still very well worth a visit. Heather Turner invited us to afternoon tea once again, tempting us with delicious cakes and a chance to relax and chat in her garden. She took us on a tour of her garden because she wanted help in naming those clematis whose labels had got lost. We all admired her ability to name most of her plants with both the common and the Latin names.
Our final outing of the year will be to visit Richard Hodson, of Hawthornes Nursery in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire who has invited us to a seed collecting day in October. This will increase the availability of seeds for next year’s BCS Seed Exchange. Richard will also give us a talk about his experiences of growing clematis from seed.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the events this year. It was a pleasure to meet everyone again, particularly our new members.
BCS Northern Group: 19th June 2017: Visit to Garden Centre Plants Ltd Nurseries
Brian Collingwood UK bcollingwood@ntlworld.com
Leader Sue Reade organised yet another informative and enjoyable day out for Northern Group BCS Members, this time in the form of a splendidly interesting visit to Garden Centre Plants Ltd’s expansive nursery site near Preston in Lancashire. We were treated to a guided tour of the thirty-five acres facility, within which many thousands of plants are raised for sale each year, by Simon Catterall, GCP’s sales manager. The weather was very kind to us and we strolled through glasshouses, polytunnels and open outdoor beds, Simon’s ongoing commentary covering the varied aspects of getting plants all the way from the cutting/liner stages through to the sales delivery vans. Of course, our main interest was GCP’s involvement with Clematis – by the end of the day we were all thoroughly delighted by what we had seen and heard, picking up, incidentally, many tips and ideas along the way. Everyone really enjoyed the day, gaining lots of insight into the commercial culture and the production of young plants, as well as understanding a little more about the retail marketing of clematis.
GCP is now part of the Barton Grange Group of companies and, since being established in 1974, the nursery has become one of the leading wholesale suppliers of clematis to garden centres in the UK. Simon has been with GCP for many years as a representative and sales manager. He spends his time managing the sales personnel at the offices as well as planning on production and marketing matters. He has excellent plant knowledge and a huge appreciation of the plant retail sales world, built up during his extensive career at GCP. We were very lucky to have Simon as ‘expert guide’ for the day.
The nursery comprises three extensive glasshouses, over fifty covered beds and tunnels and more than fifty open beds, all of which are used to progress the stock, in order to have it ready for when demand peaks. An extensive range of climbing plants, shrubs, herbaceous and semi-specimen plants are produced at GCP every year.
Simon Catterall takes us into Glasshouse 3 – every plant you can see is a clematis
Many thousands of young clematis plants ready to be loaded and dispatched
Among the many things about the operation of the nursery touched on by Simon, one notable point is that the nursery nowadays markets most of its plants to privatelyowned independent Garden Centres – GCP has found its niche through the steady accumulation of experience, knowledge and understanding of the retail plants market, over forty-plus business years. Simon explained that ‘continually developing methods and ideas so as to keep one step ahead’ is always a vital feature of business planning.
Polytunnels provide excellent conditions for growing clematis liners into larger plants
Simon tell us that although most of plants grown at GCP are newer cultivars, there is still plenty of room for a few select older varieties – here are several hundred ‘Niobe’
Simon explained that although there are some everpopular older plants, such as ‘Nelly Moser’ and ‘Niobe’ (left) which will always have appeal, the majority of the clematis they sell are the more recently bred Evison cultivars (he noted in passing that Evison’s newer plants are no longer produced in collaboration with any other growers/breeders – they are produced solely by Raymond himself, in Guernsey). When asked to explain the focus on Raymond’s plants, he elaborated on a few points which are important from the commercial point of view: Evison’s latter-day cultivars are mainly compact, lower-growing varieties – it is often possible to produce these for sale at a time when flowers are on the plant – the plants, tied to a cane, have immediate appeal and tend to sell well in Garden Centres because the flowers can be seen and appreciated instantly; there is no real requirement to sell ‘tall’ plants, in retailing – about 90cm high, bushy and in flower – these are the main drivers. Repeat flowering – this is a super trait in plant retailing, for obvious reasons. A repeat-flowerer is worth a trial every time.
Simon describes some of the taller, less floriferous plants as ‘background varieties’ but he did stress that some of the popular, older plants remain firm favourites which they plan to continue with, alongside the newcomers becoming available each year.
At one point, Simon was asked by one of us ‘what is the busiest time of year for the Company, in terms of clematis production?’ He must have been asked this question many times before, as ‘two weeks before and two weeks after Chelsea, every year’, was the instant reply!
In a typical year GCP produces around 50,000 young plants, of which approximately 50% will be Evison large-flowered cultivars with the remainder made up of a mix of other LFH types and some smaller-flowered plants. How to manage such huge numbers of plants, through the whole season? One of the secrets, said Simon, is in having available a combination of a good number of outdoor beds, open and covered, plus a number of large polytunnels, as well as glasshouses, all on the same site – this means that the nursery can provide a wide range of growing conditions and plants can be moved around to different locations and conditions as and when required, to suit the plants’ needs, no matter what point in the season. This makes management of significant numbers of plants far easier than having, say, only glasshouses or polytunnels. Young clematis are fairly hardy plants, so can be accommodated outside with few problems.
Misting and watering
As we made our way through the fascinating array of glass and tunnels, we noticed here and there some plants in smaller quantities – Simon explained that they were always looking at novel cultivars and that he had plants tucked away here and there, being ‘trialed’ for future commercial production. GCP always maintains a list of new cultivars undergoing trial – it gives them a chance to fully assess new cultivars in terms of how well they respond to the growing conditions on site. A further point, related to the previous – Simon and the Company think that in future there may be a smaller range of clematis plants generally available, in any quantity – this is because so many production companies have gone out of business in recent years, and this is bound to have a knockon effect further down the line. The net result is that fewer plants will be propagated on a regular basis, therefore it is likely that the range of cultivars on offer will decrease, as producers keep to the tried and tested, and the newer, well-commercialised plants.
Other points pertaining to the commercial side of the operation were mentioned –GCP mainly buys in liners – young clematis plants – and grows them on to saleable size; when the liners are bought in, GCP must pay the breeder or supplier a royalty fee, which tends to increase costs. In addition to this, increased reporting requirements are making the operation that much costlier. For example, many buyers will not purchase plants unless they are certified to have been raised in, for example, peat-free media; or, in other instances, must never have inorganic pesticides or fungicides used during their time at the nursery. This means that an audit trail must be kept for every batch of plants at every stage, and this is both time consuming and very expensive to achieve continuously, given the large number of plants, compost media and so forth that come into the equation, all the way through each year. Despite this, the nursery must still be able to adapt and respond quickly to demand, and the importance of achieving a balance between the numbers of each type of plant grown each year is always a critical judgement that can influence the success or otherwise of the sales season.
At the end of the day, as with any other business, it is the commercial success and continuity of the nursery business that is uppermost. A model Firm – which Simon and his colleagues cite as an example of a good horticultural business to emulate, is David Austin Roses. Commercial trading results are what powers any business venture and this is, a priori, the most important goal.
BCS would like to thank all at GCP who made our visit such an interesting and educational experience, with, of course, especial thanks to Simon Catterall for giving up his time and providing such a fascinating commentary of the nursery’s activities. Several of our party thought it would be a good idea to visit the nursery again in due course, perhaps at a different time of the year; this would give an even better picture of the clematis year around the nursery. We will keep you posted about this and report back in due course, when a date has been arranged. Sue Reade will supply details in due course.
It was an exceptional privilege to be able to see what happens in a large-scale commercial clematis enterprise of this kind and we would like to express our great thanks to Simon and the owners of Garden Centre Plants Ltd for a great BCS day out.
Northern BCS Group leader Sue Reade organised yet another great BCS day out
Garry Gaunt UK garrygaunt@btinternet.com
While on holiday in Madeira at the end of March we took the local bus service from Funchal up to Palheiro Gardens. The local buses are an excellent (cheap) way to travel around Madeira, though at times they can be a little scary. However, we always use them and have lived to tell the tale so far.
But I digress - it is the garden I meant to write about. John Blandy, who owned the
Madeira Wine Company, purchased the land in the late 1800s and it has been steadily developed through the years to its current state. It is located four miles east of Funchal
The Clematis 2017
and high up above the town, sometimes hidden by clouds even while there is still beautiful sunshine in Funchal. Whatever time of year we visit, the garden is always full of flowers and because of the mild climate, Madeira doesn't seem to have seasons as we know them in England. So, flowers from all seasons are in bloom together – this year roses, delphiniums and camellias – all in bloom, along with rhododendrons and many others.
In front of the house a row of arches down the centre of the garden had been planted with various climbers, including clematis. There was one particular clematis in flower but when I looked at the label – was it correct? I’m sure someone looking at the photos can identify the plant As I have said, plants in Madeira seem to bloom any time they can, so this clematis could have been ‘out of season’, for England.
If anyone can put a name to this plant, a note to the author Garry Gaunt would be much appreciated. [Ed. But read Aidan Armitage’s article on page 90, first!]
Jardines Palheiro, São Gonçalo, overlooking Funchal.
The Answer - Clematis grandiflora
Aidan Armitage UK aidanarmitage@btinternet.com
Ifirst heard about Clematis grandiflora when I read an article about it in The Clematis 2006 written by Roy Nunn. It was about Roy's visits to Blandy's Garden (more formally known as the Quinta do Palheiro Ferreiro Garden) in Madeira where he had encountered C. grandiflora growing across a rose arbour.
I was intrigued by the fact that the plant is indigenous to Central Africa (Sierra Leone, French Guinea, Zaire, Uganda, Angola, South Ethiopia) and by the photos of its unusual large cylindrical yellow hanging flowers.
