Clematis Journal 2020

The Clematis The Journal of the British Clematis Society

2020-21 edition

Wollerton Old Hall Garden In 1984, we started our formal garden. For about 20 years, it has been a RHS partner garden and in 2019 it was the regional winner in the National Garden Scheme “Nation’s Favourite Garden”. In 2020, it was shortlisted for “The Garden of the Year” sponsored by Christie’s and run by the Historic Houses Association, subsequently coming second in this country wide competition.

The formal design and number of small separate gardens, lends itself to incorporating collections of plants such as salvias and clematis into the planting schemes.

For garden open times consult our web site www.wollertonoldhallgarden.com or Tel: 01630 685760 2021 opening may still require assurances for safe visiting. In that case, timed tickets for visiting sessions can be pre-booked on our web site.

Find us: Wollerton Old Hall Garden, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 3NA We are brown signed off the A53 between Tern Hill and Hodnet.

The Clematis 2020-21 edition

Roz Kelly

The Journal of the British Clematis Society

www.britishclematis.org.uk RHS Affiliation No. 10586944 Registered Charity No. 1049107 Opinions expressed by authors, or products advertised are not specifically endorsed by The Society

© British Clematis Society 2020

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The Clematis | The Journal of the British Clematis Society – 2020/21 Section 1 | Your Society

Contents Section 1 | Your Society

6

Welcome by The Chair

7

An introduction to this year’s Journal

8

Renewing Your Membership for 2021

9

Reports from the BCS Executive Committee

10

A clematis called “Sue Reade” – The story behind the cover photo – Ron Kirkman

18

British Clematis Society Photography Competition 2020 – Glenn Rowbottom

22

The Midland Group activities – Charne Griffiths

24

Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens

26

Unexpected Clematis – Charne Griffiths

27

Clematis in my new Garden – Richard Munday

31

Clematis at 10 Rectory Close – Ian Nex

34

A Shortlands Garden – Denise McDonald

39

The Merian Garden – Julian Noble

42

Clematis Montana – David Jewell

43

Clematis and Other Plants in The Garden – Aivars Irbe

47

The view from Clematis Corner – Mike Brown

51

National Collection of Clematis in France – Marie Laure Rauline

53

Clematis at Daneway Cottage – Alison Smith

56

Section 3 | Lockdown 2020

60

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Lockdown – David Jewell

61

A Commercial Nursery in Lockdown – Debi Gardner

65

All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go – Charlie Pridham

67

My 2020... So far – Jean Harley

70

Helmsley Walled Garden – Growing Out of a Crisis – June Tainsh

72

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The Journal of the British Clematis Society – 2020/21 | The Clematis

Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups

78

Snow White is one of seven dwarfs at By The Way – Val le May Neville – Parry

79

The Orange-peel Clematis – Christopher Grey – Wilson

83

Clematis Diversity – a Learning Journey with the BCS – Alison Booth

88

Viorna Research Project – Dwayne Estes and Thomas Murphy

96

Clematis Shenlungchiaensis – Ton Hannink

100

Clematis as Border Perennials – Richard Hodson

102

Observations on Three Lesser Known Clematis – Aidan Armitage

105

Passing the Baton – Val le May Neville – Parry

109

Section 5 | Propagation and Breeding

114

The Jackmans of Woking – Everett Leeds

115

How to Minimize the Occurrence of Clematis Wilt – Peer Sorensen

122

From One Hemisphere to Another – Peer Sorensen

123

Do we need Healthier Clematis? – Ton Hannink

125

Clematis and Me – Mariko Nakanishi

129

The History of viticella ‘Lavender Twirl’ – Jack Gittoes

132

Clematis ‘Advent Bells’ – Jack Gittoes

133

Les clématites à Bagatelle – Erik Benoit

134

Section 6 | International Clematis Society and Registrations

140

International Clematis Society – 2020 Report – Ken Woolfenden

141

Editor’s Acknowledgements

146

5

Section 1

Your Society

Your Society | Section 1

Scartho Gem

Welcome Lizzie Gibbison, Chair of BCS

I

am delighted that we have been able to produce our annual Journal. This year has been a major challenge to the BCS. Our editor, Brian Collingwood, decided to step down after giving us a journal worthy of that name; thank you Brian. Then the spread of Covid-19 across the world, through Europe and the UK led to most of our members being in lockdown for many weeks with all events, shows and meetings being cancelled.

Your committee members have been stars in forming an editorial team to compile, edit, and proof-read this issue. I trust that you find within these pages articles that inspire you.

Thanks to all our contributors for their work.

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Section 1 | Your Society

An Introduction to This Year’s Journal Ken Black, Coordinating Editor, BCS

W

elcome to the 2020/21 edition of the Journal of the British Clematis Society. Let me start by thanking Brian Collingwood for the wonderful work he has done over the years as Editor of the Journal and to wish him well in any future endeavours that he undertakes. I can assure everyone that his absence has been keenly felt, but that we have done our best to live up to the standards that he has set.

The viorna on the front cover is Clematis ‘Sue Reade’ which was introduced and named by Richard Hodson.

The photograph taken, and chosen for the cover,

by Ron Kirkman is to honour the many years of service given to the Society and to The Northern Region by Sue. Putting this year’s Journal together has been a collaborative effort, and whilst we wish to present members with something familiar, we have also taken the opportunity to introduce some minor changes of style and presentation. You will notice that the title appears to span more than one year. This is not because we intend to publish the journal every other year but in recognition of the fact that it is published very near to the end of 2020 but will still be our current journal in 2021.

Another major change is the use of a different publisher. This is not because the work of Charlesworth Press was in any way disappointing, but we decided that a change of design would provide some fresh impetus.

I mentioned earlier how challenging it has been to produce the Journal without Brian’s hand on the tiller, but it would have been impossible to do so without the continued support of you the members, particularly those of you who put pen to paper and provided so many interesting articles about growing clematis. Readers will notice that “lock down” and its implications is a recurring theme in many of the articles as authors recount their experiences of living and gardening through such strange times.

As usual, we have had wonderful support from all our authors, both here in the UK and elsewhere in the world. The 2020/21 edition is a truly global one which has, within its covers, a range of personal experiences, professional advice, and information about growing clematis. Our aim, as in every year, is to provide something for everyone, and I hope that you feel that we have achieved that.

Stay safe everyone.

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Your Society | Section 1

Renewing Your Membership for 2021 Annual memberships are due for renewal on the 1st of January each year.

Ways to do this ʀ By cheque addressed to the British Clematis Society and sent to the Membership

Secretary at the address below.

ʀ By PayPal via the British Clematis Society Website www.britishclematis.org.uk ʀ By Annual Standing Order Mandate which can be downloaded from the British

Clematis Society Website or obtained from the Membership Secretary.

Whatever method you choose, please ensure that you provide an identification reference such as your name or membership number.

Suscription rates UK

£25

Europe

£30

Outside Europe

£35

Student in the UK

£15

Joint membership

UK

£30

(2 individuals living at the same address)

Europe

£35

Outside Europe

£40

Life member

Single

£300

Only available in the UK

Joint

£350

Single membership

For more information Go to our website at www.britishclematis.org.uk Or contact The Membership Secretary Adswood Townfield Lane Mollington Cheshire CH1 6LB 9

Section 1 | Your Society

Who Does What in the BCS 2020/21 Chair*

Bookkeeper and Paypal Coordinator:

Lizzie Gibbison Saffron Gate, Tickners Heath, Alford, Surrey GU6 8HU Telephone: 01483 200219 Email: clematis@talk21.com

Alison Booth

Website and Internet Help Desk Steve Christmas Telephone: 01264 889735 Email: stevechristmas1@gmail.com

Honorary Treasurer* Peter Hargreaves Telephone: 01283 713639 Email: treasurer@britishclematis.org.uk

Seed Exchange Cooordinator: Paul Dunstan 58b Manthorpe Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 8DN Telephone: 01476 591803 Email: pjdunstan43@gmail.com

Honorary Secretary* Julian Noble 29 Froxfield Gardens, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 8DN Telephone: 0 2392 376072 or 07552 922472 Email: secretary@britishclematis.org.uk

Speakers’ Panel Everett Leeds Telephone: 01737 247399 Email: everettleeds@gmail.com

Membership Secretary* Ken Black Adswood, Townfield Lane, Mollington, Cheshire CH1 6LB Telephone: 01244 851327 Email: keneblack4@gmail.com

Slide librarian Ken Woolfenden Telephone: 01992 636524 Email: ken@woolfenden.org

Newsletter Editor Glenn Rowbottom 549 Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 3JS. Telephone: 01246 566046 Email: plantsman54@gmail.com

*Elected officer 10

Your Society | Section 1

Lizzie and Tyke

My Time as Chair of the BCS Lizzie Gibbison, Chair, BCS

I

have been looking back over the four and a half years that I have been chairperson of the BCS. Prior to that I had been an active member of the Executive Committee for many years. I have been thinking about how things have changed since the Society was formed 25 years ago. At one point we had over a thousand members; we now have a more modest number. When I took over from Charne Griffiths in 2016 I knew there were a number of challenges ahead. I am proud of what we have chieved under my leadership.

These included making the BCS fully compliant with the recent data protection legislation (GDPR), changing our constitution to reflect the reduced size of our membership (a smaller executive committee) and using electronic means to communicate with our membership (email and e-newsletters). We have been able to do this although some members find that adjusting to receiving some newsletters via email is difficult.

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Section 1 | Your Society Over recent months e-mail, videoconferencing and telephone calls have been vital to keep in touch – with our members and as a committee.

In 2016 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the formation of the BCS. In August members from all over the UK gathered for lunch at a hall in Benson, Oxfordshire; there was time to chat, talk plants, recall fond memories and remember old friends. There was a real ‘buzz’. In the afternoon, we all reconvened at Mike and Anne Brown’s clematis filled garden a short drive from the hall – we were blessed with wonderful weather. Mike’s clematis and the refreshments made this a fitting celebration. I was thrilled that so many of us were able to join in this celebration with hot sunshine too.

I am delighted that we have been able to continue to take the BCS to national shows such as the Malvern Spring Show and the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park in Cheshire.

It does cost money to stage an eye-catching stand, but the extra we spent paid off by attracting people to come and talk about growing clematis and to join the Society.

The RHS judges liked our displays as well and awarded us some Silver medals. Display clematis were purchased from various commercial nurseries and helped to give our displays that ‘wow’ factor. We now have a new series of booklets about growing clematis and some fine photo panels to support our displays.

Recently I have attended the meetings for national Plant Societies held by the RHS at Wisley. This has led to us having a stand at their annual Plant Society weekends at Wisley and, in 2019, holding a Clematis Weekend at RHS Harlow Carr, featuring growing clematis in pots with talks on growing clematis. This year we were due to hold one or more clematis events in their plant centres, but because of the COVID-19 Virus these could not take place. These displays take us out to a wider public and help us explain how to grow clematis of all varieties.

For me, one of the highlights of my term in the chair has been to award a BCS bursary to Dwayne Estes, Thomas Murphy and their colleagues at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee USA, to support their research into the viorna group. We have been delighted to publish their research results.

It is heartening that there are still National Collections of Clematis Viorna, Clematis Texensis, Clematis Montana and three collections of Clematis Viticella This year we held all our committee meetings online using Zoom due to the lockdown and responded to our biggest challenge of all, producing the 2020-21 Journal. We still have the challenge of taking the BCS into the future. Although we have only one active regional group and find it increasingly difficult to hold national meetings, we maintain contact with all our members via our newsletters, our new e-newsletter (In Touch) and our annual Journal. Maybe we will try holding an on-line talk as many other plant societies are doing.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our AGM on 10th April 2021 at Hartpury College and University, Gloucestershire. Following the business meeting there will be a talk about clematis and plenty of time to meet and catch up with friends.

Full details of the event will be sent out in the New Year.

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Your Society | Section 1

Report from the Honorary Secretary Julian Noble, Honorary Secretary, BCS

Review of the year 2020

A

major concern of your committee has been the reduction in membership and the rise in the costs of communicating by printed material. Recently we have been sending emails and newsletters to those members who have shared their e-mail addresses with us.

However, any move to send out all our newsletters by email was rejected by recent AGMs. Your committee has limited our face to face committee meetings to two a year due the costs of travel. This been supplemented by emails and telephone calls to decide on urgent issues.

In February 2020 we held our first trial online committee meeting using something called Zoom – very new to us then! We were delighted how well the meeting went although, as secretary, I found it quite a difficult task to both participate in the discussion and take notes for my minutes. A bonus of holding the 2-hour meeting online was a big saving on travel costs as well as in time of between 2 ½ hours and 4 hours for several members plus many litres of fuel.