As it happened, in May 2010 I had booked a holiday in Madeira with my partner Rachel and, as she is a keen gardener, I suggested we visit Blandy's Garden. After a hairraising half-hour local bus ride around the winding mountain road we arrived at the garden entrance and the next task was to find the plant. Fortunately, armed with a copy
The Clematis 2017
of the 2006 The Clematis under my arm, it didn't take long to find the trellises where the roses were growing – and there was C. grandiflora. Unfortunately, the plant had already finished flowering (in March) so there were no flowers to see but after some careful searching I spotted two seedheads, still hanging high up on the plant. With some difficulty I managed to jump and grab them, hoping that my behaviour hadn't been noticed by other visitors! When I returned home to Leeds I planted a few of the seeds and to my amazement within several short weeks they had germinated. I ended up with three seedlings which I overwintered in my unheated greenhouse.
Over the next six years I carefully and tenderly nurtured these plants, treating them to citrus plant food to hopefully get them to put some growth on, but every year the same thing happened: they went dormant over winter from about December to March, losing all their foliage, then in spring put on a tiny bit of growth, never exceeding about a foot – and then went dormant again.
I had in the meantime discussed the behaviour of these plants with a number of knowledgeable clematarians, including Sylvia Denny, in Preston. Sylvia recalled that she and Vince had grown C grandiflora from seed many years ago and although the plants had grown well, they had never managed to get them to produce any flower buds.
This cycle of limited growth and dormancy continued until around summer 2016, when I was left with just one plant. I was reaching the point where I might have to consign the plant to the compost heap but, at the time, I was growing tomatoes in the greenhouse and I started to feed the C. grandiflora plant with tomato feed. Suddenly the plant took off and started putting out an amazing amount of growth. By the end of the summer it had put on about five feet of growth and had produced lots of shoots from the base.
By now I had a good feeling about it and was fairly confident that it would produce some flowers in spring. The change over the winter of 2016/17 was that the plant (still in the greenhouse) did not go into dormancy. Yes, growth slowed down but it did not die back completely and by spring it was starting to form two sets of flower buds!
The plant finally flowered in April 2017 with just four blooms but I was nonetheless ecstatic. They were smaller than those typically produced by C. grandiflora but after such a long wait they were fantastic!
The cylindrical flowers were a yellowy green about 3cm long with four thick tepals and long green anthers. Interestingly, in the morning these were often splashed with globules of nectar. The flowering was finished by May but two seedheads produced viable seed, which I have saved and which I will plant in spring.
One further observation about this plant – the large dark green ovate leaves do not fall off the plant when they die. They remain hanging on the plant’ stems, giving it an untidy appearance; periodically I had to remove them to smarten it up. I noticed this was also the case on the mother plant, in Blandy's garden.
To give it a better chance of producing more flowers next year I have replanted my C. grandiflora in a 25 litre planter. I keep in mind that it likes to be watered only sparingly over winter, and make sure the soil is never too wet. Being indigenous to Central Africa, C. grandiflora is not hardy in the UK, but provided it is over-wintered in a greenhouse it seems happy enough.
Conserving Clematis patens
Mariko Nakanishi Japan eri-cat.2@comet.ocn.ne.jp
This year I visited another natural habitat of the species C. patens – Nakatsugawa City in Gifu Prefecture. Gifu Prefecture has regions where relatively many native colonies of natural C. patens remain undisturbed, and almost all are the white versions. There were visible differences in these white variants of C. patens and it was very interesting to observe them at close quarters. I noted several different shapes of sepals – some were sword shaped, others round, and several had sepals with frilly edges. I also saw that some of them had a white stripe or bar on the back side of each sepal whereas others had green bars. Some, but not all, possessed fragrance. The flowers were about 15cm to 18cm in diameter.
The various clones are usually given names which link with the area they are naturally found in, for example, ‘Shinshiro red’ or ‘Hiroshima’.
This particular natural C. patens habitat was located right next to a busy major highway used by many local people in their daily lives. A strange thing – the elderly people in this area say ‘if you bring this flower into your house, your eyes go blind’ . Perhaps this local superstition is part of the reason why C. patens has continued to survive up to present times in such a busy urban place? It was however very interesting to see that this plant, despite being supposed to make people go blind, is cultivated in the gardens of many of the older farmers’ homes. They seem to be enchanted by its beauty regardless of the old superstition, and evidently unable to resist growing it in their gardens. It was possible to glimpse hundreds of pure white blooming C. patens through the windows of the train I was on – what a completely splendid sight!
‘Nakatsugawa’
Above and below, ‘Nakatsugawa’
‘Ono’
‘Seki’
‘Seki’
‘Shinshiro red’
Clematispatens‘Shinshiro red’
‘Shinshiro green’
‘Shinshiro hairy’
‘Hiroshima’
‘Hiroshima’
‘Tuyama’ ‘Utagaki’
‘Utagaki’
‘Yamanashi’
Natural populations of C. patens still exist at various locations in Japan. Many regions continue to hold populations just like in Gifu but there are others where survivors are now much rarer, due to modern development of the land.
In the Tohoku region of northern Saitama Prefecture, the colours of these plants are usually white, purple, light blue or pink. The hues are said to appear to be of different shades depending on the eyes of the person viewing them – in some cases people would say ‘light purple’ whereas others would say ‘deeper purple’ etc. I have also heard stories to the effect that some very deep purple coloured C. patens still exist, though I have not seen them yet. I am aware that there used to be more deeper purple-type plants and other equally beautiful colours, in the past – however, the number of colonies that have such vivid colours has continuously decreased in recent years.
I have been collecting the beautiful individual variants of C. patens from numerous districts for many years. Some have been gifted to me by clematis hobbyists from different areas of Japan, and others were taken as cuttings or divisions from several of the natural habitats I have visited. Some years ago, it occurred to me that in years to come, after my time, many of the variants I have collected will finally disappear from the wild. Indeed, some of them are from natural habitats which have already been lost (due to land developments) and they have therefore already become very precious and unique.
The Tsukuba Experimental Botanical Garden has been protecting Clematis patens as a national institution, but as the years pass and research staff are transferred or changed, some of the plants have been lost. I have made cuttings of many of my plants and grow them on so that they can be donated (during their dormancy period) to the TEBG. This year, however, it has been extremely hot in Japan (due to abnormal weather conditions) and I am quite concerned about whether or not my current cuttings will develop good root systems
It would be so much better if plants were protected in specialised botanical gardens in each region: local universities could engage in preserving them in their own botanical grounds. But this doesn’t really happen at present. I would therefore very much like to create a ‘preservation bank’ for the original clones of the plants.
‘Shinshiro red’
C. patens hybridises very readily. In fact, the wild clones often hybridise naturally with clematis cultivated in nearby residential gardens. Plants arising from the seeds are of course hybrids, which are not present in the original species populations. This comes about just as it does with your own plants, where you have neighbors who also happen to grow clematis. If people (who are unaware of this) then plant C. patens from one natural habitat into another natural habitat, this would create further hybrids – of a narrow range but this still means that the specific C. patens clones that have evolved independently may in time be lost. I will not supply any cuttings to anyone who does not fully understand this basic principle.
Japan is relatively modest in area, therefore if C. patens is cultivated for commercial purposes and sold throughout the country it is evident that such hybridisation with natural colonies will be even more likely to happen, and more rapidly. Also, because all C. patens are listed under the same species name, different strains are being mistakenly planted within some of the natural habitats. Unwanted and unintended hybridisation will therefore continue to occur in the future.
I consider it to be of prime importance to keep a ‘bank’ of the pure original species plants as a kind of safety net, in view of this elementary principle.
All images ©Mariko Nakanishi
Clematis serratifolia
Aidan Armitage UK aidanarmitage@btinternet.com
Ihave always been a big fan of the Tangutica Group and the many ‘Orientalis’ cultivars but often wondered what their less flashy relative, Clematis serratifolia was like. Unlike many in the Group, C. serratifolia has its origins not in the Himalayas and surrounding regions but instead hails from Korea and has been in cultivation in the West since 1918. It is also found in North East China, including Manchuria, Northern Japan and even Southeastern parts of Russia.
After reading about the allure of C. serratifolia, curiosity finally got the better of me and last year I ordered one from Westphal Clematis in Germany. Since its arrival it has been sat in a 5 litre container in my garden, waiting to be planted. It is quite a vigorous climber, said to be capable of reaching 12-15 metres, although my potted specimen has so far reached less than a couple of metres.
The first thing I noticed was how markedly different it is to the other Tangutica-type cultivars. Like C. tangutica it has serrate leaves but this feature is more pronounced; fresh green in colour and 5-lobed, purple margins and a somewhat ‘papery’ feel to the touch.
The plant starts producing its charming pale green nodding flower buds, with purple ribs, at the beginning of July. By August they have become small delicate bell-like nodding flowers 2.5 – 5 cms across, similar in shape to C. alpina. These then go through a further stage by opening fully into primrose yellow star shaped flowers with very distinctive purple stamens. The flowers also have a perceptible lemony fragrance which adds to the plant’s appeal.
The only shortcoming is the very short flowering period which usually lasts from four to six weeks (mine only last four) after which the plant is covered with attractive reddish tinged silky seedheads. Possibly because of this shorter flowering season the plant has tended to be largely ignored, except by hybridisers, who have eagerly united some of its outstanding characteristics with other Tangutica cultivars, to produce splendid hybrids such as ‘Golden Harvest’ and GOLDEN TIARA (C. Kugotia’). Other well-known crosses involving Clematis serratifolia are ‘Annemieke’ and the beautiful F. Skinner-raised ‘Grace’.