At that meeting we discussed: how to produce our Journal; the shows and events we will attend (Malvern, Wisley and Harlow Carr), the planned replanting of sections of the Sunbury Walled Garden and the Midland Group’s programme of meetings and garden visits.

Little did we know what awaited us all in March. The spread of COVID-19 across Europe and the lockdown of the UK in late March swept away most of these plans.

We have continued to meet online as a committee using Zoom. As you read this 2020-21 Journal you see the results of the hard work put in by the editorial team (mainly committee members led by Ken Black). We have issued the occasional newsletter by email as well as a printed issue. We would welcome much more input to the newsletter from members to keep it fresh and interesting. Please send these to Glenn Rowbottom.

A major casualty of the lockdown was our AGM. We had to cancel the planned meeting in April and wrote and informed all our members. We decided that we did not yet have the expertise to manage an online meeting. As a result, this Journal has no AGM minutes. We do have our accounts for 2019. [Note: our financial year ends in December]. The accounts have been filed with the Charity Commission. All officers and committee members agreed to continue in post until our AGM in 2021.

Date for your diary: 10th April 2021 at Hartpury College and University near Gloucester.

If we are unable to hold a face to face meeting, then the AGM will be held online.

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Section 1 | Your Society

Report from The Treasurer Peter Hargreaves, Treaurer, BCS

Results for the year ended 31st of December 2019

T

he society’s funds were reduced from £30,726 to £26,489. Volunteers continue to undertake the majority of day-to-day administration of society affairs which would be expensive to provide if the BCS had to pay for the external provision of the services.

Receipts

£

Subscriptions Donations Gift Aid tax RHS Prize money Events, sales etc.

5,907 27 668 400 2,218 £9,220

Payments Journal Newsletters AGM Trustee expenses Show costs Publicity and website

5,234 2,096 1,508 697 1,968 1,954 £13,457

Excess of payments over receipts

£4,237

Funds: 31st December 2019 Funds: 31st December 2018

£24,489 £30,726

The finances of the BCS still remain strong and the committee continues to monitor costs. The BCS is faced with challenges and changes and increased reporting requirements in our affairs, in line with our status as a charity and the society maintains specific reserves for such purposes.

The summarised figures do not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the financial affairs of the Society. The accounts are to be reviewed by the independent examiners.

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Your Society | Section 1

Niobe

Report from the Newsletter Editor Glenn Rowbottom, Newsletter Editor, BCS

Newsletters 2020 and BCS “In Touch”

W

hat strange times we are in during 2020 and I hope you are all well and staying safe.

The three Newsletters produce in February, June and September were well received by the membership, but I am afraid it is the same usual few contributors who keep the Newsletters supplied with interesting material for the rest of the membership.

I was kind of hoping that during lockdown and the various restrictions it would lead to more material/pictures being produced across the membership, so that we could share our various gardening/clematis notes, pictures and our growing experiences.

This year we have tried to keep the membership in touch and informed by producing the BCS “In Touch” email which is sent out between the three Newsletters, and again, this has been well received. It is down to the membership to share any interesting growing tips and information about their gardens and clematis.

I look forward to receiving all your information including pictures to share with the membership however small, on your garden, Clematis, or you may wish to share your growing knowledge and experience or seeking advice on various matters.

Don’t be shy; your society needs you to keep these two important and informative documents/publications going strong.

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Section 1 | Your Society

Report from the Membership Secretary Ken Black, Journal Editor, BCS

Membership numbers

A

s with all societies, our membership numbers fall each year but, as we approach the end of 2020, we still have a very healthy number of members. These are as follows:

Category

Memberships

Members

Statutory Members Honorary Members* – Single Honorary Members* – Joint Life Members – Single Life Members – Joint Annual Members – Single Annual Members – joint

4 9 2 43 10 186 36

4 9 4 43 20 186 72

Totals

290

338

*Please note that these memberships are no longer awarded by the Society

During the year so far, we have welcomed the following new members: Sue Amos, David Wallace, Pierre Butel, Bethan Charles, Nicki Noden, Paul Kaye, Steve Dehavillande, Jacquelyn Haigh and Emma Coyle.

General Data Protection Regulations We recently had a related query, so I thought it would be useful to restate the BCS position.

All your membership details are held on a ‘stand-alone’ data base to which no one, other than me, has access. Information about individual members is only provided on a ‘need to know’ basis. For example, names and addresses are provided when the Journal or a newsletter is to be sent out. Email addresses are provided for “In Touch” email distribution and in respect of newsletters where email is the preferred choice. Each year the Treasurer is provided information requested by HMRC in respect of members who have signed up for Gift Aid. If, for any reason, I am asked for the contact details of an individual member I would seek that member’s agreement before passing them on.

Sale of Booklets In March 2020 I started my own web site and You Tube channel, aimed at providing advice and information to gardeners on growing clematis. (Kenblackclematis.com) This was partly my way of dealing with ‘lock down’ but it also replaced the talks 16

Your Society | Section 1

to gardening clubs that had been booked into my diary. I have been able to use this as a vehicle for promoting the Society and have also managed to sell 18 of the booklets on montanas for £2 each. These are available free of charge to any member who sends me their address on a stamped addressed A5 envelope.

Shows In conjunction with The Midland Group it was agreed that there would be a BCS stand at The Malvern Spring Show in May 2020, which is one of my favourite events of the year, because of its informality and friendliness. Also, following the success of the Clematis Weekend we staged at Harlow Carr in July 2019 the RHS asked if we would repeat the event in 2020. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, neither of these took place because of the national “Lock Down” but I hope that we will be able to resume such events next year. I know that some people see our presence at Shows and other horticultural events as being primarily about recruiting new members. Whilst it is always important to do so, and I always put on special offers designed to attract new members, this is not our primary purpose as a Society. According to our web site we exist “to promote the cultivation and preservation of clematis. In particular, we aim to encourage all gardeners to grow and enjoy clematis – with the emphasis on enjoy! “I hope therefore that 2021 will present us with opportunities to get out there and raise the profile of these wonderful plants once more.

Stay safe everyone and thank you for your support over the last 12 months.

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Section 1 | Your Society

Front Cover – Clematis 'Sue Reade' Ron Kirkman, Former BCS Chairman

I

t came as a very pleasant surprise, on the 14th June this year, to be asked by Ken Black if I would do the photograph for the front cover of this year’s B.C.S. Journal. Surprised, because the last time I did it was about 15 years ago!

I quickly agreed and almost immediately knew which photograph I was going to use!

About 5 years ago Richard Hodson of Hawthornes Nursery at Hesketh Bank had sent me a plant that he had raised and Sue Reade named after Sue Reade, in honour of all the years of hard work she had put into organising and co-ordinating events in the North of England, as well as serving on the National Committee. (See end of article…)

Remarkably, the very first flower had opened just 2 days before Ken's phone call and this is the one featured on the front cover of this year’s Journal. Ken also asked me if I would write a bit about how I took the cover photograph. So here goes!!

I hope that there are still some of you around who remember the talks I gave and articles I wrote, for the Journal, about photographing clematis, also not forgetting those who attended the photographic workshops I did, mainly at Helmsley Walled Garden. All this was, of course, about 15 years ago. In those days I was a serious traditional photographer, using slide film and a collection of Olympus OM series manual film cameras and lens, including macro lens. In the workshops I went to great lengths to explain the intricacies of correct exposure, getting the speed and aperture set to give maximum depth of field in macro shots and to fade the background when required in other situations. I also discussed composition and subject choice, such as avoiding taking photographs of flowers that have already had their centres trampled over by bees! A transcript of my photographic workshop can be found on page 62 of the 2004 B.C.S. Journal.

At B.C.S. garden visits I could often be seen carrying a large camera bag and sturdy Benbo Trekker tripod. I would spend considerable amounts of time waiting for the right light, setting the exposure, waiting for the wind to stop, by which time the light had changed so I started all over again. For me it was a discipline I enjoyed.

Then I had the eager anticipation of waiting for the box of slides to be returned, in the post, and I would be delighted if I got six really good shots out of the 36 slides.

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Your Society | Section 1

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Section 1 | Your Society However, whilst I still occasionally use my Olympus cameras, I now have a Sony Alpha digital S.L.R. Of course, I could still use it manually, but I have found it much easier to press the 'P' button (P stands for programme or 'panic') and let the camera do the work. It also has image stabilisation built into the camera, so the wind is not so much of a problem, also I can see the results instantly.

So which camera did I use to photograph C. ‘Sue Reade’? Olympus or Sony?

Answers on a postcard to: – Sorry! I am only teasing! The answer is neither!

On walking through our garden on my way home, about 4.30 on Friday afternoon the 12th of June, I noticed that the first and only flower on C. 'Sue Reade' was fully open, so I took 2 photographs with my MOBILE PHONE! I did intend to take a 'proper' photograph over the weekend, probably with my Olympus camera! However, a sudden severe hailstorm destroyed the flower before I got the chance!

I think this highlights the changes in photography over the last few years, and it is not a good idea to rely on our weather!

Please note that apart from my own plant I have only ever seen two other photographs of C. ‘Sue Reade' and all three seem to be a slightly different colour. As with several other clematis this may be due to how and where they are grown and possibly be dependent on the amount of sunlight available?

Report reprinted from the International Clematis Register database on 16/2/2017.

‘Sue Reade’ Viorna Group Parentage: ‘Kahori-no-kimi’ (s) × unknown (open-pollinated) S: R. Hodson (2012), G: R. Hodson (2014), N: R. Hodson (2016), I: Hawthornes Clematis Nursery (2016), REG: R. Hodson (2016) Fls narrowly bell-shaped, 3 cm across, nodding or drooping, downy, borne singly, not scented; pedicels green and purple, white-downy. Sepals 4; outside pale lilac-grey over a pinkish white ground; inside rose-pink, heavily overlaid with plum-purple veining; 3 × 1.5 cm, elliptic, thick and fleshy, fused in basal two-thirds, distal one-third with strongly frilled margins and recurved tip. Seed-heads persistent. Deciduous climber, with stems 2.5-3 m.

Lvs simple, mid-green. FL: July to September on current year’s growth.

Named after the North-West Group Organiser for the British Clematis Society.

Extract from a post from Richard Hodson on the BCS Facebook page dated the 18th of September 2019 “I registered this clematis as SUE READE a few years ago as a thank you to Sue who has done so much over the past years to keep the show on the road for the Northern Area of British Clematis Society.

Many thanks, Sue.” 20

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Section 1 | Your Society

British Clematis Society Photography Competition 2020 Glenn Rowbottom, Newsletter Editor, BCS

F

irst, I must thank the members who entered this competition during lockdown, to show all the membership their wonderful clematis growing amongst other plants, in various situations and displays in their gardens.

I was a little disappointed by the limited number of entries in the run up to the closing date, but with your help we eventually received enough entries to make it a real competition.

My thanks also go to Val le May Neville – Parry for giving up her valuable time to judge the entries and her feedback was that it was a close-run thing. Val judged the entries anonymously and the winner is: Margaret Hargreaves of Grafton Cottage, Staffordshire, who will receive from The British Clematis Society a garden token, or a donation to her current garden charity.

The clematis shown in the photo are C. ‘Little Bas’ with C. ‘Hagley Hybrid’ and C. ‘Maria Cornelia’.

What a welcome for garden visitors!

Plants at the peak of their flowering and beautifully displayed. The Judges’ Comments from The Winner “My obsession with gardening began at a very young age when I first encountered my mother’s Sweet Williams. I could not resist the temptation to pick them. As I grew older I took on the task of mum’s front garden and helped dad with the vegetables. I was also privileged to spend lots of hours with an extremely knowledgeable gardener at the farm opposite us.

When I married Peter, we moved into Grafton Cottage and it was my dream come true.

Over the years my gardening knowledge has grown and when we acquired extra land this gave me more scope and I saw my cut out empty borders and it was then I decided to colour scheme them.

I became more aware of the Clematis genus and realized the potential of these plants to provide colour in and at the back of the borders and their ability to extend the flowering season.

22

Your Society | Section 1

Grafton Cottage Garden Peter and I have opened the garden to the public for over 30 years (28, including this year under lock down, for the National Gardens Scheme and various charities – currently Alzheimer’s Research UK, at Nottingham University) The front garden starts in the spring with a display of tulips and home-grown wall flowers, the cottage being clothed The clematis shown in the photo are C. ‘Little Bas’ with a magnificent wisteria. A summer with C. ‘Hagley Hybrid’ and C. ‘Maria Cornelia’ display of cornflower, larkspur, scabious, verbenas, and pelargoniums follow this, not forgetting the quintessential hollyhocks towering at the back of the borders.