The Clematis 2017
I would say that if you like plants of the Tangutica Group you will definitely enjoy the charms of C. serratifolia.
From TheInternational ClematisRegister: Tangutica Group
Cultivars with at least one parent belonging to, or derived from, species classified in section Meclatis (Spach) Baill., such as intricata, ladakhiana, orientalis, serratifolia, tangutica & tibetana
This Group has also been known as the Orientalis Group.
Deciduous woody climbers. Flowers on current year’s growth in summer and early autumn. Flowers single, bell-shaped or with spreading sepals, nodding or rarely outwardfacing, 2.5–9cm across. Sepals 4(–6), white, cream, yellow, orange-yellow, or yellow stained with purple or red-brown. Leaves ternate or pinnate.
Clematis koreana Group – 'Purple Rain'
John Richards UK www.garden-charm.co.uk
Of the many new varieties of Clematis which have reached the light of day in recent years, 'Purple Rain' is perhaps among the most outstanding. In common with the Alpina and Macropetala types, the C. koreana parent of 'Purple Rain' carries the ‘free-flowering-in-early-spring’ characteristic. Whilst the Alpina types come from the mountains of Europe and Scandinavia and the Macropetalas from the 'roof of the world' regions of China and Tibet, C. koreana species comes from even further to the east – N. and S. Korea.
'Purple Rain' ©Ashwood Nurseries
So how did 'Purple Rain' come about? Well, like its forerunners 'Blue Eclipse', 'Tinkerbell', 'Candleglow', 'Lantern Light' and 'Dark Secret', 'Purple Rain' arose in a batch of seedlings on the nursery of Mr and Mrs Vince Denny at Broughton near Preston in Lancashire. Their son was serving in BOAR (the British Occupying Army of the Rhine) and was stationed in what was then Western Germany. Being an old soldier himself, Vince felt quite at liberty (no one else should try this!) while strolling in a park in central
Dortmund to help himself to some seeds from a curious looking tangled mass of a climbing plant. Some years later, John Richards, wholesale Nurseryman from Malvern, Worcestershire, called on Mr and Mrs Denny. They pressed into his hands a cluster of seedlings! It was from these that the earlier varieties were selected and named.
On a later visit Mrs Denny (Vince had by this time sadly passed away, in 2001) remarked, 'Oh John, I've got a black flowered seedling of koreana, I will give it to you'. So it was, that this mysterious plant was nurtured and propagated from, until the time came for the grand decision to be taken as to what to name it. Thus was born 'Purple Rain'.
For those to whom a more concise description is important: Buds: dark purple, very pointed and elongated; Flowers: magenta (RHS Colour Chart "Dark Violet" RHS 83A) appear with four long sepals, each ‘pinched’ two thirds of the way down; Stamens: cream, purple tipped at the ends. Flowers are small (about 50mm long) and appear in great profusion during the early spring. Where active growth is maintained by light summer pruning, successional flowering will result. Apart from this, no pruning is required. Ultimate height approximately 2-3 metres.
'Purple Rain'
©John Richards Nurseries
Clematis cirrhosa Isca BFCC
Aidan Armitage UK aidanarmitage@btinternet.com
Clematis cirrhosa Isca BFCC is a relatively unknown cultivar that few people have heard of. The more popular members of the Cirrhosa Group such as C. cirrhosa var. purpurascens ‘Freckles’, ‘Jingle Bells’ and C. cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’ are well appreciated and widely grown, but I thought readers might be interested to hear about a less popular hybrid raised by the great clematis hybridiser Barry Fretwell. Before I do that, it might help to explain
why I am interested in this beautiful species which blooms at a time of year when there are so few other flowers around. The first clematis I acquired was C. cirrhosa var. balearica (in the late eighties) which caught my eye at a garden centre because of its shiny bronzy purple finely toothed leaves. From that moment on, not only was my interest in clematis
born but also a particular liking for clematis of the Cirrhosa Group, of which I have now amassed quite a collection.
The Cirrhosa Group are indigenous to the whole of the Mediterranean region, including the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands as well as Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Greece, Crete and Cyprus, western Turkey, parts of Syria and Israel and western North Africa. They tend to grow among shrubs and woods and in rocky places at sea level and high altitudes, such as in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where the seed that produced the wonderful C. cirrhosa ‘Ourika Valley’ was collected, at an altitude of 1800 metres.
It is a variable species, as you
would expect with such a wide distribution, resulting in many different forms and variants in the wild from which breeders have selected and hybridised. It is worth remembering that many of the wild varieties have still never been ‘domesticated’ .
While browsing the Westphal Clematis on-line shop a couple of years ago I noticed pictures of an unfamiliar clematis in the Cirrhosa Group under the name C. Isca BFCC. Closer reading of the details revealed it was a hybrid of C. cirrhosa with an unknown clematis, raised by Barry
Fretwell. Something about the nodding greenish white flowers, maturing to creamwhite, with their long pink anthers and central boss of green stamens intrigued me and I had to buy one! Fastforward two years (and a few flowerings) and I think I now know this plant quite well. I was obviously intrigued to try to understand the plant's origins. These days it's common for many of our hybridisers to keep the details of their crossings private and Barry is just such a person.
My best guess, based on the flower shape, colours and leaf shapes is that Isca is possibly a cross between C. napaulensis and C. cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’. The leaves and
anthers seem to indicate some C. napaulensis genes while the greeny whiteness (without any speckling) and the flower shape seem to evidence C. cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’ traits, but I could well be miles off! If anyone does know the parentage, I would love to hear.
As you would expect, C. cirrhosa Isca displays typical Cirrhosa Group characteristics. Although described as evergreen, during summer months the plant loses its leaves and
enters a dormant state, appearing almost dead with bare stems. In September, new leaves appear and flower buds start to form. During this period the plant puts on strong growth; I feed it with a weak solution of tomato fertiliser every couple of weeks during September and October. Once it has flowered I cut back on watering over winter, as it does not like its roots sitting in wet soil. Typical height is given as 2-3 metres; mine has reached about 2 metres – but has been confined to a pot.
In November the flowers open and although generally on the small side, at 2-3cms in diameter, they make up for it with their very attractive pinky red anthers. One interesting feature is that the bracteoles are joined to the top of the flower, like a pair of tiny green leaves, again a clue (I venture) to Clematis napaulensis heritage. Generally, the plant will continue to flower until January or February and then, when it senses the gradual rising temperatures indicating summer’s approach, it sheds its leaves and enters a period of dormancy. I think part of the reason for this relates to a general lack of rainfall in its native habitat during the summer months.
I'm not sure how hardy the plant would be if planted outside – mine overwinters in an unheated greenhouse – but I suspect it would fare similarly to other Cirrhosa Group types, so would best be planted in a sunny sheltered spot.
I would strongly recommend growing this interesting and very beautiful winter flowering clematis as an alternative to the more familiar C. cirrhosa cultivars.
The Wonderful Yellows
Richard Hodson UK richardhodson321@gmail.com
Today, looking round the garden in early September, I see remnants of the roses, phlox and monardas that added so much summer colour to the beds and borders, but the predominant colour is now yellow. The tall Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’ (coneflower), Inula Hookeri (Hooker’s inula), the Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ (sunflower Lemon Queen) and several bright yellow crocosmias all announce the onset of autumn.
The Viticella Group are now past their best, with just a few flowers on some of the late large-flowered Group: ‘Dominika’ , ‘Remembrance’ , ‘Perle d’Azur’ and others, mostly looking sad – but a fresh new wave is now beginning to sweep over the garden!
The front corner of our bungalow is now a seething mass of hundreds of flowers of Clematis ← ‘Vince Denny’ and Clematis serratifolia –which I am sure I have dug up and moved twice in the past –intertwined in a huge tangle of foliage. The creamy yellow C. serratifolia flowers outnumber the bronze red ‘Vince Denny’ blooms – two wonderful plants which will be in flower possibly until November and definitely not for the faint-
GOLDEN TIARA
hearted gardener. They can be quite invasive but they are both wonderful plants that do not ask for anything –just chop them back in spring and stand back. A particularly beautiful hybrid of C. serratifolia is ‘Grace’ → with her very striking flowers.
Old faithful ‘Bill McKenzie’, on a large metal obelisk in the centre of a bed of hot coloured perennials, has been superb this summer and still has
masses of flowers and seedheads. Each seedhead (left) reminds me of the popstar Tina Turner!
On the same bed another tall metal obelisk supports the stunning Clematis tibetana ‘Black Tibet’. This fantastic plant has, rather surprisingly, survived all the winter wet and been in the garden for three years. As the name implies, ‘Black Tibet’, far from being a ‘yellow’, is a very dark selection from Clematis
C.serratifolia
below:
tibetana and is yet another member of the giant Tangutica Group of species and cultivars.
GOLDEN TIARA (C. ‘Kugotia’), originally brought into cultivation as a chance seedling of ‘Golden Harvest’, is another wonderful member of the same Group – this time, a very open bell with dazzlingly rich yellow, thick tepals and with strikingly prominent stamens – a superb bloom. The flowers are produced by the hundred and, en masse, the effect is truly spectacular – no garden should be without this plant! But do take some cuttings (from the new growth in spring) every few years and place the young plants in different parts of the garden. This is because some of the members of this Group can be relatively short lived and it is always best to have ‘insurance’, just in case your prized unique specimen decides to impetuously free itself of its mortal coils.