The area surrounding the cottage is full of many different perennials as well as the essential cottage violas, sweet peas, phlox, lilies etc. The back drop for the borders is trellis which plays host to roses, followed by many clematis viticella. I prefer the smaller flowers that they produce.

The only item in the garden when we came to Grafton Cottage was a fabulous blushed Bramley apple tree which creates dappled shade over the lawn and is a lovely place to sit and to take in the garden.

Over the years we have added numerous features i.e. dell, parterre and amphitheatre.

Our love of gardening continues, and we are happy to share the garden with others.”

Margaret Hargreaves September 2020.

23

Section 1 | Your Society

Sweet Summer Love

The BCS Midland Group 2020 Charne Griffiths

J

ust as the pandemic has affected the main BCS so it has altered the plans of the Midland Group. This Group draws members from a wide area, as far south as Gloucestershire, all the outskirts of Birmingham, as far east as Warwickshire and to the north includes Staffordshire. Members are willing to travel up to two hours for meetings or garden visits. The group has been meeting for fourteen years and firm friendships have formed but newcomers are always welcome. We are all always working hard to find new gardens to visit and speakers for our indoor meetings.

When the virus restrictions struck, Josie Hulbert, our leader, supported by our small committee, and with suggestions from our members, had just put together a full programme with two indoor meetings with speakers in March and October, and garden visits in the intervening months. Much to everyone’s disappointment, the decision had to be made to cancel.

At first, we all hoped that we may have been able to pick up the programme later in the year but over the months it became obvious that was not going to be possible.

Trying to keep the Group together, we came up with the idea of a simple blog, writing a few snippets about how our clematis were performing in our gardens with photos where possible. There have been two blogs so far with another in preparation.

This has been circulated to Midland members including printed copies for those who do not have access to e-mail. The response has been good, but we are all hoping that next year we will be able to meet again and share details of how our clematis have performed.

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Your Society | Section 1

25

Section 2

Clematis in our Gardens

Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

Son of Burford Bell

Unexpected Clematis Charne Griffiths

Y

ou may wonder about the title of this article and I did ponder it for a while.

I needed a title that includes a number of clematis that have come my way and into my collection unintentionally. This means that I did not set out to acquire them, but they arrived; wrongly labelled, from a resuscitation bay in a garden centre, as a gift from a fellow clemantarian, as a result of helping on BCS stands at shows, from a BCS meeting, or even in a plant exchange or draw.

Amongst those wrongly labelled I particularly recall a plant I bought at a garden centre which seemed to be labelled as C. ‘Richard Pennell’, and I thought it fitted with my collection of blue flowered clematis growing along a trellis behind a mainly blue and yellow border. Imagine my surprise the following summer when it developed deep purple, velvety flowers. I liked it so much that I allowed it to stay in that spot and after a little research I discovered that it was C. ‘Rouge Cardinal’. The plants in the nursery had been labelled alphabetically and the labels in the ‘R’ section had clearly been mixed! Moving to this garden nearly three years ago, I bought a liner and grew it on and it has been flowering happily on one of the pergolas we have put up.

Over the years I have bought a number of plants from what I would call the resuscitation bays in garden centres. One of the first I remember was C. ‘Luther Burbank’. I had never heard of this clematis when I first saw it but was intrigued by the name so decided to buy it and see. I found little about it when I looked it up at that time, but I tidied it up and gave it some care and it grew into a very attractive plant with sky blue flowers. It flowered slightly earlier than some of my C. viticella collection which was a bonus.

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens Since we moved to our new house I have been unable to buy another plant but will keep looking! In the last three years I have bought C. ‘Comtesse de Bouchard’, C. ‘Ville de Lyon’ and C. ‘Rosalyn’ in end of season reduced sections as well as a very cheap (£3) C. armandii. The latter flowered well for the first time earlier this year. C. ‘Rosalyn’ has small, slender buds but then develops into a double flowered waterfall of colour.

In the past I have received many clematis from fellow devotees. I was given a seedling of C. koreana by Paul Dunstan, a few years ago. It lived and flowered in a pot while in the old garden, but obviously needed a new home by the time we moved here, almost three years ago. It now scrambles up netting at the base of a large holly tree and does not seem to mind the relative dryness or shadiness of its position, producing elegant paleyellow flowers, mostly in clusters of three, over a long period. Another plant I treasure, C. ‘Twinkle’, was given to me by BCS member Mike Brown. It did not perform well in the previous garden but is much happier in the lighter soil in this current garden.

The flowers are followed by fluffy seed heads which last for a long time.

It has always helped to increase my knowledge of clematis plants when I have volunteered to help organise or assist on the BCS stand at various shows. I have learnt much from others on the stand when listening to them responding to questions from the public, and by the opportunity to see lots of plants that I might not have seen in other circumstances.

In our previous garden I had C. ‘Mikelite’ which scrambled up a trellis alongside a honeysuckle. The plant was given to me by a grower at the end of a show at Tatton and I enjoyed the way it seemed to peep out amongst the honeysuckle but was not too overpowering. Working on the BCS stand at Malvern for many years, I had opportunities to buy plants at the end of the show and one of the prettiest I consider to be C. ‘Diana’s Delight’. This is another plant that spent its first years in a pot, only getting a proper home in this garden. It did flower in the pot but has had much more care since being planted into the garden. I probably would not have bought it as a large flowered, early/ late clematis, which did not do well in our old garden, but it is attractive and maybe the name was beckoning?

Another plant I acquired from Malvern came as a seedling. When packing up on the Sunday evening I found two small pots labelled ‘large brown Fusca’. I suspect one of our members doing demonstrations of seed sowing and growing had brought them to use, but no one seemed to claim them.

Therefore, I took them home and gave them scant care, just the occasional watering and repotting. When we moved to our present garden in autumn 2017 I gave one to a friend and gave the remaining one some real attention, and it flowered with large brown flowers the following summer. Last year it 28

C. Brown Fusca

Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

Blekitny Aniol

C. Diana's Delight

C. Rosalyn

Rouge Cardinal

C. Lucky Charm

C. Twinkle

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens was chewed at the base and disappeared, but this spring it began growing and although there was some chewing and wind damage early on requiring protection and support, it repaid me with a fine crop of bell shaped brown flowers. Next year I might have to find it a permanent home! The flowers do look brown rather than the slightly purple tone as appears in the picture.

Sometimes I have come away from BCS meetings with plants that I did not plan to have.

From a meeting five or six years ago, my husband Michael brought back two plantlets.

I was involved with the committee at the time so did not take part in the activities. One of these tiny plants was labelled C. ‘Rooguchi’ and the other was labelled ‘Son of Burford Bell’. Once again, they had scant care in and outside the greenhouse at our previous home.

For almost two years prior to autumn 2017 we were busy preparing to put the house on the market and then moving. We brought with us a lorry load of plants and garden accessories and that included all the smaller pots. There was little here we would have called a garden but some space. Michael set about creating places to grow clematis which included an L-shaped trellis around the front patio. The C. ‘Rooguchi’ flowered in its pot against this the first summer and has flowered over a long period last year and this year, planted at the base. Although it is non-clinging it is easy to trail it through the trellis so that the little hats of the flowers wave around the top. The seedling, ‘Son of Burford Bell’ we planted against a golden Lonicera shrub. It has struggled a bit for water but with watering produces bell shaped flowers not unlike C. ‘Rooguchi’ but with a shinier outside and a different inner.

I am unsure whether it is vigorous enough to stay in this place for the longer term.

I came away from a society meeting with C. ‘Lucky Charm’ about four years ago.

Knowing we were about to put our house on the market, I left the plant in a pot and let it grow against a pergola. It did have a few flowers but did not look a strong grower.

Once we had begun to organise a garden here, it was planted against a new archway over a path at the side of the house. It grew strongly and shot up on to the top of the arch, where it flowered freely, facing upwards. This year I tried to train part of the plant to grow along an adjoining lower trellis, but it got wind damage. The remainder of the plant grew strongly and mainly flowered on the top of the archway although there were a few lower flowers to be admired.

A further source of unexpected clematis has been raffles and plant exchanges. I won a plant of C. ‘Jan Fopma’ at a BCS meeting some years ago. I kept it in a pot and it flowered well but unfortunately, I lost it the first winter in this garden. That was the year we had ‘the beast from the east’ and I had many potted clematis to try to protect and no greenhouse. At one of the Midland Group plant exchanges I came away with a plant labelled “Blue Angel”. It looked as though it had an old stem and one tiny green shoot in the pot as well as another shoot of an unidentified plant. It had a few flowers on a single stem last year but then spread across the top of the low trellis this year and does indeed seem to be C. ‘Blekitny Aniol (Blue Angel)’.

Those clematis mentioned above are not my only unintended clematis acquisitions but examples of the many ways in which I have obtained my plants apart from the also enjoyable way of planning to buy particular plants for special places.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

C. ‘Mrs N. Thompson’

Clematis and my new Garden Richard Munday

T

his article is mainly about my experiences with clematis, in our new garden, which is attached to the house my wife and I moved into in March 2019. At about the same time, I attended in all innocence, the meeting of the Midlands Group of the British Clematis Society (BCS) at Stourbridge, to hear an excellent talk by BCS member Glenis Dyer entitled “Good Companions, Good Plants for your Garden.” I say, ‘in all innocence’, because I didn’t realise I would walk through a room there, which was filled with clematis brought by Marcel Floyd. Well it was like being mugged.

I knew my wallet would be lighter by the time I got in the room for the talk, and so it proved to be. My first purchase was C. ‘Fleuri’, an early large, intense purple clematis which I’ve had before from Evison’s Boulevard Collection, and which makes a nice bushy plant 1-1.5 metres in height. Next, I just had to have C. koreana ‘Amber’, the 2016 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) plant of the year and introduced at The Chelsea Flower Show

by Taylors Clematis of the UK. This flowered beautifully, the flowers lasted a long time, and after I deadheaded it a second crop of flowers came. My final purchase was ‘Wellmax’, a sport of C. texensis with a trade name of ‘Koningen Maxima’ in honour of Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. I’d never heard of it, but had always wanted to grow a texensis variety and figured that if Marcel was selling this plant, it was worth a try, and so it proved. I put it in a large pot, and it rewarded me with lots of large red, trumpet like flowers. C. koreana ‘Amber’ and C. texensis ‘Wellmax’ were both cut back hard and have reflowered this year, but with fewer flowers. They probably need time to get established.

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens What have worked well this year are the short early large cultivars, which I have simply put well supported in an herbaceous border. The aforementioned C. ‘Fleuri’, as well as purple C. ‘Edda’ introduced in 2014 and pink C. ‘Sarah Elizabeth’ introduced in 2018 flowered profusely, and a new one called C. ‘Vicky’ had a reasonable display of striped pink flowers. I have to say at this juncture, I seem to have very few slugs and snails in the garden.

Why this should be so I don’t know, as in my last house I was plagued by them. We do have a crow’s nest nearby, and we often see crows in the garden so maybe they eat them.

Moving to a new house entailed living for a year in a rented bungalow, so I kept several plants from my old garden in pots for a year. Fortunately, we had very strong removal men, who didn’t mind lifting some very large pots. Some of the early large flowering hybrids, with the most spectacular flowers, are what you would call in modern parlance “snowflakes”, in that, if you breathe too heavily on them or insult them for their lack of growth, they keel over and die. One I have found to be more robust, is C. ‘Mrs N Thompson’ which has a glorious purple flower with a red stripe. The cultivar dates back to 1961 and is not too vigorous. A new group 2 cultivar called C. ‘Dazzle’ seems robust, and produces large lilac coloured flowers with a darker stripe. I’ve had similar but darker C. ‘Edda’ C. ‘Sarah Elizabeth’ & C. ‘Vicky’ purple early large C. ‘The Vagabond’ in a pot for years, but I have now put this in the ground, after fortunately, helping it out of the pot with no root disturbance. It is happily flowering well, ageing nicely to a light mauve. Despite its C. florida parentage, ‘Fond Memories’ has survived being moved, then grown in a pot and then eventually replaced in the ground. It has robust growth and beautiful white purple edged flowers. C. ‘Franziska Maria,’ a double mid blue purple with yellow anthers, has given me no problems. A friend presented me with his plant of C. ‘General Sikorski’, which he had dug up to make way for his new patio. I left it in a black bin bag last July for about three weeks, before remembering to plant it.

It grew away nicely, though no mauve to mid blue flowers as yet, but I have seen several plants of this in gardens open to the public, which the owners have said they’ve grown successfully for years.

I’m a big fan of the 'stripeys', so I brought a few with me and have purchased some new ones too. Most are too new to comment on, or the ones I moved are having their one-year long sulk. White and mauve pink C. ‘Carnaby’ has had a few flowers and mixed red and purple C. ‘Anna Louise’, (RHS Award of Garden Merit) new to me this year, has lots of buds at the time of writing.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2 So, I move on to the type 3 and therefore the later flowering clematis. A plant I would unhesitatingly recommend is C. ‘Blekitny Aniol’ or ‘Blue Angel’ (RHS Award of Garden Merit); a Stefan Franczak creation from Poland, with masses of pale blue, luminous flowers. I’d grown one in a large pot for about ten years where it received little attention. This year, I put it in the ground adjacent to quite a thick mixed hedge through which it has grown. A couple of years ago I bought, on impulse from a supermarket, a small plant of ‘C. ‘Aotearoa’ which is a late large flowering purple one from New Zealand, and I planted it in a pot by the same hedge.

I notice that it has grown through the hedge and found its way next to C. ‘Blue Angel’, which it contrasts with beautifully: serendipity! Putting a plant next to a hedge is not always easy, as each plant has all the roots of the hedging to contend with, plus those of adjacent trees. In fact, the whole garden has been a challenge to dig, C. Dazzle’ resulting in me eventually amassing a huge collection of bricks, part bricks, lumps of cement and fragments of root. Still, some people pay to exercise at the gym, I achieved plenty of exercise in the garden!

C. ‘Ekstra’, one of many excellent Estonian hybrids, has nice violet/blue and white flowers, and is rather unusual. I had previously grown the strangely named C. viticella “I am Lady Q”, which is similar to C. viticella ‘Minuet’ and a strong grower. This year, I bought the equally strangely named C. viticella ‘I am Happy’, with small red purple flowers with a white centre. Initial impressions are of a vigorous plant with plenty of flowers, which is what I need to grow into a large bush.

Unfortunately, the corona virus has thrown a shadow over life this year, so it was a real pleasure to recently visit the garden of Broughton Castle near Banbury, Oxfordshire, where we found some excellent mixed borders designed by Lanning Roper. At the back of the borders against the stone garden walls, were tall plants of red C. ‘Madame Julia Correvon’, free flowering crimson C. ‘Kermesina’, velvety purple C. ‘Royal Velours’, and a blue one I couldn’t identify. There was also rich purple C. ‘The President’ and pink C. ‘Hagley Hybrid’. We agreed, that the sight of a well grown clematis is indeed a very welcome tonic.

Richard Munday, July 2020.

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens

C. ‘Prince George’, Unknown blue, C. crispa seedling, C. ‘Alionushka’

Clematis at 10 Rectory Close Ian Nex

O

ver the 56 years we have lived here major changes have taken place. We are never without flower or colour in the garden at any time of the year. The property lies on the top of a ridge in suburbia. The rear garden faces nor – nor east. The north west and south east facing boundaries are 5 feet wooden panels, whereas the south west facing boundary is a Cupressus x leylandii hedge in my neighbour’s garden that can vary from 8 to nearly 18 feet; during the lock-down, it has thankfully been the former.

In area, the back garden is 60 by 30 feet.

The soil is a sandstone, overlying the old bowling green. However, in the building of the 16 properties in this 1960 development, the hedge and soil from the bank on the road, at right angles to the property, was bulldozed over our property and the ones on either side. Timber roots were left to rot in the moved material. This has over the years resulted in armillaria being present. Once a tree gets its roots down about three feet into the old bowling green they can take off. Most of our clematis are planted in our back garden.

Many changes have taken place from an open rear garden to a smaller area of grass, surrounded by mixed borders of bulbs, herbaceous plants, trees, and shrubs.

Changes have taken place from a family plot with vegetables to one growing specialist alpines, small trees, shrubs, and clematis. The first clematis was C. 'Marie Boisselot’, which lasted many years between the two semi-detached properties.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2 When clematis are planted in our garden, a hole is dug larger and deeper than the original pot. Manure or blood, fish and bone are placed in the hole and then filled with water. Then some well-rotted manure is added. After planting the plant is kept well soaked and fed. All flowering plants have Tomorite or seaweed feed or Chempak 8 sprayed throughout the season. If a plant subsequently dies, especially where armillaria is suspected, then the dead plant is removed with as many roots as possible, and the hole and area around drenched with Armillatox. After this, about two seasons are left before planting another clematis or other plant, in or near the same spot.

We grow clematis over many different structures. There are 3 arches of widths from 3 feet to seven feet, 5 obelisks, and 3 plastic covered wire mushrooms. Clematis are also grown on house walls, on fence panelling, over trees and hedges. As the front garden faces south west and is predominantly scree, there are only two clematis – C. 'Piilu ' that grows through the Calycanthus occidentalis ‘California allspice’, and a C. montana in a pot which is then trained over the garage door. One of my great interests has been to grow trees, shrubs, perennials, alpines, and bulbs from seed. My sources have been from the Alpine Garden Society (AGS) foreign expeditions, Scottish Rock Garden Club (SRGC) and Index Seminiums. All viticella, fusca and texensis seeds came from the BCS seed list.

In the back, our first clematis were grown over arches. The year before we acquired the first wide arch (7 feet), I planted C. ‘Royal Velours' and C. ‘Minuet' on poles, ready for the following year, when they would be sufficiently established to climb the arch.

After many years, the C. ‘Royal Velours' died and was eventually replaced by C. cirrhosa.

As the arch is 3 feet deep we did plant a C. 'Duchess of Edinburgh' which only survived four years. The second arch, leading to the greenhouse, shed, and raised frames, had on one side C. 'Lord Nevill' and the other supported a Wisteria sinensis alba and C. 'Duchess of Albany'. The latter was replaced 3 years ago by C. 'Prince George' in a large pot. This has had to be moved to the upper terrace by the wide arch. In due course, C. 'Lord Nevill' was also replaced, by C. 'The President’, then that was followed more recently by C. 'Charmaine' in a pot under the arch.

The third arch leading to the back of the greenhouse had C ‘Prince of Wales’ up on the fence side (which lasted about 5 years), and on the other C. ‘Alionushka’ and later C. 'Guernsey Cream' (which lasted 10 years). In c. 1995, we constructed an open trellis to shade the greenhouse and one raised frame. On this was planted C. 'Propertius', C. 'Jacqueline du Pre', C. 'Alba Luxurians’ and C. ‘Betty Corning'. Three years ago, C. ‘Propertius’ and C. ‘Jacqueline du Pre’, each having spread over 12 feet, succumbed to armillaria, and were removed.

Last year in the centre between them a C. x triternata ‘Rubromarginata' was planted.

C. viticella seedling (white)

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens From the end of the open trellis to the second arch is a Lonicera nitida hedge, where a C. orientalis plant, grown from seed, provided by the Midland group of the BCS, is very much at home.

For over 40 years a C. 'Bill MacKenzie' grew at the bottom of the garden, partly up a neighbour’s hedge and our shed, and was a mass of orange peel nodding flowers in late summer and autumn. In winter, the morning sun light filtered through the frosted seed-heads bringing joy.

In the nor-nor-west facing border, where most of our taller shrubs grow by the fencing, there are, from north to south, C. 'New Dawn' (on open fencing), then a seedling C. viorna, growing up an Amelanchier lamarkii. A seedling of C. viticella [white] on the fence and up a Syringa sinensis only lasted two years.

A C. ‘Josephine' grew up an obelisk in the shade of a camellia, while C. ‘Liberty Bells' again performed for about four years and disappeared, to be replaced four years ago

by C. ‘Princess of Wales’.

C. ‘Andersonii’

Behind a February/March flowering Malus species and a Camellia 'Bob Hope' is a dark blue C. viticella seedling totally covering the Malus and fence, and even tries to swamp two other Camellias. It is cut back hard each winter. About 3 feet away is a C. cirrhosa that rambles along the fence and Jasminum ‘Devon Cream’ which mingles with it. I have cut it back twice from 20 feet to a foot, near a Camellia cutting imported in 1963 from Japan, and planted out when we moved in. Two years ago, I planted a C. viticella seedling (white) and C. 'Queen Mother'. Then at the top of the rockery is a small obelisk with C. ‘Andersonii’. Beside the rockery, on the fence, is a C. napaulensis that I purchased from a Midland member. It has grown

C. ‘Durandii

C. ianthina var kuripoensis

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2 over 12 feet and is covered in flower in late January. We had previously grown it on the opposite side of the garden up an Irish yew, where it lasted only two years.

In the corner of the fence and the house a C. ‘Yukikomachi’ was planted facing north-west, to keep it in shade to preserve its pale blue colour. It was replaced in 2018 by two clematis in pots, C. ‘Twinkle' and C. 'Blue River'. The rear of the house is not straight, having a sou-sou-east aspect.

There is a Rosa 'Malvern Hills', dating from 1982 which covers an area of 20 x 20 feet and a C. 'Niobe' that is still with us. Three years ago, a dark blue C. viticella seedling was planted in a pot on the corner.

This we shall probably move this year to our new sou-sou-east fencing. Beyond is a deep blue C. alpina that is just about alive.

Opposite the west end of this is a narrow border of a couple of dwarf conifers and snowdrops. Near the steps, an obelisk carries C. ‘Durandii’ and C. 'Princess Kate'.

Wine purple C. viticella seedling

In the alley between the house and the fence a plant of C. tibetana grown from seed collected on Annapurna, covered the fencing to a height of 15 feet. After many years its demise resulted from a neighbour applying weed killer to nettles on his side of the fence. At the end are three pots of seedlings, including C. ianthina var kuripoensis from BCS seed, waiting to find a permanent place.

C. ‘Roguchi’

At the top of 4 steps on the left-hand side is the Irish yew on which our first C. napaulensis grew. The border widens and there is an obelisk up which a C. ‘Dr Ruppel’ grew for a short while.

On the other side of the obelisk a seedling of C. viticella grows, that has flowers an inch to one and a half inches, has a wine purple flower with a central white stripe, and continues to thrive.

C. crispa seedling

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens Beyond, a Garrya ellipitica 'James Roof ’, there is a seedling of what was supposed to be C. serratifolia. It was a cross between the former and C. rehderiana, which became obvious when leaves and flowers developed. It died back each year and drowned both Garrya and fence whilst in flower. This winter it has been removed. North of this, are two obelisks and a mushroom on which are C. 'Arabella', C. 'Blue Boy' and C.'Rooguchi'.

A C. potanini var fargesi has been put in a large pot near the Irish yew. Also, in another large pot, is a seedling of C. crispa together with C. fusca var. violaceae. There are about 10 to 12 seedlings awaiting planting, including: C. crispa; crispa x texensis; fusca; fusca var kamtschatica; ladakhiana; mandschurica; pitcheri; texensis pink form; texensis hybrid; viorna; viticella x2; and seed list reference 1321 clematis ex China 4a (AGS). These are to go on the new fence and other sites. Most of these have not yet flowered but once they do flower we can choose their positions. I also have two seedlings that have lost their labels!

Twice we tried both C. armandii and C. 'Daniel Deronda’ and failed on both occasions.

I cannot keep any of the New Zealand dwarf species for longer than three years, whereas C. columbiana var tenuiloba 'Viva' I kept for 15 years in the alpine house.

These are not all the different clematis that we have grown. My interest in seed grown material has resulted in growing plants of other than the usual hybrids. Try growing from seed it will result in greater interest for your visitors, and from them a frequent exclamation of “Clematis from December to February?”

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

C. orientalis seedheads

A Shortlands Garden Denise MacDonald

A

fter five years of spending less time than usual in my garden in Shortlands near London, it clearly now needs some tender loving care. Some clematis plants have survived well but some have not, the situation being exacerbated by this year’s hot dry spells, along with drying winds and very little rain.

Clematis montana var grandiflora and Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ enjoy climbing together over the tunnel on my driveway.

The montana with its dense white flowers and yellow anthers was introduced from Northern India by Veitch in 1844, and was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 1993.

Some old favourites are still growing strongly, such as bell shaped and drooping C. macropetala, so much so it is invading its neighbour.

C. montana 'grandiflora' and Rose banksiae 'Lutea'

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens C. ‘Ken Pyne’ raised by the late Ken Pyne, an early British Clematis Society (BCS) member, is doing well. My plant came from Sheila Chapman’s nursery.