Above and
Clematistibetana‘Black Tibet’
GOLDEN TIARA
GOLDEN TIARA
‘Sundance’
‘Sundance’, believed to be a hybrid between Clematis ispahanica and an unknown C. orientalis plant, is much paler than some of its brighter cousins; a very unusual plant which is ideal for growing in the mixed herbaceous border.
and ‘Lambton Park’ – both of which have very large flowers –are residents here also. The beautiful flowers are followed, of course, by the lovely seedheads which, as in most of this Group, persist for a long time and effectively maintain the plants’ display throughout the winter months and beyond.
I have another couple of vigorous cultivars which I am very pleased with. The first, ‘
through a tree in the centre
‘Lambton Park’
Red Ballon’, a Manfred Westphal plant, scrambles
of the garden.
‘Lambton Park’ The special attraction of this plant is that the small round yellow flowers transform to a sumptuous orange bronze, very pleasing on the eye. Another ‘ wow ’ plant at present is a very bright yellow seedling of my own, as yet unnamed: when walking around our village one early morning a few years ago I spotted an attractive ‘yellow’ and I stopped and asked for a few seeds –this plant was the result. I am delighted with this seedling, growing up 3’ × 8’ hazel twigs and totally covered in flowers and seedheads. A mongrel, but, as we all know, sometimes they are the best.
Over the years I have lost several Tangutica Group clematis – I think this has been due to incorrect pruning. The books say ‘prune hard in spring’ but I have found that it is best to wait until new green shoots from the main stems become visible, usually by April, then simply chop the plant down to about three feet from the ground. Regrowth is strong.
‘Red Ballon’
C.montanavar. grandiflora
2017 at Wemyss
Charlotte Wemyss UK charlottewemyss14@gmail.com
In all the years that I have been a clematis enthusiast I can safely say that I have never ever experienced ‘wilt’ on any single plant. However, this year all that changed dramatically, and the ‘dreaded droop’ hit with a vengeance. I now understand how discouraging this is – the afflicted stems all seemed to be covered in buds and were looking perfectly healthy only days, if not even hours, beforehand.
I cut all the damage back and in some cases I had to cut the entire plant down to ground level. Most of them, I’m sure, will recover and I think that this ‘wilt hit’ may have been the result of a wonderfully warm spring – we had almost no rain at all for nine weeks and then the deluge began in June – it has been almost incessant right through to the time of writing (September). The worst cases were as follows: ‘Niobe’, ‘Ernest Markham’, ‘Will Goodwin’, ‘H F Young’, ‘Ville De Lyon’, C. patens ‘Yukiokoshi’, ‘Daniel Deronda’ and ‘Vyvyan Pennell’, to name but a few.
The other disaster concerned the White Wall at the end of the tennis court. This is usually covered from one end to the other with C. montana var. grandiflora and is a truly magnificent sight for almost six weeks but this year it was very poor indeed. On closer inspection we discovered that Mildred Mouse and her several friends and relations had
not only chewed through the massive trunk in various places but had also feasted on the roots, so I fear that this really will have to be replaced – it is still looking very unhappy and shows no sign of immediate recovery. They had also totally destroyed two plants of ‘Jenny’ and a ‘Van Gogh’ in the same way, so, all in all, we have had a few catastrophes in 2017.
‘Multi Blue’
However, it is by no means a total ‘tale of woe’ as the gardens this year have been better than ever – right from the start of the year, when even the Snowdrops flowered their socks off with a fantastic display, throughout the woods. This was followed by carpets of Erythronium Revolutum and then the bluebells, which truly and impeccably excelled themselves, ranking as a ‘wonder of the world’. The fragrance at night – with the late sun peeping through the beech leaves – was truly magical and one that we enjoyed for almost six weeks. Again, I think this may have been down to the glorious weather during the spring. Alas! If only one could say the same for this summer…
AMBER ©Chris Cocks
As I said before, it has been a fantastic year and we have still had the most wonderful rich and full clematis displays throughout the year. ‘Multi Blue’ was totally spectacular: at one time we counted over one hundred blooms on the single plant and it is still going strong, now. AMBER (Clematis 'WIT141205') excelled herself over the iron arch and dear ‘Josephine’ (who has always been a bit ‘iffy’) came into her own this year and is still flowering now. I counted over forty-five blooms on her only yesterday. Montana ‘Primrose Star’ was, as ever, my stalwart, covering the wall along the orangery, heaving with beautiful flowers – mixed in with ‘Blue Eclipse’, which looked stunning with its
wonderful French blue and white edges. I think that this is one of the most chic clematis on the market, as the blue is a lovely steely grey and unlike any other.
‘Miss Christine’ ©M. Ovens ‘Prosperity’ is always reliable, as is ‘Miss Christine’, both being very much more compact than their various relations and thus they cover small areas very quickly with an abundance of flowers. The best performers along the long bed have been ‘Kermesina’, ‘Walenburg’, BOURBON (‘Evipo018’), ‘RokoKolla’, ‘Piilu’, ‘Perle d’Azur’, ‘Błękitny Anioł’ (BLUE ANGEL), ARCTIC QUEEN (C. ‘Evitwo’) and many others, too numerous to list. This year we went to both the Malvern Flower Show and the RHS at Chatsworth. The latter was beset by torrential rain, which was totally disappointing for all concerned; one simply couldn’t move for floods and waterlogged pitches.
‘Broughton Bride’
The Thorncroft stand was, as usual, outstanding and we thought that it should have won ‘Best in Show’ as it was considerably out in front of every other stand. It had been put together quite beautifully using a mixture of recycled ironwork (including a bath and shower) and all sorts of other really innovative ‘props’. It was a truly breathtaking display and better than anything I have ever seen before at Chelsea.
‘Kermesina’
‘Freda’
‘Dr Ruppel’
‘Roko-Kolla’
‘Pink Swing’
‘Perle d’Azur’
Needless to say, I bought a great many more clematis from the Thorncroft stand, and most of the ironwork, which Ruth and Pete are kindly going to deliver to Wemyss this month.
‘M Koster’ It will be fun to see them both here again and to spend some time together. I am praying that some of my (sigh) ‘unknown’ clems will still be showing by then, so that I can quickly slap a name-tag on them!
Next year we will be a port of call for the International Clematis Society’s visit to Scotland; we are expecting a party to arrive at Wemyss around 13th July. Look it up at the web address below.
In the meantime, happy growing to everyone and a very ‘Blue Eclipse’ happy Christmas and New Year when they arrive.
www.clematisinternational.com/scotland2018brochure.pdf Please, not too soon!! Unless otherwise stated, all images ©C. Wemyss
THE DREADED SLIME FLUX ON MATURE MONTANAS
Valerie
Le May
Neville-Parry UK val@lmnp.co.uk
The Gardeners World team was due at 9.30 on Tuesday 2nd May. At 7.30am I shot out to hide a few bits and pieces behind the potting shed. The sun was shining – and so were two armwidth stems of a wonderful var. wilsonii. I stared in disbelief – then suddenly a dreadful smell nearly knocked me out. Slime flux – in a glorious variety, planted in November 2004. Every year since then, it had flowered immediately after a beautiful ‘East Malling’ cultivar, obtained from Robin Savill early in 2005. The two plants were visible from my bathroom, kitchen and kitchen patio, reaching dizzy heights up a mature oak tree, behind the stable and tack room buildings. The display usually lasted until well into June, the powerful perfume pervading the garden whenever I was working outside.
On 13th April I had received an email from Tempe Mansfield. Tempe had lost a mature plant of the beautiful ‘Broughton Star’, which had given her great pleasure with its display for many years. She suspected slime flux. I admitted having lost four interesting, mature seedlings during late winter/early spring – all displaying the distinctive shiny puddle on the surface at the tip of pinched out stems, and little white spores down the stems. Probably due to my nipping out tips whilst working along rows of pots. AND NOT DISINFECTING MY THUMB NAIL IN BETWEEN. A painful lesson to learn.
The G.W. team were not gardeners and not interested in filming the flux and how to deal with the problem. I guess, in a very short film, there wouldn’t have been sufficient time to demonstrate. So, treatment was delayed until the following week on a day when I
The Clematis 2017
didn’t have garden visitors. I hope BCS members will find the following account and pictures of interest.
I collected a small handsaw, several pairs of disposal rubber gloves, trowel, secateurs,
organic fungicide (thank you, Brian) and roll of kitchen paper. Also, two massive paper bags (they had contained pheasant feed) plus strong twine to secure the tops of the bags.
First, wearing gloves, the contaminated soil was scraped away from below the stems, putting soil and gloves into one of the massive bags (ready to take down to the bonfire site). Wearing new gloves, and starting at the top, as high as I could reach and well above the infected part of each stem, they were sawn through, the saw being wiped and sprayed on both sides with the fungicide, after each cut. The massive infected stems were then immediately cut at the base and placed into the bags, ensuring they didn’t touch the
ground. After having been sawn through, there was clear fluid oozing out of the cuts at the base of each stem – and you could just see a dark hole in the middle of both stems. Luckily no fluid came from above either top cut. Organic fungicide was sprayed onto the base cuts after pressing swabs of kitchen paper onto the lower stems for several minutes. The oozing continued for several days after sawing, once again soaking the surrounding soil. More soil was removed and fungicide sprayed until the cuts dried up.
Subsequently, both cut stems were covered with fresh soil mixed with leaf mould. All equipment was immediately thoroughly disinfected and left in the sun to dry. The paper bags of infected stems, soil and gloves have been put in a waterproof bag at the bottom of the paddock until they can be burned.
As you can see from the picture there is a small shoot continuing to grow from the bottom of one of the stems, two weeks later. Will it eventually mature and provide future stunning displays? I hope so.