Ken raised many clematis hybrids, and some are still available, such as early large C. ‘Andromeda’, a large white and semi double flower with a bright pink stripe, and early large C. ‘Blue Eyes’, which produces sky blue flowers in profusion.

C. macropetala

(Reference BCS Journal 1999 where Ken featured in the series ‘Meet the Hybridisers’) I grew this unnamed but lovely plant from the BCS seed bank of ‘C. viticella ‘Joan Baker’. C. ‘Joan Baker’ has rosy-mauve tepals and prominent yellow stamens having parentage from C. viticella x C. ‘Etoile Rose’.

Another unnamed and non- clinging special clematis, not unlike C. ‘Alionushka’, popped up in my garden in a crowded bed of Japanese anemone, and this year it has flowered profusely, just wrapped around a metal basket.

C. 'Ken Pyne'

Early large C. ‘The Velvet’, with violet flowers carrying a purple central bar, late large and deep blue C. ‘Aotearoa’, a chance seedling from New Zealand, plus late large C. ‘Vostok’ which is reddish purple with a red bar, have all done well.

The large white flowers of hybrid C. ‘Huldine’ are usually pushed out by C. viticella ‘Blue Belle’. Mildew is absent on these blue flowers, unlike in previous years, but now they are helpfully well established with roots well down to look for water.

The lovely grey-purple and very old cultivar C. viticella ‘Mary Rose’ liked the conditions too after many years of little growth.

Seedling 'Joan Baker'

Always a good doer is C. ‘Pendragon’ a hybrid of C. crispa x C. viticella bearing small nodding dusky reddish-purple flowers.

Unnamed pink clematis

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

The Velvet'

C. 'Aotearoa'

C. 'Vostok'

C. 'Huldine'

C. viticella 'Blue Belle'

C. 'Pendragon'

C. 'Nubia'

C. Orientalis var orientalis

C. ‘Nubia’ is ready for next year with its large, dark red flowers coming out in July to September.

C. orientalis var orientalis can grow to 3 metres and originated from China in 1924.

The creamy yellow flowers are sometimes tinged red-violet outside and purplish brown inside. A fellow member of the BCS says it is worth growing just for the seed heads!

Happy gardening 2021!

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens

Signpost Merian Gardens

The Merian Garden Julian Noble

D

er Merian Gärten, The Merian Gardens, is an oasis of green – a botanic garden, near the St. Jakob Football Stadium in the suburbs of Basel in northern Switzerland (height above sea level 275m, 900 ft).

The diverse collections include a dazzling display of hundreds of varieties of Bearded Iris and many rare fruit and vegetable varieties and a section devoted to clematis.

In 1981, the retired banker and clematis expert Hansruedi Horn donated a part of his private collection – about 100 different clematis species and varieties – to the Merian Garden.

C. orientalis

C. Rooguchi

This developed into the largest public clematis collection in Switzerland.

The wide range of varieties show the diversity of the genus Clematis.

In the summer, when I visit the garden, the clematis are often looking a bit wild – a bit like in my own garden.

The climate in Basel is less extreme than further south in Switzerland although there is more frost and snow than we experience in much of the UK. The last few years have seen milder winters rather like the UK. 42

Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

C. montana ‘Freda’

Clematis Montana - A visit to Val's Garden' David Jewell

I

remember well, my first visit to see the Clematis montana National Collection holder, Valerie Le May Neville-Parry, at her home, ‘By the Way’, in the New Forest National Park. Val’s home is a neat cream coloured bungalow, facing south towards a wooded valley. The garden slopes away steeply, is open on 3 sides, and has a boundary of native hazel on the lowest edge; all creating a sense of enclosure. This view is punctuated by mature oak trees, that tease your view towards sheep and green fields beyond. The garden was literally wreathed with flowering montanas, both white and pink, in a range of different sized flower shapes and heights, and presenting a picture so glorious, which took my breath away.

Val opened her back door to greet me for the first time; a warm lady with welcoming dark brown eyes, and forthright character. She is very much an organic gardener, with an infectious passion for her montana collection, who loves to share cuttings and meet likeminded people and friends.

Clematis montana is one of the most popular species of clematis, for flowers white or pink, mainly borne on long stalks in great profusion in May. It is a lovely climber for any aspect, excellent for growing in trees, over walls, outhouses, and arbours. Once established, these plants are easy to grow but require careful placement in the garden for the best effect.

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens Val commented that C. montana ‘Freda’ (see image at beginning of article), height 15-20ft. (4.5-6m) is still one of the best cultivars and readily available. It has a delicate perfume, deep satiny pink flowers 2.5in (6cm) with a darker margin. In Val’s garden, this plant drapes elegantly on a large deciduous Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ shrub. Both host and climber look very comfortable together. C. montana ‘Marjorie’ is similar sized with semi double, creamy white, outer tepals, 2in (5cm), becoming pink as they mature.

It has numerous thin stems that dance their way through a shrubby hazel, which helps keep roots moist in winter and cool in summer – another effective partnership. So too C. montana ’Patience’, height 9ft (3m) with dainty pure white flowers, 2.5-2.75in (67cm) and rounded leaves, able to cover robust evergreen shrubs like Photinia ‘Red Robin’ or glossy green Choisya ternata.

In complete contrast, the more vigorous C. montana Wilsonii, 20-30ft. (13-20m) will climb easily through a large sized tree. Throughout June a strong vanilla scent fills the air, inviting you to look skywards towards creamy white flowers, 5cm (2in), borne on long flower stalks, with cream/lemon anthers.

In larger scale gardens, pergolas or metal archways provide strong support for C. montana ‘Broughton Star’, which grows to a height of 13.5- 16.5 ft. (4-5m) and is a personal favourite. Unusually for a montana, the tepals are initially cup-shaped, semi-double to double, 1.5– 2.5in (4-6cm) in diameter, dusky pink amid bronze foliage. Nearby a group of white Anthriscus ‘Ravenswing’ underplanted with Allium ‘Purple Sensation’, create a near perfect combination.

C. montana ‘Marilyn’ is very different and caught my attention with pink cartwheel shaped tepals, twisted, with a pointed tip and soft yellow centre. In Val’s garden it has flowered for two months, looking wonderful on a 3metre (10ft) timber post flanked by chain swags, covered with flowers and delightful seed heads throughout autumn.

It is a seedling from C. montana ‘Prosperity’, yet the two are quite different in colour and flower shape. ‘Prosperity’, 9ft (6m), has shining white crinkly edged tepals and dusky green foliage. Val has a superb plant of ‘Prosperity’ growing on a sunny, C. montana ‘Marilyn’ exposed fence line, which is literally laden with a blanket of flowers. Another compact seedling is ‘Maureen’, with yellow centre and spatulate tepals. At 6-9ft (2-3m) she is very compact and would suit a container planting.

The pink-white ‘Audrey’ could also be used in the same way, or allowed to dress the light shrubby frame of a well-established hibiscus shrub. If yellow is the preferred colour, then perhaps the more vigorous, beautiful, C. montana var. williamsii could be planted.

With a height of 12-15ft (3.6m-4m), with creamy lemon, urn shaped flowers and soft, bright green foliage, it is suitable for a large garden.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2 White continues in Val’s garden, with a more vertical line, using C. montana ‘Miss Christine’, height, 6m. (20ft.). Val grows this in her borders, using a large timber pole. A tree can be used if preferred.

The upright and rather stiff habit is ideal as a repeated accent within a medium sized garden. Flowering from the bottom upwards, with pure white flowers, 2.5in (7cm)) and lemon-pink on their reverse, which have a gorgeous scent. It may catch one unawares if positioned near a doorway, together with a reliably long-lasting seed head display.

C. montana ‘Miss Christine’

A large, mature cherry tree in Val’s garden offers stout support for the more vigorous montanas, and Val has a beauty called C. montana ‘Giant Star’, height 24-30ft (8-10m), close to her bungalow. It has become a firm favourite for botanical artists. The flowers are delicately perfumed and large for the group; 3.5in-4.25in (9-11cm) across, with pretty, slightly wavy, cup shaped, mid-pink tones and white margins. If purest white is preferred then tough, easy to grow C. montana var. grandiflora is also vigorous, with glistening 4in (10cm) flowers facing outwards.

C. montana ‘Giant Star’

C. montana var. rubens, with its rose-pink, 2in (5cm) scented flowers. All three of these montanas can clamber through trees, cover walls or disguise buildings.

In smaller scale gardens fruit trees will suit the less vigorous montanas. There is also a special plant in Val’s collection which she has named after the author, C. montana ‘The Jewell’. This cultivar repeat flowers throughout the summer, with flowers similar to apple blossom, both in shape and colour, but slightly larger, 1.5in-3.25in (4-8cm). Posy like groups of flowers with a yellow central boss, sit proudly on long stalks, set against dusky toned foliage.

C. montana ‘The Jewell’

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens

C. montana ‘By the Way’

C. montana ‘Sir Eric Saville’

A seedling from this parent has produced a very compact plant with wine red leaves smothered in white, lilac flushed flowers. It is only 3-5ft, (1-1.5m) tall, suitable for container planting. It has been named ‘Alan Postill’ after a good friend mine, who is employed as a master propagator at Hillier Nurseries Ltd An ancient purple plum tree provides rich foliage, enhancing C. montana ‘By the Way’, which remains small and compact. It has excellent perfume, bronze tinted foliage in spring and pretty pale pink flowers, 2-4in (5-10cm), which are smaller than C. montana ‘Sir Eric Savill’. ‘Sir Eric Savill’ height 10ft-12ft (3-4m) is another good plant, with a dense canopy of deep pink flowers with lighter shading, plus subtle fragrance and repeat flowers throughout summer.

C. montana ‘Tiny Moll’ height 5-7m, with lilac pink flowers 2in (5cm) across, also has a powerful fragrance, and is ideal for a mature apple tree or perhaps allowed to scramble over a low wall or strong trellis.

A glossy green laurel hedge provides a boundary and perfect partner to C. montana ‘Morning Yellow’, height 20ft. (6m), which clearly enjoys the sheltered location.

Early blooms, 2-4in (5-10cm) have a subtle yellow toned hue. It responds well to a hard prune post flowering, when the laurel is cut back to keep it in check. Also, C. montana ‘Primrose Star’ 9ft. (3m) looks good. This fully double cultivar has even more lemon yellow, with pink edged tepals, and is one of the more compact cultivars.

Val’s contribution to this particular plant group should not be underestimated. As a National Collection holder, she has bred new, exciting plants, and conserved old cultivars, which might otherwise have been lost. One of the last whites to flower is grandiflora.

Val took a plant of C. montana var. grandiflora to Buckingham Palace, as she understood they didn’t have any clematis montana growing within their grounds! On the day she arrived the traffic was stopped by a policeman (Val was very impressed), the gates opened, and the plant was delivered. One of many highlights to an ongoing personal journey for Val, making so many new friends along the way – All thanks to Clematis montana.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

Aivars Irbe

Clematis and Other Plants in The Garden Aivars Irbe

I

f you like plants and have a garden to plant them in, and you are happy to serve as a property manager in this garden theatre, then you will never be bored. You are the one who determines the amount of work involved and the rewards provided by your beloved flowers. The joy of the garden and its occupants continues from early morning to late evening, and so every day, while you are still able to fulfill this humble and wonderful job of being a plant supervisor and servant you, and of course your loved ones and friends, will share the rewards.

Clematis flowers are like gorgeous butterflies, which are sent by Gods every summer to the branches of shrubs, so that people can enjoy the beauty that lives in each of them.

They can be white and yellow, pink, and rosy, purple, and blue. They can be monochromatic, two-coloured, or completely multicoloured. They can be very small insignificant bells or large and wide open like saucers. They can be drooping or facing up to the sun.

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens Their flower shapes vary from small bellshaped, urn-shaped, tulip-shaped, to widely spread star-shaped and disc-shaped flowers.

Their centres also vary from completely open with 4-8 sepals to half-filled or fully filled flowers with as many as dozens of sepals.

The garden is a place where we get pleasant emotions from not only plants, but also from rocks, sculptures, and various other art objects. It can be the place where human manifestations and relationships bind us. The garden can be as great C Princess Diana as an entire park with streams, water storages or pools, or it can also be quite small, surrounding a family residential house, or a summer holiday place. The garden can be new and recently decorated, or it might be older representing ancient families or family traditions over several centuries. Each generation leaves its values ​​with trees, bushes, terraces, and lawns. In my garden the oak and linden planted by the ancestors are expanding, but grandmother's peonies and phlox, though many times transplanted, tell about their long-inherited tradition as do flowering forest roses, lilacs, and jasmine bushes. Apples, pears, currants, blackcurrants, and root beds have always had their place. It is a garden with a variety of uses containing the passions of different people and displaying a liking for certain garden traditions, personal interests, and aspirations.