Writing towards the end of September, I am sorry to say that the emerging shoot died. The wretched slime flux continued to be pumped up from below ground for several weeks with the infected soil being removed and taken to my bonfire site every few days, before once again spraying with organic fungicide. Goodness, some infection! When it stopped bubbling up I dug out the entire root system and soil, leaving the hole open to the elements. No clematis will be planted in its place. I am now left with memories of wonderful flowers each May/June and of Ruth and Jon who supplied the plant.
BY THE WAY, LODGE DROVE, WOODFALLS, SALISBURY SP5 2NH 01725 511931 www.clematismontana.co.uk
My
C.
chrysocoma ‘Continuity’ and its offspring
Val Le May Neville-Parry UK val@lmnp.co.uk
My gorgeous plant labelled as C. chrysocoma ‘Continuity’ (above) was immediately selected as backdrop by the Gardener’s World team. Flowering to perfection by 2nd May this year it featured throughout most of the edited film. There have been hundreds of requests for the plant since.
But – is my plant the one originally found as a seedling at Jackmans’ Nursery? There is much debate currently, with at least two other plants being sold with that name.
For many years I have been trying to root cuttings of the most gorgeous Montana plant – sold to me as C. chrysocoma ‘Continuity’ in 2004. It was found in my local garden centre and is a firm visitor favourite – clearly someone managed to propagate it. But no luck for me so far. Keith Shortland has rooted a couple of plants but they have failed to develop. The one he gave me last year produced seven lovely little buds, which I rubbed off very carefully, only for the little wretch to die back immediately after.
Since then Peter Catt, from Liss Farm Nursery, Alan Postill, Hilliers’ nursery, Keith Shortland and Mike Brown have all taken cutting material. I have also put several more cuttings into my hydropod. A visit to The Old Rectory in Wantage, previously Sir John
The plant had seven buds, which I rubbed off: it died back immediately afterwards Betjemin’s home, now owned and gardened by Mrs Caroline Todhunter, showed me that their plant is certainly not identical to mine, despite having the same name.
In November 2014, having previously failed to root cuttings, I sowed one seed head from my plant. Some wonderful, compact plants have emerged as a result. One featured in an article I wrote for the 2016 Journal, named ‘Chloe’ and was re-homed by Matt Biggs. I gather from Matt that it didn’t flower this spring – he will be layering stems this year in the hope that they will root.
Another offspring has been named ‘Emma Joan’, after a delightful young lady who has visited me for the last few years, occasionally giving intricate and amazing gymnastic displays on my sloping lawn –sometimes
Mary with the plant ‘Emma Joan’, and with the young lady in question in her wellingtons! ‘Emma Joan’ was planted out on the west side of a cherry tree given to Chris and me as a wedding present in 1993. It established quickly and produced a dozen flowers this year. Blooms are stunning despite being a tiny 6cm diameter – the blooms having glorious colours front and back, very pretty, deeply ruffled tepals, massive central boss, very long flower and leaf stems (9-13cm), nicely shaped and coloured leaves. Plus, perfume.
There are several stems, all still only a metre long; I plan to take cuttings and layer a few.
A third offspring was named by my friend, Moira, who was fifty in 2015. Part of her birthday present from me was the offer to name a Montana seedling. She chose another ‘Continuity’ baby – a pure white flower, blooming first in 2016. Planted the east side of the same cherry tree this failed to show growth until I cleared the overhanging foliage and installed a support. The tips have been pinched out of two strong stems which have emerged since. Perhaps it will flower in 2018?
There is one more seedling from the same seed head. Multi-stemmed, it hasn’t flowered yet.
‘Emma Joan’
‘Moira Sarah’
The Clematis 2017
I will wait to see if it flowers next spring before offering that for naming. Writing again in October, I am thrilled to report that
← Alan Postill, propagation manager for Hilliers Nursery, has managed
to
root four ‘Continuity’ cuttings, and Peter Catt, Liss Forest Nursery, has another two. The next challenge will be to bring the plantlets successfully through their first winter and in due course to grow them into mature plants, ready for planting out in the garden
Gardeners World Visit ‘By The Way’
Valerie Le May Neville-Parry UK val@lmnp.co.uk
In early April I was thrilled to get a phone call from the GW researcher, Kathryn Braithwaite. Would I be willing for them to film the Collection? If so, what would be the best time?
Usually the first half of May is the optimum period for seeing the cultivars and varieties in the Collection at their best. But, as all us gardeners know, the weather can be fickle.
Filming gets under way
At the beginning of April 2017, buds had been swelling on some cultivars. But the return of cold weather could delay flowering for weeks. Planning a date for filming a month ahead was tricky. We eventually settled on Tuesday 2nd May.
The last week in April saw three consecutive nights of sub zero temperatures with freezing, east-northeast winds whipping across and sinking down the garden. Many well-rooted salvia cuttings, planted out the previous week, were killed. Clematis, hydrangea, buddleia, viburnum and many other late spring flowering plants suffered badly wind-burned leaves. It was upsetting. Too late to change the date set for filming.
May 2nd dawned. It was a warm, bright, calm and still day – the only good day that week. What amazing luck after the previous few days. I was up early to cook shortbread and soup and carry out a final check on the garden and greenhouse. At precisely 9.30am – the agreed time – three large cars swung into the driveway. They were a young crew who had only filmed one other garden as a team. The producer, Joanna (Jo), had worked with Country File until the previous week. After introducing themselves – Jo, researcher Kathryn, Andy, sound-recordist and cameraman, Robin - they immediately set off round the garden, searching for the best views. It didn’t take them long to agree that the thirteen-year old plant of Clematis chrysocoma
‘Continuity’ would be the ideal backdrop. Looking the best ever – and it is always a star – smothered in bunches of flowers with their delightful, ‘bridesmaids posy’ appearance, individual flowers similar in shape, size and colour to apple blossom, repeat flowering throughout the summer and into autumn and draping itself elegantly over a small ‘Egremont Russet’
apple tree (which still fruits well despite having been upended twice in the last ten years). The perfect choice, in my opinion. Filming continued throughout the day, with many stops and starts due to air traffic being routed directly overhead – I couldn’t hear the planes but every few minutes Andy would raise his hand to stop me mid-sentence. Right, start again. Where on earth had I got up to?
Packing up the cumbersome equipment took nearly an hour, with the crew eventually disappearing down The Drove at 6.30pm. Coffee and shortbread had been grabbed as we worked, a hastily snatched twenty-minute lunch break (they said they wouldn’t normally stop). A very long day for them, with an additional several hours of travel involved. My goodness, I was so impressed with their professionalism and productive team-work. And such delightful people. I won’t forget them in a hurry. I have named a
The end of a long day’s filming semi-double, pure white Montana seedling after them –‘KJAR’ (Kathryn, Joanna, Andy and Robin – not the easiest initials to work with!). The first flower opened on the day of filming.
Kathryn has since emailed a picture of the BCS stand at Malvern – such a kindness. I have special memories of the day. A brilliantly edited five-minute feature was broadcast on Friday 30th June. My sincere thanks to Kathryn Braithwaite, Joanna Grace, Andy Hanley and Robin Cox.
C. gracilifolia & C. × vedrariensis ‘Hidcote’ Back In The
Montana Group Collection
Valerie Le May Neville-Parry val@lmnp.co.uk
A BIG ‘THANK YOU’ TO CHARNE, MICHAEL & WIM
Several years ago, I lost my lovely Clematis gracilifolia ‘Harry Smith’ 20040026’. Or was it
C. gracilifolia Rehder & E.H.Wilson?
Purchased in 2004 from The Walled Garden, it just had gracilifolia on the label. Hidden behind the compost wall – not the best place to display its beauty – it sported the most delightful little sprays of tiny, pure white flowers and was the earliest in the Collection to flower. It died ten years later. There was no back up plant. Some time later, telling of my sadness at losing the plant, Wim mentioned that he might be able to source a replacement. Last year he gave me three little well-rooted cuttings. I recognised the foliage immediately. What a kindness. Thank you so much, Wim. Hilliers Arboretum now have one and I kept the remaining two. Both of my cuttings are now mature enough to be planted, having strong root systems and a good number of stems. One of the plantlets produced a tiny flower in September. That plant will go into ‘Hidcote’, showing flower size
‘Hidcote’ flowers and foliage the ground this October. The other will be planted in the spring of 2018.
Shortly after my dear Chris died, on New Year’s Day 2010, the fence panels along our northern boundary were blown down. You might remember that it was a desperately long, cold winter. The fencer excavated a deep hole and poured concrete onto what remained of the roots of the lovely C. × vedrariensis ‘Hidcote’ 20040030, purchased from Denis Bradshaw. Not surprisingly, it died! Having emailed the Head Gardener at Hidcote Manor, I went to the garden, hoping to take cuttings from the plant I gave them in October 2006. Oh, dear, I immediately knew that the plant they showed me was not the correct plant and, sadly, Glynn was away at the time.
When proof reading for the 2016 Journal, I read an article by Charne Griffiths. SHE HAD THE PLANT! Knowing they were planning on moving home, I emailed Charne, requesting cutting material, please. At the spring 2017 meeting, Charne and Michael presented me with a fabulous picnic bag containing copious lengths of material including gorgeous sprays of large flowers – oh, yes, that looked more like it.
The following day I carefully took cuttings to root in my hydropod, along with pictures of the flowers – which are amongst the largest of all the Montana Group. Several cuttings rooted and three plants were potted on in July. They are all doing well as at October 2017.
The next challenge is to get the rooted cuttings safely through the winter.
Glenis Dyer UK glenisdyer@gmail.com
Those who know me well know that I am particularly besotted with the Viornae, of which the attached illustration shows a selection in the garden (Picture 1) Many of these have been grown from seed. Picture 2
When gathering seed this year, I realised that I could identify which plants some of the seedheads came from because they were significantly different (Picture 2). For
Picture 1
example my lovely rose-pink viorna (Picture 3) which has substantial, thick sepals and a cream interior with a narrow pink margin, produces large seedheads with golden tails as in picture 2.
Its neighbour, a lavender-pink viorna with more slender sepals and a self-coloured interior (Picture 4), produces rather smaller seedheads with silver tails (middle seedhead on Picture 2). Another plant, with small, rich purple flowers (Picture 5), produces seedheads with virtually no tails (see right on Picture 2), as does the plant shown in Picture 6 – a bicoloured flower half mauve, half greeny/yellow. Picture 6
Those with more expertise may be able to identify these plants as either different species, sub-species or hybrids; whatever their correct identities they are all completely hardy, extremely floriferous over a long period, and delightful garden attractions.
Picture 3
Picture 5 ↓
Picture 4
Small-scale Propagation of Clematis by ‘Mound
Layering’
Timo Löfgren Finland timolofgren43@gmail.com
[Ed.] Some years ago Timo wrote a very informative article in TheClematisabout propagating plants by growing them for at least two years through bottomless soil-filled pots or buckets. This is known as ‘mound layering’ – similar in result to normal horizontal layering, but done on the vertical instead of on the level. This proved extremely fruitful for so many BCS members – I received about thirty emails and several letters about it over the following year. Timo has since sent me some good new images and, in view of the huge value of this method to all clematis lovers, I have reproduced here a condensed version of this must-see article for anyone who didn’t catch it the first time around.
When we get together with friends and fellow gardeners at meetings etc we often wish to give them rooted cuttings or young plants as gifts. What’s a good way to easily and efficiently produce small plants for this purpose?
In the case of cuttings, we generally start the process in spring and then nurture them until they are well rooted and strong enough to survive the first winter; then the following spring the small plants grow on rapidly and become independent. In Finland, with our colder climate, the time available for this is very short, especially if you don’t have a good greenhouse, and the tiny plants need a lot of care and attention all through the process.
Layering is an easier method, but only a small number of plants can be produced at a time. Division of older plants is possible in some cases, but of course this can entail quite a bit of strenuous digging and could also potentially harm a more tender ‘mother’ plant. However, with this ‘mound layering’ method it is not necessary to dig deeply: the lower parts of all the stems are simply encased in a container (recycled pots or, as I use nowadays, either 12 litre or 20 litre buckets with the base sawn away) of moist soil and they root into the medium within the vessel; after a relatively few months you get new plants that are strong enough to be planted directly in the garden.
I began my first experiments with this method some years ago. It is usually referred to as ‘mound layering’ or ‘stooling’. The idea is to get the lower parts of a plant’s stems to root into soil above normal ground level, so that you can later divide up the rooted
Clematis 2017
stems, but without any digging. The plant is allowed to produce new growths from the ground as normal, however the new stems are made to grow up through a soil-filled bucket placed over the base of the plant, eventually emerging at the top of the bucket.
Given time, the buried parts of the growths will produce roots from many of the nodes along their length, just as happens in normal (horizontal) layering. After sufficient time has elapsed for the new roots to develop adequately, the bucket is removed and the rooted stems are then cut away from the main plant. These stem lengths are then divided up into rooted sections and potted-up, each piece constituting a new plant. The mother plant will continue to grow just as before.
Mound layering is started off at the time the old stems are pruned. I generally tidy my clematis plants up and shorten them to knee-height before winter, then in spring I do a final, more precise prune, nearer to ground-level; or if using this propagation method, near the top of the ‘frame’ . The ‘frame’ I use in most cases is in fact just a normal plastic bucket, with the base removed, with a height of about 20cm (8”) and a widest diameter
Mound layering
Leave 5cm (2”) at the top of the bucket for a bark or gravel layer – makes watering easy of about 25cm (10”). Firstly, remove the lower leaves from the stems and then saw off the base of the bucket; the bucket is then inverted and placed over the base of the mother plant around the stems, the wider diameter at the bottom A soil mixture is used to fill all the volume of the vessel, around and over the stems; the mixture I have used in the mounds is quite simple and generally does not need to be rich in nutrients.
Because the soil in most of our garden is rather moist, and since I use pine bark in order to minimize evaporation, most of my clematis get watered only once or twice each summer. I give them forty to sixty litres every time, mixed with some liquid fertilizer. Most of the water is given into the frame and it easily drains through to the soil below. The main supply of nutrients received by the mother plant comes from granular fertilizers or
Clematis after weeding, later to be provided with cut-off buckets.
garden compost, mixed with the topsoil, outside the frame.
Propagating a new ×diversifoliacultivar grown from ‘Eriostemon’ seed.
Based on my experiences with normal layering I decided to allow a rooting time of two full seasons, usually beginning and ending in spring. From trials already completed, one of the best results was that with the plant ‘Westerplatte’, which produced thirty-five small plants. The biggest were large enough to be planted straight into the garden while the smaller ones just needed some growing on, prior to being planted or gifted.
Other trials giving very good results have included ‘Abundance’, ‘Mrs T. Lundell’ and PETIT
FAUCON (C. ‘Evisix’) (I know – but it was only an experiment!).
Every mother-plant has continued to grow normally after the trials. I have to add that the mother-plants are planted deeply – about 15-20cm below the soil level. My initial fear was that our cold winters might cause problems – because the buckets are above the soil level and therefore without the frost protection normally afforded by
the ground and snow cover. However, no cold-damage has been observed – having said that, the last few winters have been exceptionally mild here in Espoo, Finland, with lowest temperatures of only −20°C.
Anyone can do their own trials. If at first you are uncertain about it, use only a few stems of your clematis. I am sure you will be successful and you will never damage the mother plant!
Propagating two new C. integrifolia cultivars
It is also much easier and faster to water the plants via these buckets. I have a further reason to prepare more buckets –keeping the plants from the lethal attacks of strong weeds – in my case Aegopodium podagraria (ground elder) – and Helicidae (snails!). So, I will continue with this way of growing my clematis and will buy the next fifty buckets now.
My conclusion is that mound layering is the easiest way to produce small clematis plants. In my case, at least, two growing years seems to be the optimal time period.
Breeding with C. pitcheri
Mike Miller USA
Living near Chicago in US zone 5b I've found that many of the larger-flowered hybrids do not overwinter well. I cannot grow anything with C. florida in its background except ‘Venosa Violacea’, a cultivar which includes genes from C. viticella. And many of the larger flowered varieties based on C. patens or C. lanuginosa do not reliably overwinter for me, unless they have a good amount of Viticella in their DNA. Winters can be quite cold and any old wood killed off, effectively pruning the group 2s to the ground by the spring, and the winters are also quite wet, with frequent freeze/thaw cycles. Spring can bring weeks of nearly constant rain (nine inches in two days in 2017), summers are quite hot and humid and the autumn, damp and fungal.
In these conditions, what does grow well here among the climbing varieties are hybrids and species that involve C. viticella, C. viorna and C. pitcheri. In fact, there are colonies of C. pitcheri that I've found not too far from where I live, growing in thickets on the damp edges of forests. They provide a long bloom period because they will continue to produce new sprouts and buds throughout the season, with flowers unfurling well into October. Though C. viorna is not native to this area, it behaves in a similar fashion. There are hummingbirds feeding off both species right now as I write this, sitting in my garden in late September.
Another advantage of C. pitcheri is that it seems to be one of the most disease resistant of the Viornae in my climate. C. texensis and C. glaucophylla get terrible mildew, for instance, yet I have C. texensis plants growing among C. pitcheri in my garden and the pristine C. pitcheri foliage intertwines with the mildewed C. texensis.
I've been breeding clematis as a hobby for about ten years. Crossing C. pitcheri with large-flowered clematis is one of the interesting directions I've taken. In doing so I hoped to create hybrids that are suited to my cold climate, but are also resistant to the
Photo 1
many fungal diseases that exist here in the summers and autumns. Another advantage would be the long bloom season these hybrids might offer, if they bloom like C. pitcheri. Cultivars including C. viticella and C. patens seem to give one big flush here, then they pause for much of the season and produce a few flowers after that. C. pitcheri just keeps on giving: my hope is for hybrids that perform similarly.
I've primarily used C. pitcheri as a ‘seed parent’ (the plant which bears the seed) as the seeds ripen faster in my short season, germinating and growing on to the flowering stage much more quickly. But the interesting thing I've found by doing these crosses is that if I hybridise C. pitcheri with a large-flowered hybrid having thinner peduncles (which, I am supposing, means that it leans more toward the Viticella heritage), the results always lead to larger bell types, and not upward facing flat flowers. I believe this must be because the
Above, 11; below; 13 (‘Burf’)
hanging bell shape is very dominant in C. pitcheri and in C. viticella. So, crossing C. pitcheri with a cultivar like ‘Alba Luxurians’ or ‘Polish Spirit’ (both exhibiting strong Viticella morphology, especially the thin peduncles and bell shape), the result is usually just a larger bell shape.
Photo 1 is a picture of a C. pitcheri that I collected near Mazon, Illinois. Photos 2 and 3 are pictures of two of the many Mazon plant × ‘Alba Luxurians’ seedlings that resulted from this cross. All are larger bell flowers that exhibit a more complex branching habit, similar to Viticella-type plants. But they all just look like larger, more floriferous versions of the original C. pitcheri. When these plants are crossed with each other, the dominance of the bell shape continues (selfed F2s);
The Clematis 2017
this is also the case with F2s from sister crosses. Some examples of those F2s can be seen in photos 4-7.