The garden combines it all and connects it in a common ensemble.

Lawn

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2 In Latvia, increasing importance is now attached to the lawn because of its quality and prominence. A well-groomed lawn, regardless of its width, is the best background for any plantation, group of plants or ornamental structure. It is conditionally a stage around which interesting "actors” or groups of plants participate in the show from morning to evening and from spring to autumn with repetitions every new season, year after year.

I received a nice gift several years ago.

It was the plant Clematis x jouiniana `Praecox`, which is still little known in Latvia. Planted with great care, it felt good in our garden, received strength, and bloomed beautifully. It is unimportant that every flower is small because their lovely light bluish purple colour and profusion outweighs the splendour of many large-flowered varieties.

The flowers blossomed at the very end of summer when other varieties or species had already stopped blooming and were full of fluffy seed heads.

Rose Flammentanz

The following year, I layered it with bent hooks pinning it under the ground.

A year later it was successfully severed from the mother plant with sufficient roots to live its own independent life. I planted it next to a 30-yearold stringing rose `Flammentanz` to complement this walled section in our garden. In the middle of summer, the old rose bush bloomed profusely, and the red flower swirled like a flame tongue covering it from the ground to the tops of the shoots. It was beautiful! Maybe it was a show not only for us, but also for a new neighbour - a new friend.

C. x jouiniana

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens Tell me, who are you here near me? Look how I can ignite in one bouquet of flowers. My flowers are the most beautiful, because I am a rose – the queen of flowers. But who are you? Still just slender shoots and green leaves?

Why don't you bloom ...

The rose bush bloomed almost the whole month and the little one just grew and grew.

Well, its shoots had already reached the edge of the roof and penetrated the prickly shoots of a close-growing rose bush. New lateral shoots grew from each axillary leaf joint and buds appeared at their ends. There were so many! And when they started to open, the whole plant and the rose bush were full of wonderful flowers. As the garden came to life there was still the tongue of bright red flowers, but a light bluish veil of flowers began to replace it.

Well, look, Queen of Roses! Not long ago, you saw your flowers and adorned them in all glory, but I, the small clematis, only plant and plant. You bloomed on the winter island of human and natural shoots. You were truly worthy of the Queen's name. People admired and adored you. The girls put their flowers in hair and adorned your splendour. Yes, you were the most luxurious flower in the garden at the time of flowering. But ... time passed. Your beautiful rose skirt has shrunk. One by one, the overgrown petals opened and ... fell off. Only rare pieces of fruit remained in your branches.

But look at me from a distance. Your sharp shoots are now full of new flowers. These are my wildflower flowers in other shades and combinations. Everyone looks and admires them.

Well I am the king and ruler of flowers in the garden. People come and watch as if they have never seen such a harmony of colours. I come from a distant land to please all living things in this world of God. In the coming summers, we will make friends and blossom again.

Only this will be in different time periods, as our Creators have determined.

The Republic of Latvia was proclaimed on November 18, 1918, by the People's Council of Latvia which gathered representatives from most every ethnographic region of Latvia and declared independence at the National Theatre of Latvia in the city of Riga.

Editor's Note This is an extract from a book on clematis and other plants written by Aivars Irbe, one of our members. It was published in Latvia in 2017 as a dedication to the centenary of the Latvian State. Our thanks to Aivars for sharing some of it with us.

The quotations shown in italics are also his.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

C. ‘Purple Treasure’

The view from Clematis Corner – August 2020 Mike Brown

C

lematis continue to be a large part of my life, even after 50 years of enjoying, cursing, researching them and wondering where I can find room for a few more.

At the time of writing, Covid -19 has not had much impact on me because I travel so little these days and the garden is large enough to keep both Anne and I more than busy.

In fact, no matter how much we manage to do, there is much more waiting to be done, way more than we can keep up with these days.

A very soggy winter made us hope that at least we would not have to do any extra watering this season. Unfortunately, as winter was followed by the sunniest spring on record, with more than our fair share of windy days, the ground at the end of May was as dry and solid as I can remember in the many years we have lived here. The clematis were already suffering too. Some spring clematis never flowered at all and yet some of the summer types were way ahead of normal. Naturally, the plants in containers suffered most but losses in the ground were greater than expected. Not a problem really as it was a good excuse to try a few different ones and to get extra plants of those that did well under trying conditions!

I must be mellowing in old age as I agreed to try a few clematis new to the market, but I will not comment on those as it would be unfair to judge them before they have had the chance to prove themselves. One thing is for certain, they will have to be good, in fact very good, to get the “Thumbs Up” from me. There are already plenty of tried and trusted clematis around that have proved themselves over many years and under many different conditions.

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens I digress for a moment. Imagine you are purchasing something, like plants, compost, or any of the many services on offer nowadays. You are bound to be very annoyed with the person or company that you are dealing with at some point because it is a fact of life that where human beings are involved, there will eventually be mistakes. None of us are infallible, so how do you judge these people or companies?

From the experience of many years, I have C. ‘Purple Treasure’ found that it serves no purpose to tell them what you actually think of them (even when you are convinced that they are useless).

Mistakes will happen, and it is much better (and more rewarding) to judge them by how completely and quickly they put things right. It is amazing how much effort some people or companies will use to ensure customer satisfaction these days. Some are genuinely sorry for the mistake, whilst others need to protect their reputation. No doubt you are going to come across a few absolute fraudsters once in a while and when you do you let them have both barrels and then take to social media to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of these sharks. However, do make sure of your facts first!

Back to clematis. No matter which types of clematis you prefer, you ought, at some stage, to try your hand at growing your own from seed. Easily obtainable from seed lists or from your own or a friend’s garden. Nothing still gives me more pleasure than watching new seedlings flower for the first time. It is even better when they do the same the following year, because then you know that is what it is going to do for many years. My choice is the wide range of the viorna types, they seem to happily interbreed, and the resultant seedlings can be entirely different to the seed plant. I set the seed from C. ‘Purple Treasure’ and got these two, (amongst others) from the same batch of seed.

Like most gardeners, I like to see hedgehogs in the garden, often catching sight of one of them just before dark whilst giving Harry (our dog) his last comfort break of the day.

Recently, whilst doing just that, I noticed Harry’s “Mr Tumble”, (a 6-inch diameter soft ball with pictures on the outside and a widget of some sort inside that utters different short remarks when activated). This Mr Tumble was slowly moving of its own accord towards cover. Then I caught sight of the hedgehog and could see that they were attached to each other. I went to part the ball from the bristles, only to find that the one-inch square cloth tag sewn on the ball was fixed firmly in the hedgehog’s little mouth! Presumably, the hedgehog had found what he considered a nice smooth mate and was making off with it!

As part of the anti Covid-19 requirements, my hands are in water so much these days that any time now I expect to have webbed fingers! People complain of having to wear face masks for so many different reasons. I belong to a generation that had to carry and wear proper gasmasks for months on end, bulky great things, so face masks are not a problem at all and don’t forget, they make so many of us older people better looking! Please enjoy your clematis as much as I do.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

Antoine and Marie Rauline

National Collection of Clematis in France Marie Laure Rauline

I

am Marie Laure Rauline and I was born in a clematis nursery in the 1980s.

After attending engineering school to study horticulture, I decided to continue the family business with my brother and to become a nurseryman!

JAVOY PLANTES is today the largest producer of clematis in France. Thanks to my early experience of the clematis I was sure, when I arrived in the nursery, that I knew quite a lot about this genus. I also started reading more about clematis and met some passionate devotees on social media. I joined the International Clematis Society and, over time, discovered how huge this genus is and realized that one life is not enough to discover everything about the world of clematis!

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Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens

The beginning With the help of Antoine, my husband who is a landscaper, we began to design a 2000 m² garden with the idea of discovering ​​ the diversity of clematis, in situ in addition to them growing in the nursery. At the same time, I started collecting seeds and researching botanical species. My goal was not to have the greatest diversity, but to discover the diversity of wild clematis.

The garden is located along the Loire Valley. It was originally an empty field with welldrained soil. We get frosts every winter but, increasingly, the summers are very hot and dry. Some clematis don't really like these conditions, so I plant duplicates of my home collection in Normandy where the climate is cooler and more humid. The behaviour of the plants is different and it is very interesting to discover how plants react to different growing conditions.

In my garden, clematis like cirrhosa, terniflora, flammula, feel great. I am also testing here the new Ton Hannink crosses that we promote in the nursery. In this way, we can have a complete evaluation of the new plants and more easily assess their potential and characteristics.

Labelling My husband and I are also passionate about plants and landscapes, and we are members of many gardening associations. In this way, we welcome gardeners all year round to our garden. Most of them are surprised to see so many taxa (almost 400 this year) growing in this small space. They invited us to apply to be recognized as having The National Collection of Clematis.

To become a national collection holder, several points are evaluated:

‘Sugar Sweet’

ʀ Of course, diversity and

representativeness of the genre

ʀ Traceability quality (where the plants

come from, when they were planted, etc.)

ʀ Ability to maintain this collection ʀ Possibility of opening the garden

to the public

Clematis Texensis

We applied in spring 2019 to the governing body which is the Conservatory of Specialized Plant Collections, and we received a visit from a member of the Scientific Committee in October 2019. Our application was evaluated in April 2020 with all the other applications and we received a confirmation of labelling in May. 54

Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

Clematis Flamenco Dancer

Clematis Jouiniana Praecox

The Future Because I plant a lot of taxa that I've never seen before, some grow very well, and some don't. So, this winter we will have to reorganize the garden, thanks to the first experience we have had. Some plants are too "expressive" and need more space, others need other climatic conditions to grow well. We will add new taxa, some originating from dry and hot climates, such as types of flammula. Indeed, we do not want to have "artificial" clematis conditions with an intensive watering system and I think our climate should be an opportunity to find out something else about clematis.

About the Garden Address: Antoine And Marie Laure Rauline The New Tuilery 45 750 St Pryve St Mesmin France We open every first weekend in June, and on request of course!

Email: mlrauline@javoy-plantes.com

About Javoy Plantes Nuseries Created in 1984 by Pierre and Nicole JAVOY, the JAVOY PLANTES nursery is now managed by Benoit and Marie Laure, 2 of the 4 children of the family. JAVOY PLANTES cultivates 1.2 million plants per year, from young plants to finished products, mainly for the French market but also for export. For several years, they have been the largest producer of clematis in France thanks to Benoit's knowledge about the propagation of clematis. JAVOY PLANTES nurseries also works with breeders like Ton Hannink to select and promote new crosses. Pictures: Copyright: @javoyplantes 55

Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens

Fond Memories

Clematis at Daneway Cottage Alison Smith

W

e hear it in the media all the time how gardening and being outside is good for our health and well-being. The Covid pandemic has made this even more so.

I have never appreciated my outside space as much as I have this spring and summer.

Being at home has not really been a hardship, unlike for so many.

My clematis have had a good year with all the early rain, then the warm spring.

I have about 200 clematis with 140 planted in the garden. They consist mainly of Groups Two and Three, with only four Montanas which each have a host tree. One is in an old filbert nut tree and two wind their way to the top of very mature apple trees where they look magnificent in bloom at the same time as the apple blossom. The other one was only planted this year in early spring and is making itself at home in a large hawthorn.

The Group One clematis reside in pots, except for Freckles’, which is in its fourth home within the garden and has proved quite a hooligan! The previous planting position was an arch, in a prominent position, where it was fabulous in January and February when we were not in the garden to appreciate its beauty, but unsightly in June. Prior to this Freckles’ was planted against the utility room but grew up under the tiles and was in my face whilst washing up!

I spend a lot of time pondering about planting companions/combinations/hosts and wait with anticipation to see if they are successful. This year, the clematis planted under the 6 Prunus Lusitanica specimen trees have hit their stride and have looked lovely, peeking out from the tops of the trees. It does mean the trees are trimmed in October rather than July though. The clematis varieties planted are ‘Caroline’, ‘Betty Corning’, ‘Victoria’, ‘Lucky Charm’, ‘Hagelby Pink’, ‘Alba Luxurians’ and ‘Cloudburst’.

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2 On some large obelisks I have planted three Group Three clematis. ‘Prince George’, ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Ville De Lyon’ look good.

On another obelisk I have ‘Comtesse De Bouchaud’, ‘Blekitny Aniol’, and ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’. The plants on a third large obelisk are not performing as I had hoped.

‘Fond Memories’ and ‘Warsaw Nike’ are brilliant. The third plant, however, is ‘Ernest Markham’ which has a little history with me! I bought it in 2006 from a flower show with 5 other plants, 6 for £10 or similar.

I first planted it against a south facing wall where it didn’t thrive! For the next few years ‘Ernest’ was a very transient plant and, after three moves it was still very tiny with only three roots, so ‘Ernest’ was moved to a pot.

Before the poor plant had filled the pot with roots it was placed back into the garden, only to really struggle again. Finally, ‘Ernest Markham’ bloomed for the first time in 2018 with just two flowers. This year, there are about a dozen flowers, so ‘Ernest’ is still not really exuberant, but getting there.

I had been growing clematis for about ten years when in 2013 I met the lovely members of the Midlands Group of the British Clematis Society on their display stand at the Malvern Spring Show and became a member of the Society. Taking into account my experiences with ‘Ernest Markham’ when volunteering on the British Clematis Society Stand at Malvern in 2019, I felt able to advise, on the perils of planting very small clematis straight into the garden and the need to grow them on first!

The Group Two clematis are my real drama and challenge. I like nothing more than seeing a well grown, healthy, exuberant large flowered clematis doing its stuff! I always fear wilt and although I have only ever had one plant, a ‘Vyvyan Pennell’, succumb.

I am never complacent.

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Ville de lyon

Comtesse De Bouchaud

Purpurea Plena Elegans

Section 2 | Clematis in our Gardens I have been asked what I do to avoid wilt but of course I can’t answer that question, but I can tell people what I do when I plant Group Two clematis and how I care for them once in the ground. I have also read a lot about them! Any second-hand clematis book I find, I buy, and the authors all advocate planting clematis in large holes. So, we (and it is the royal WE) dig planting holes at least 50cm x50cm, and often much bigger. I use lots of well-rotted manure and bone meal as is also recommended. Once planted, I mulch with compost or manure, but more often than just once a year. I have two hot bins, a wormery and get large trailers of manure delivered, which often arrive unannounced. In June this year, a tonne, and a half of four-year-old pig manure was tipped by our front door, which although it was the wrong time of year, was too good to refuse. After a few shovels full had been placed around every rose and clematis, it was soon dispersed. However, a week later, when the same quantity of horse manure was tipped by the front door, I was not quite so pleased!

Now I wish I could be as successful at keeping mildew at bay as I am with wilt. This year ‘Rooguchi’, ‘Ville de Lyon’ and ‘Tie Dye’ are badly affected.

I am concerned about the number of clematis names mentioned in my books on clematis that don’t appear to be available today. Although previously, I have aspired to have new cultivars as they come on to the market e.g. super cute C ‘ etc. I think that my interest is now leaning towards some of these older cultivars. Recently, I have searched for ‘Betty Risdon’ without success. Comparing the plants listed in a book published in 1989 to a book published in 2016, shows that many well-known names seem to have disappeared. I am sure that the quality of these plants can’t have all been inferior, so where have they all gone? Are they dropped from the commercial market to make way for all the new named plants being introduced? I would love to find a wholesaler or retailer that sells these old cultivars. It would be sad if they become lost forever, especially those with names that represent well known clematis breeders or enthusiasts from the past.

I have clematis Walter Pennell’ which was labelled as ‘Burma Star’ when I bought it in 2008 but have never seen ‘Walter Pennell’ for sale. It’s a super plant and I have taken cuttings to ensure its future with me.

In our village we put excess plants outside our homes which are free to take away.

This saves many ending up in the compost bin. Recently I have re homed large quantities of perennial Geraniums and Sedums plus Crocosmia, which have been recently been discussed by Monty Don on BBC Gardeners World. Sometimes it is not always plants that are put out for people to take. Last winter I was delighted to spot an arch which was in need of a new home. It now has one and I have planted ‘Tie Dye’ and ‘Kaiu’ with the tall shrub rose ‘Mortimer Sackler’ on one side. I will plant some Group Two clematis on the other side. It is just a matter of deciding which ones to choose from the many clematis I have in pots!

Well, I am now off to take some cuttings and to try out my new hydropod that arrived this week. The down side of chatting to clematis friends is that it can sometimes be quite expensive!!

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Clematis in our Gardens | Section 2

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Section 3

Lockdown 2020

Lockdown 2020 | Section 3

Centenary Border

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Lockdown David Jewell, Curator

T

he Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire covers an area of approximately 180 acres (90 hectares), maintained by a team of 16 staff plus students.

They are Gardens of international significance; essentially a legacy bestowed by the great plantsman Harold Hillier to Hampshire County Council in 1977. Across the site the plant collections contain more than 12,000 different taxa and include an immense collection of woody plants, particularly trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs.

During the past ten years I have worked here as Gardens Curator, however, little could have prepared me for how events were to unfold during 2020.

It all began at the end of March when I took a week-long break to north Cornwall, to enjoy the sea air, rugged coastline, and local beauty spots. Towards the end of the week I could hear background chatter in a National Trust tea room near Boscastle, suggesting their site closure was imminent, due to a virus called ‘Covid 19’, and I noticed worried looking staff who were clearly uncertain about what might happen next. We returned home on a Sunday evening. The news bulletins were in complete overdrive and I then received a phone call to inform me that lockdown of The Gardens was about to begin.

Overnight the world had literally changed.

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Section 3 | Lockdown 2020 The Gardens were closed immediately and remained so for five weeks, with key staff, including me, asked to work from home until further notice. The weeks rolled by and the spring became one of the driest ever recorded. Periodically, my thoughts were still very much with the Gardens, where I knew grass would be growing ever longer, and weeds would be sprouting everywhere.

The daily news bulletins were, at times, shocking, as the awful death toll began to increase, and people began to realise the significant realities of life in lockdown, the grave consequences of a pandemic or modern-day equivalent of the plague.

In early May I was allowed by the Director to visit the Gardens for the first time.

Long grass was waving in the breeze where high profile areas had previously been tidy.

The Visitor Centre and restaurant had been closed and looked so empty, and weeds could be seen growing between paving slabs.

A carefully planned, phased recovery was put in place, which included strict risk assessments, to enable six of my team to return to work. Their welfare and safety were paramount. The mess room was closed, and tea breaks were taken in their cars. Likewise, their personal individual tools were stored there too. Social distancing was enforced within The Garden and staff working areas had to be enclosed by ropes, to keep visitors at a mutually safe distance in the future. Two more phases would follow to enable all staff and students to return, but only when safe to do so.

I set off to see how the winter garden, centenary border, pond area and Jermyn’s House were looking. The team of six had done a tremendous job to restore the neglected garden.

Yes, there were weeds around every corner. Yes, there was long grass everywhere, and we were now very much in the middle of a spring drought, which really didn’t help matters.

No mowing had been undertaken for weeks and the whole garden just looked as nature intended, which, when the garden reopened for visitors in mid-June, some of them really approved of. However, on a practical level we try to strike a balance across the whole site.

We have a range of mowing regimes from short to long, to encourage garden ecology and to sustain a broad range of wildlife. Some areas around the main entrance are closely mown to help denote a sense of arrival.

In other parts, close mown pathways meander through long grass invitingly, and other smaller locations allow rich, natural meadows to thrive.

In late spring the common spotted orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii, was abundant and also yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor; both a delight, mixed with ox-eye daisies, Leucanthemum vulgare, bugle, Ajuga reptans, common vetch Vicia sativa, and lady’s bedstraw Galium verum.

Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

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Magnolia Avenue

Throughout the crisis the plants have all grown well, albeit without any visitors able to admire them. It has been a superb year for rhododendrons, thriving after a notably wet 2019 winter which most people may have easily forgotten. Brentry woodland was a blaze of colour, with the violet-blue rhododendron ’Electra’ in full glory, orange-red rhododendron ’Matador’, and a personal favourite rhododendron ‘Roza Stevenson’ with deep lemon-yellow flowers.

They illuminated a dappled, shady corner of the woodland to great effect, together with many other equally good forms.

Centenary Border © Matt Pringle

The Magnolia Avenue in front of Jermyn’s House was beautiful as the magnolia soulangeana hybrids were all in full flower.

Nearby, a mature tree and old friend, Cercidiphyllum japonicum always catches my eye, with new, bronze/green fresh foliage, which I always love to see each spring.

Wisterias clearly enjoyed the spring warmth; encouraging their shoots to ripen and flower profusely. In my opinion, the wisteria border looked the best it has ever been. Adorned with their spectacular clusters of flowers, there are few other climbers that can compare.

Artemisia Lactiflora Clemantis Alionushka Summer 2016 © Matt Pringle

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Iris Poil De Carotte © Matt Pringle

Iris ProudTraditions 2015 © Matt Pringle

Also, the Centenary border, at 250 metres in length, was looking remarkably normal, almost as though nothing had happened.

The viticella clematis on their supporting obelisks, hadn’t been carefully tied in as normal, yet they were all still climbing strongly. Even C. ‘Alionushka’ somehow stayed upright.

Usually this herbaceous type would collapse, unless tied to its support.

Overhanging a pathway, the Clematis montana ‘Broughton Star’ easily covered the metal archway and looked superb, covered in masses of semi double flowers against a foil of dusky coloured foliage. Rich purple/blue ‘Proud Tradition’ and vibrant orange ‘Poil de Carotte’, bearded iris was carrying their large showy flowers up the entire length of their thick flower stems. Nearby, shrubby philadelphus ‘Sweet Clare’ with arching stems, was covered in nodding, highly fragrant flowers, with a heady scent, catching one unawares when passing.

It never ceases to amaze me how nature keeps moving and garden plants can be so forgiving and resilient, particularly without any horticultural maintenance. In real terms, I was relieved to see the Garden looking so reasonable; this, despite the background crisis, and the fact we were so far behind with our normal horticultural maintenance.

I took a thoughtful pause to look around me, noticing how clear the skies had become without the normal aircraft pollution, how lovely it was to hear birdsong more loudly and clearly. There were fewer cars on the roads and wildlife had become more evident and tame. In the early morning soft Hampshire light, deer could be seen peering above the waving long grass, and rabbits were bouncing around as I walked by, The Gardens are now getting back to normal. Hampshire County Council will continue to support us on our road to recovery, as we carefully move forward and look forward to our visitors returning.

Take care.

David Jewell, Curator, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens.

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The Team at Baldwin’s Nursery

A Commercial Nursery in Lockdown Debi Gardner

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e are clematis and climber specialists with close ties to Raymond Evison and his branded clematis, allowing us to supply his newly launched varieties in time for the all important Chelsea week! Established in 1967, we have a reputation for exacting standards, and producing exceptional, top quality plants.

Situated in a stunning valley in Hampshire, the majority of our clematis and climbers are grown in three litre pots, complemented by some 'living labels' in sizes of up to 35 litre pots. Living labels are what we call our large display pots which, when planted up, create such a ‘wow factor’. Our location allows us to supply plants earlier than many other nurseries, enabling garden centres to have plants in readiness for when the season kicks off. Throughout the year, a number of evergreen and deciduous shrubs add to the range and interest.

We are extremely proud of our nursery but suddenly in March 2020 things changed.

Every plant was looking fantastic, all in bud and or in flower, ready for the big weekend of Easter. Then bang; – shutdown. We were stunned and we all wondered how we were going to survive. Firstly, all the staff were furloughed, and the nursery fell silent. It was surreal!

Now it was my job to keep plants alive. That was when I sat down and had a long chat with my two teenage children and told them that they were going to work on the nursery.

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Section 3 | Lockdown 2020 They really had no choice; it was do or die. Bless them, they got stuck in and worked very long hours. I'm very proud of them. My mum kept us fed and was a great support keeping our spirits up when we felt them flagging.

James, our front-of-house man, worked from home contacting all the garden centres we supply. He worked his socks off to get them to start buying again, which they did after about six weeks, as most of them sold online to their customers. We then started bringing staff back in and they were so glad to be back at work, and did they work! 6 am until 6 pm every day and still doing those hours now in August because the demand for plants is so great.

My whole team are amazing. We did have to cut back some beautiful large clematis, the ones in 35 litre pots, but they will come back next year. We have survived. I think the children have seen how hard their Mum and Gran work and just maybe they will not take things so much for granted in the future. In fact, they are still working with the team, managing to social distance but still able to keep chatting. We have a buzzing nursery once again – fantastic!

Note from the Chair of the British Clematis Society!