Another example of this is a cross of Mazon plant × ‘Emilia Plater’, a cultivar that has the typical thinner peduncles of the Viticella-type plants. All the resulting plants resembled either the seedling in photo 8 or that in photo 9, which are just two examples of many.
A similar situation can be seen in the seedlings raised from crosses of a C. pitcheri plant that I collected in Clear Lake, Illinois (photo 10), again with ‘Emilia Plater’. This yielded many bells that look either like photo 11 or 12.
I've found, though, that once you mix the pure DNA of a species with something else, it becomes more of a ‘wild card’ when crossing. I have a beautiful open pollinated seedling of ‘Burford Bell’ (photo 13) that crosses readily, as seed parent. I nicknamed this one ‘Burf’. When I crossed it with another Viticella-heavy plant (this time an open pollinated
‘Emilia Plater’
seedling of ‘Tentel’), it yielded fifteen plants with larger, hanging bells. Let's look at this again: an open pollinated seedling of ‘Burford Bell’ (itself a selection of C. pitcheri) raised from seed taken from the garden of a friend, with dozens of Viorna species nearby, ‘Burf’ seems to be a pitcheri/viorna hybrid, or perhaps a texensis/pitcheri composite?
So, that mixed bag of ‘Burf’ DNA × an open pollinated seedling of ‘Tentel’ with the same thin peduncles that I regard as indicating a leaning toward Viticella heritage – as did this open pollinated progeny.
These two plants yielded a wide variety of larger bells (three of which can be seen in photos 14 and 15) which may have come from not using a pure C. pitcheri species plant.
Over the years I've also noticed when I cross C. pitcheri (or a pitcheri hybrid) with a cultivar that has the thicker peduncles of C. patens, the results are more dramatic in their variety, and the resulting flowers have more of a tendency to face in an upward direction. In other words, if the cultivar has more C. lanuginosa or C. patens in its DNA, which can be estimated from the thickness of the peduncle, then the resulting cross will be more
The Clematis 2017
likely to be upward facing because that trait is often more dominant than the bell shape of C. pitcheri.
Above are three plants from a cross of ‘Burf’ (photo 13) with ‘Marmori’ (photo 16), a hybrid with the thick peduncles of C. patens. You can see the wide variety in the results – one set of seedlings resembles the seed parent, the others a more diverse batch of results (photo 17, 18 and 19).
A further example are two results from a ‘Burf’ × ‘Candida’ cross (photos 20 and 21). ‘Candida’ also has the thicker peduncle of its parents, C. lanuginosa and C. patens.
A final set of examples is a result of the cross ‘Burf’ × ‘Hagley Hybrid’ (see photos 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26). Again, ‘Hagley Hybrid’ has thicker peduncles.
This leads me to a number of conclusions. Firstly, there is a wide variety of possibilities potentially available using the reciprocal crosses (Viticella hybrids × C. pitcheri) that I've generally avoided – they don't always ripen here, and take longer to germinate and grow on. And I certainly have not tried crossing C. pitcheri and its hybrids with every Viticella cultivar, or every one that has thin peduncles. But I have tried a lot, and so far, they all yield the pendulous bell form in the F1 and F2 (and, if attempted, the F3s).
My attempts at F2s and F3s tells me that the bell form is so dominant in C. pitcheri (as seed parent) crosses that one is not likely to get far that way. And doing this takes a lot of time and space. But back crossing the F1 to the larger flowered parent has yielded much more interesting results.
These observations don’t indicate to me that all C. pitcheri × thicker peduncles will yield something interesting, but it does seem that this mix creates more of an explosion of variety in the morphology of the offspring, and more flowers that face upwards and outward. Even from these few examples, it can be seen that this type of cross with C. pitcheri yields flowers with a lot of picotee or bicolour effects, which are especially interesting.
Finally, I have thus far only talked about the flowers (and isn't this the reason for the plant, after all?). But another characteristic of C. pitcheri is that it is a large, awkwardly shaped plant which, when crossed in this way, often yields large, inelegantly shaped progeny with larger flowers, without the neat plant form of a pleasantly vase-shaped Viticella or C. patens cultivar. In my opinion that trait would need to be bred out in order to produce a garden worthy plant, while keeping its hardiness, disease resistance and interesting flower forms.
Luckily, I've figured out a few ways how to do just that.
Clematis registered between July 2016 and June 2017
Duncan Donald, International Clematis Registrar DuncanDonald@rhs.org.uk
Iaccepted twenty-two applications for new clematis cultivar names during the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017: one of these was from the UK, with a further ten from the Netherlands, five from Japan, three from China, two from Poland, and one from the USA.
Richard Hodson, from Hawthornes Clematis Nursery, has named as ‘Sue Reade’ → [as readers of this journal will know, after the North-West Group Co-ordinator for the BCS] a Viorna Group seedling raised from openpollinated ‘Kahori-no-kimi’. It has colouring outside of pale lilac-grey over a pinkish white ground; inside of rose-pink, heavily overlaid with plum-purple veining.
Wim Snoeijer has registered ten cultivars on behalf of Van Zoest. One of these is also from Viorna Group: ‘Zo08169’
ANNABELLA
C.patens‘Kanasashi’
[Beware though: this name has already been published, incorrectly, as ‘Annabel’], its urnshaped flowers with mainly pale purple sepals and white margins.
‘Kanda-gawa’
Most of the other cultivars are Early Large-flowered hybrids (which Wim would classify in his redefined Patens Group), with flattish, up-facing flowers: two have domed-shaped, semi-double or double flowers (‘Zo11050’ GREEN PASSION, with green sepals/staminodes [which will no doubt become a firm favourite for flower-arrangers]; and ‘Zo11056’ RED PASSION, with red-purple sepals/staminodes); ‘Zo06178’ SO MANY RED FLOWERS has 4-6sepalled, red-purple flowers; ‘Zo08080’ WHITE PEARL, with its 6-8 white sepals and dark purple connectives and anthers, is said to be similar to ‘Miss Bateman’ but more floriferous;
‘San-san’ ‘Zo08111’, with 6-8 sepals mainly purpleviolet inside with a whitish base, has been given the trade designation PALETTE [so, unfortunately, risking potential confusion with Poulsen/Evison’s ‘Evipo034’]; and ‘Zo11154’ PARADISO
The Clematis 2017
[already published erroneously as ‘Paradisa’] has pale redpurple sepals with dark redpurple midveins and margins.
C.cadmia‘Yunxiang’
‘Zo03107’ SPARKLING STAR
Wim would classify in his Diversifolia Group (currently included within Integrifolia Group by the ICRA): it has 4-6 sepals, pale violet-blue inside with a darker mid-bar, outside with pale violet-blue margins about a red/purple-tinged bar.
Finally, two new Viticella Group hybrids: ‘Zo09063’ SEA BREEZE, with pale violetblue sepals [Care must be taken not to confuse this with ‘Vancouver Sea Breeze’ (Early Large-flowered Group), registered by Wein in 2014]; and ‘Zo09073’ WONDERFUL, with 4-sepalled flowers, inside pale red-purple, outside white-downy.
Mariko Nakanishi has registered three cultivars: C. patens ‘Kanasashi’, a selection, apparently from wild patens, collected from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, from a natural site subsequently lost to development [a plant which was illustrated, but not described, in The Clematis 2013: 117]; and ‘Amaneku’ & ‘Kongō’, both (C. florida var. sieboldiana × ‘Allanah’) hybrids, first published in The Clematis 2015: 132-136. She has also encouraged Tetsuya Hirota to register two ‘Kaguya’ seedlings, ‘Kandagawa’ & ‘San-san’ (both Viticella Group): the former has sepals with deep-pink veining over a pale ground; the latter has red, velvety flowers.
C.courtoisii‘Little Purple Heart’
The Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province, and Chinese Academy of Sciences has registered three wild-collected clones of different native species: C. cadmia ‘Yunxiang’ from Nanjing, with very light purple, scented flowers; C. courtoisii ‘Little Purple Heart’ from Ling’an, with frilly, white sepals and dark greyish-purple stamens; and C. patens subsp. tientaiensis ‘Tiantaibai’ from Taizhou, with sepals tinged light violet on a white ground, and deep purplish-red connectives.
Szczepan Marczyński has registered two new cultivars: ‘Kaśka’, a (Tangutica Group?) seedling with scented, bell-shaped, yellow flowers, named after his eldest daughter; and ‘My Darling’, a striking Early Largeflowered cultivar with 6-8-sepalled single flowers strong purplish-red inside, or semi-double or double forms with a central boss of staminodes with pink or white margins.
C.patenssubsp. tientaiensis
‘Tiantaibai’
Finally, I was also pleased to register ‘Pink Crispa’ for Gary Vann from California: a (C. crispa × C. texensis) hybrid, this has flowers urnshaped at the base with an open, bellshaped mouth, the outside of the four sepals suffused light purplish pink over a pinkish white background (which shows along the margins).
The way we classify clematis cultivars is likely soon to be radically revised. A very good start to this was made at a workshop convened for that purpose at Wisley in early July under the aegis of the International Clematis Society, at which the BCS was formally represented by Liz Gibbison (as well as, informally, by several members). I am hoping that the proposed new categories will soon be being more widely ‘road-tested’ before being formally adopted by the IClS (maybe at its Council meeting in Edinburgh next July?). I should be happy to send further details to any BCS member who wishes to be involved in trialling the new proposals, perhaps by testing it against their own collection: my contact details are given below.
I am also hoping that 2018 will bring substantial progress towards another longheld aim, that of enabling cultivar registration to be effected online via the RHS website.
As ever, I should be happy to hear from anyone who wishes to register a new clematis cultivar epithet, or to enhance an existing Register description, or who has views on any aspect of cultivar or Group registration they might wish to share
Duncan Donald, RHS International Registrar for cultivated plants (including clematis and lilies). 16 Midtown of Inverasdale, Poolewe, Wester Ross IV22 2LW; Telephone 01445 781717.
‘Pink Crispa’
International Clematis Society – 2017 Report
Ken Woolfenden, Editor and Webperson, I.Cl.S.
The International Clematis Society (I.Cl.S.) currently has members in 24 countries around the world. Each year the Society publishes a journal, two or three short newsletters and generally holds one meeting, visiting a different country from that of the previous few years.
For the first time in my memory, the Society did not hold its ‘normal’ meeting and conference in 2017. Detailed discussions for a visit to Denmark, a first for the Society, had started way back in 2015. However, in 2016 the main organizer was diagnosed with a serious health issue and the plans had to be abandoned, at least for the moment. Alternatives were investigated but it was quickly realised that it would not be possible to deliver anything reasonable within the greatly shortened timescales. On a brighter note, however, I am very pleased to say that the health issue has been successfully treated.
A successful inaugural meeting of the Clematis Classification Working Group was held over 3 days at RHS Wisley this year in July, where 18 members from a number of countries discussed a new classification system for clematis. The meeting was chaired by Linda Beutler, our President and Working Group Chairperson, with help from Duncan Donald, the RHS International Registrar for Clematis.
There was general agreement on how a new classification should be structured and which plants should be included in the various groups. The results are in the process of being documented and agreed by the attendees and a few other essential parties.
Once the proposed new classification has been agreed the results will be circulated to a wider audience including all members of the I.Cl.S. and the BCS for their comments.
After making the decision not to hold a meeting and conference in 2017, the Society has been working on Scotland 2018. The Society has asked Brightwater Holidays Ltd. to organize our meeting and visit to Scotland in 2018, working together on an itinerary that includes as much clematis content as we could find within reasonable travelling distance of our two accommodation centres, Edinburgh and St Andrews, Fife.
Fiona and I spent a very busy week in Scotland earlier this year (2017), researching gardens to visit. Whilst clematis are not as common as in other parts of Great Britain, or other countries, we were pleasantly surprised to find them being grown with love and attention in quite a few gardens, even those known for other genera.
We just hope the Scottish weather proves as good as we believe the clematis will be.
John Edward Hudson 1926–2017
Everett Leeds UK everettleeds@gmail.com
It is with sadness that I report the death of John on 30th January 2017. For the past four years he had been in a nursing home suffering from dementia.
John and his wife Maureen were founder members of the BCS in March 1991 and prior to that were members of the International Clematis Society (GB & I) Section. Their lovely garden at The Mill, Cannington, was an absolute treasure trove of many genera and, amongst many other clematis, they held the National Collection of Texensis.
John Hudson Eventually in 2006 they down-sized to a local bungalow where Maureen now lives.
John Came from a horticultural inspired Quaker family, his father Charles being awarded the CBE and VMH for services to teaching and horticulture, he having a tremendous grasp of all sides of the topic which he passed on to generations of students at various establishments across the country.
John was very mechanically minded and it was said he could mend anything of that ilk, even down to small things like watches and clocks. His last job of 30 years was at Cannington Agriculture and Horticultural College as head of the Engineering Department, teaching students Agricultural, Horticultural and Dairy Farm engineering. At home too, he displayed this trait in many a DIY project.
John, being a Quaker, was a conscientious objector, and when old enough during WW2, worked with The Friends Ambulance Service in the East End of London at St. Olaf’s (which was hit three times by V1 flying bombs.)
After the war, he spent a year in north Norway re-building houses, barns, schools including the first public loo on the end of the pier at Hammerfest, one of the most northern towns in that country. He then went to a chateau north of Paris to renovate it for an orphanage, before starting his own training.
A great loss to our Society, our thoughts and love go out to Maureen and children Robert and Jane.
Everett Leeds
Beryl Wells
Everett Leeds UK
everettleeds@gmail.com
It was with great sadness last May that Carol and I learned of the death of dear Beryl. She had been a staunch supporter of the British Clematis Society for many, many years and put her support into physical effect by assisting at shows and for a long time helping Sylvia Currie with the sales table, both here and abroad annually in The Netherlands.
With her nimble fingers and eye for detail her contribution was invaluable at Chelsea and Hampton Court Shows and
at the sell-off at the end of the shows she could be seen staggering off home with, amongst other plants, a maple or two, another of her passions.
← Beryl at work on the Thorncroft stand at Chelsea: photo kind courtesy of Peter SkeggsGooch/Thorncroft Nursery
I think the first time we met was in the Sandown Racing Stand, Esher, during a horticultural event way back in the 1990s.
Unfortunately, the loss of husband Dave several years ago really had a detrimental effect on her wellbeing, as she missed him terribly. Although dogged with ill health in
Beryl in her element, at Ede
Above and below: Always a big contributor at Chelsea ©Peter Skeggs-Gooch the last years of her life, she was a wonderful example of a contributing member of the BCS and will be greatly missed.
My Friend Beryl Wells
Denise MacDonald
Beryl was our ever-cheerful smiling friend with never a moan, even though she had poor health over many years. She was always ready to help out on the Sales Table, wherever it was, including traveling with Sylvia Currie on behalf of the BCS to the Wolfheze Clematis Festival in Holland. They would seek out the treasures of a different Dutch town each year, with a visit to Wim Snoeijer a must. Beryl could never resist just one (two or three plus?) more clematis, nor a few plants from the nursery at Ede (a small town between Arnhem and Utrecht). Getting these into Sylvia’s car to come home was an hilarious event, accompanied with much giggling.
Beryl loved her garden, where old fashioned roses complemented her clematis. Her help was sorely missed this year at Chelsea, where she would be on hand from set-up to when the very last grain of gravel was swept up, at breakdown. Along with Sylvia we would struggle back in a taxi to Victoria, loaded with as many plants as we could carry, laughing all the way. I never knew just how Beryl made it home. Such happy memories – we will miss you Beryl.
First two images by kind courtesy of ©Denise MacDonald
NOTES
Editor’s Acknowledgements
I should like to express my thanks to the following people who have contributed to or otherwise assisted in the preparation of this Journal.
Elmer Aagesen Timo Löfgren
Aiden Armitage
Tosh Ashworth/Medway Sling Co.
Denise MacDonald
Victoria Matthews
Ken Black Mike Miller
Anna Tindall/Burton Agnes Hall & Gardens
Richard Munday
Suzy and Chris Cocks/Taylors Clematis Mariko Nakanishi
Duncan Donald Julian Noble
Glenis Dyer
Sara Eley/Place for Plants Ltd
Richard Hodson
Dr John Feltwell
Fran Palmeri
Sue Reade
John Richards
Peter Skeggs-Gooch
Marcel Floyd Yvette D. Smith
Garry Gaunt
Lizzie Gibbison
John Richards/J.R. Nurseries Ltd
Werner Stastny
Peter Hargreaves Karin Sundström
Richard Hodson Keith Treadaway
John & Lesley Jenkins/Wollerton Old Hall Charlotte Wemyss
Everett Leeds
Valerie Le May Neville-Parry
Ken Woolfenden
And all other contributors
Front cover image ©Brian Collingwood AseedlingoftheViornaGroup, raisedin2002
Thanks once again to Karin Sundström for the use of material from The Genus Clematis by Magnus Johnson.
Thanks to our Advertisers – every advertisement is much appreciated. Thanks to our Publishers Charlesworth Press Ltd.
Thank you to my wonderful proof-readers Glenis Dyer, Valerie Le May NevilleParry, Sue Reade, Everett Leeds and Keith Treadaway.
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GARDEN TIES
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
LADDER ROPE IS EASY TO USE. TO ATTACH LADDER ROPE STAPLE ONE END TO FENCE OR POST. ALTERNATIVELY CUT THROUGH THE TOP THREE RUNGS, THEN TIE OFF TO A NAIL OR PEG ON YOUR FENCE.
THEN CUT THE LADDER ROPE TO DESIRED LENGTH ALLOWING AN EXTRA 50MM.TO BE COUNTERSUNK. USING SOMETHING SIMILAR TO A TENT PEG INSERT THROUGH LADDER ROPE AND PUSH INTO THE SOIL.
LADDER ROPE CAN BE USED VERTICALLY, HORIZONTALLY, IN A FAN SHAPE OR WRAPPED AROUND A POST OR TREE. IT WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOUR PLANTS AN EASY WAY TO CLIMB.
LADDER ROPE IS AVAILABLE IN THREE WIDTHS, 25MM, 35MM & 50MM WITH A COLOUR RANGE OF BROWN, BLACK AND GREEN. IT IS LIGHTWEIGHT AND REQUIRES LITTLE SPACE OR SKILL. HOWEVER, THE RESULTS ARE NOTHING SHORT OF STUNNING EYE CATCHING DISPLAYS, WHICH WILL BE THE ENVY OF ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
PACK CONTAINS 10 MTRS IN LENGTH
EACH PACK CONTAINS A WHOLE RANGE OF ROPES. WIRES, GARDEN HARDWARE, SWINGS AND GAMES ALSO AVAILABLE
01634 726420