Clematis from Baldwin’s featured in the BCS displays at the Malvern Shows in 2018 and 2019 helping us to win two silver medals as well as providing plants to display, and to sell at the RHS Plant Society weekends at Wisley.

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All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go Charlie Pridham

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uring 2019 we realised 2020 was to be our 30th year of opening the Garden for the National Garden Scheme so we embarked on a large programme of revamping, cutting back shrubs, dealing with outbreaks of bindweed and bramble, then clematis planting. Of course, we had no sooner started then so did the winter weather which, as I am sure you will all recall, was a bit wet! This not only slowed work down but highlighted the need to rescue our old 1840's conservatory which was threatening to fall down.

Despite being "up against it" we plugged away managing to get over 30 more clematis into our already over planted garden, getting close to the 3 clematis plants for each variety in our National Collection. Some were those old stalwarts like 'Madame Julia Correvon' which is so good for showing up at a distance, so two more of those have been planted. Others like 'Forever Friends' and 'Joan Baker' were being planted out for the first time. Then there are those that were planted years ago, and all but forgotten, that have responded to the clearing work and heavy rain, by springing back into action like 'Madame Edouard Andre' and 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' which were planted back in 1991.

Although work on the garden was going well, the conservatory rebuild was well behind schedule due to the unremitting rain. Nevertheless, in February we decided we needed 67

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Clematis Forever Friends

Clematis Freda

Clematis Prosperity

Clematis Tims Passion

Clematis Hagelby Pink

Clematis Charlie Brown

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Lockdown 2020 | Section 3 a break and headed for the sun, which is why we were in Tenerife when our son called to say that we may not be able to get back! In the event, no one showed the slightest interest in the passengers returning in March despite the, by then, signs that things were getting out of hand.

We were just glad to come home and resume gardening.

By March, we were all experiencing “Lockdown” just when the weather decided to be nice, so there we were sitting in our garden which, I have to say, had never looked better. The heavy rains of winter and early spring meant that all the new plantings grew well, and we were both Clematis Poldice around to keep things on track tying in and tidying. Of course all our planned charity garden open days were cancelled, as well as all the plant sales opportunities we would normally attend.

You may think, therefore, that life would be quite cushy, but no! No one told the plants to take it easy. Those on the nursery continued to grow and demand constant tidying and watering. This was made more onerous by them not moving through the system because of lack of sales opportunities.

We hadn't realised how much of our garden in spring we normally either don't see or don't notice but this year we have come to appreciate more the various montana types with 'Freda' and 'Prosperity' looking particularly good, and for scent, 'Mayleen' and 'Wilsonii' are fantastic.

Other stand out plants this year have been 'Tim's Passion' and 'Morning Heaven' although nearly all the clematis have been having their best year ever with reliable stalwarts such as 'Cornish Spirit' 'Hagelby Pink' and 'Poldice' all starting to flower in June. 'Arabella' and 'Charlie Brown' were even earlier, beginning their flowering in May, all of which made us sad as no one other than us were getting to see them.

Just as I was finishing this article off we had a garden open day for the NGS using their pre-booked ticket system. All went well so a lucky few got to see the show. By the time you read this however, it will be too late. But those of you who also open your gardens may like to know (in case we are still having disruptions next year) that we found it to be a good way of controlling numbers.

I don't think I have ever been more grateful to have a garden than this year. The fact that it’s full of clematis which have all decided to have a good year was a huge bonus.

Charlie and Liz Pridham, Roseland House Garden and Nursery, Cornwall.

Holders of the National Collection of Clematis viticella cultivars.

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Alionushka

My 2020… So far Jean Harley

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re you tired of being asked ‘How are you coping ...? How is it for you ...?’

Well at the moment I have been busier than ever ...

Most summers I am usually opening my garden and selling plants at fairs and shows, together with cards featuring paintings of my clematis, to raise funds for my local hospice.

I also take my paintings to exhibitions. Well that isn’t going to happen this year I thought.

Not even the planned and organised six-week Retrospective Exhibition of my own work.

However, I will have lots more time to paint, especially new clematis paintings and, perhaps, be asked to provide one for publication in the British Clematis Society Journal again. I will have more time to look after my own garden and reorganise and plan plantings.

At least I will be able to give more time to trying to propagate and grow on from my own clematis this year. To be perfectly honest, I usually start off well but then sadly neglect the seedlings and I have never yet succeeded in growing anything to be pleased with from my own plants, although I do have a few tiny shoots coming from the last lot of seeds offered by the Society because they are getting a little more TLC this year. So, fingers crossed! Not even tried to take any cuttings yet ... so, I have resolved to devote all this extra, unexpected free time, to propagating and caring for clematis. With over 20 different clematis in my wild, overgrown, cottage garden I have a lot to choose from and visitors cannot understand why I don’t have lots of babies to sell, especially as I always have something in flower. So, any help or advice, maybe even the occasional plant donation from members, like the 12 C. montana ‘Grandiflora’ Ken Black gave me, is always much appreciated.

Someone then suggested that ‘there is nothing to stop you selling your plants as usual.

Put them on the drive, price them, put an honesty box out. Safe distancing is no problem.’ And it just took off to the extent that in 3 months £1000 has been raised for 70

Lockdown 2020 | Section 3 the Hospice. It usually takes a year to get to that figure! The whole village and friends in the surrounding area have helped tremendously. Not only have there been donations of surplus plants, seedlings, and all manner of garden related items such as pots, canes, and compost, but also their time and labour. They do this every year... but this year a little extra seems to have been added. We all know how good gardening is, not only for our physical Clematis akoensis health, but for mental and emotional wellbeing too. It has certainly helped me to barely notice that I have been ‘home alone’ for over three months and has brought a new feeling of togetherness to our little corner of Cheshire.

Looking at my garden, noting my clematis flowering times, and checking with previous years, I realise how strange this year has been. First C. ‘Akoensis’ was in full bud all winter but did not flower until April and it has only just now finished, so I must save some seed. Secondly, C. ‘Francis Rivis’ and C. koreana ‘Amber’ are on their second flush of flowers. Lastly, I had thought that C. ‘Princess Diana’ had died from wilt last year, so bought a C.’Princess Kate’ from Taylors Clematis at the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, to replace her. I put the replacement in a pot until I decided where I should plant her, and now C. ‘Princess Diana’ is back!

In my ‘spare time’ I am trying to list all the varieties of clematis that I have grown over the last 50 years. Although I still have some of them, though not necessarily the same plant, I realised just how few have masculine names. C. ‘Bill Mackenzie’ and C. ‘Vyvyan Pennell’ both left me after about 15 years, C. ‘Fragrant Oberon’ was, I think, not happy about being renamed C. ‘Hutbron’ and just disappeared. I can’t think of any others.

I seem to choose to grow mostly those clematis with purple, pink, blue and white flowers although I do have C. ‘Freckles’ for winter colour. There are not only climbers and scramblers, but also smaller patio potted cultivars like C. ‘Bijou ‘, a couple of herbaceous specimens for ground cover, and C. recta ‘Purpurea’ with its wonderful young purple leaves, and oh, the perfume!

As an artist, I find the different shapes, sizes, and the colours endlessly fascinating.

Certainly, I will never be short of inspiration or want for a different challenge. I am not exactly obsessed with clematis but am certainly still in the throes of a long love affair with them. As I may have said before, I am a ‘jack of all trades ‘, and am still not sure whether I am gardener who paints or a painter who gardens.

I do hope that you all found your gardens and your Clematis as much of a comfort as I have in 2020 and are looking forward to new challenges in 2021.

Jean.

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Art Class

Helmsley Walled Garden – Growing out of a Crisis June Tainsh, Garden Manager – 4th August 2020

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lmost exactly a year ago I had the pleasure of helping on the British Clematis Society stand down at Tatton Park. Despite torrential rain pretty much for the whole three days, the near miss of a tornado and an acute lack of dry socks I so enjoyed my time on the stand, chatting with members, and finding out about their own gardens.

The whole event really reawakened an interest in clematis for me. I have never been an expert on these lovely climbers, as so many of you involved with The Society are.

Although I had always found them fascinating plants, I had never fully appreciated the astonishing range of varieties, and how it really is possible to have a clematis in flower every month of the year.

Lots of people are a little intimidated by clematis and I have to say that I count myself amongst them. It was, therefore, such a joy to attend Ken Black’s friendly, relaxed, and totally engaging talk later in the day. It had the effect of putting so many of us at ease regarding the care of our own clematis.

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Lockdown 2020 | Section 3 Chatting with Ken and Helen after the show, one of the summer events we discussed was to run a Clematis Weekend at the Walled Garden. The aim was to invite our visitors to buy a clematis or two; have a chat with Ken on the best way to look after their new treasure, and enjoy viewing the huge range of varieties in the garden. It would be the perfect way to attract new visitors to the Garden, members for the Society, and up our game in terms of horticultural excellence and expertise.

Helmsley Walled Garden

I returned to Helmsley Walled Garden determined to review our own clematis garden. The Walled Garden had previously had close links with our local branch of the Clematis Society. However, this was well before I began here as Garden Manager in August 2018. The clematis garden itself is a challenging space. It is situated right in the middle of our 6-acre plot and, over the years, has become home to a patchy range of perennials and shrubs, many of which don’t particularly compliment or enhance the many clematis planted there.

Viticella 'Kermesina'

I was determined that we would well and truly pull our (now dry) socks up, having begun to better understand the creative possibilities of these beautiful plants and, having been encouraged to see the interest and affection that the genus attracts. We do sell many clematis from the plant centre, which we purchase from a local nursery. However, having seen Ken’s amazing hydroponic propagation system, reliably producing strong healthy plants from cuttings, in an incredibly short space of time, I had begun mentally planning a Helmsley programme of propagation.

Events did, as they have a habit of doing, overtake me on my return to Helmsley.

There were some difficult administrative problems to deal with, and a group of motivated, but underused, volunteers; all needing a lot more direction, instruction, and support than I had previously realized. Sadly, none of my clematis based plans were instigated last autumn, and we battled through the winter, thinking to refocus on these ideas in the spring. Of course, it was not a spring any of us could ever have predicted.

We had achieved an enormous amount of work through the autumn and winter, despite many cold and rainy days; restructuring some areas of the garden to give new focus and interest. One of these was our new iris border, planted up with around sixty different 73

Section 3 | Lockdown 2020 varieties of bearded Iris. This was a great exercise for our volunteers, with everybody getting involved, and learning exactly how to lift, divide and re-plant these colourful beauties; to bask in the sun along our long, west facing, border. We also bought in some new varieties.

This has given us a surprisingly long flowering time for this area of the garden.

Poised to open on the first of April, we had planned for early spring interest. To this end, we planted 3000 tulip bulbs in October 2019 around our dipping pond, and in the big wooden planters outside our gates. In the event, of course, these big wooden gates remained closed. Together with Tony our groundsman and, myself, being the only member of staff not to be furloughed, we were pretty much an audience of two, to view the results of our huge effort of last year.

The tulipa ‘Angelique’, were planted just outside the gate, and were appreciated by the odd dog walker but it was a real blow to realize that, even if we did open this year, these lovely shell pink flowers would be long gone. Equally, the bright red tulips around the dipping pond were appreciated by me alone – and my border terrier, Tunnock, as was the amazing succession of colour from our new irises. These did so much better than I had expected, and I took loads of photographs to ensure I could show our volunteers what a great job they’d done.

Garden closed

Although, in hindsight, there was the sad fact that we had no visitors to appreciate the garden, we were, at the time, overwhelmed by a sense of panic at our looming negative financial situation. The garden depends almost entirely on the income from our visitors to sustain us through the year. By March this fund is usually very much depleted, and the sense of occasion around opening is tempered with the real anxiety of watching a rapidly dwindling bank balance. The Garden depends on that income coming in quickly.

Faced with the prospect of losing, not only my own job, but also the jobs of my colleagues, I quickly set up an online appeal, offering adoption certificates for a single square metre of the garden. The idea had come from a similar appeal in Scotland, where they managed to plant up an entire new orchard with donations for individual trees.

Our appeal was not quite similarly tangible, as I wasn’t planning to segment the garden for each person that had donated. Nevertheless, the response was amazing, and within two weeks our appeal was sitting at £30,000. By the middle of June, we had almost reached our target of £50,000, and had secured further funding from the Heritage Lottery, Ryedale District Council, and some other small grant awards. Tricia was back at work, swiftly followed by Heather, and we could bring volunteers back into the garden. After two months of unchecked growth their assistance was needed desperately.

The whole three months of anxiety and a future that looked insecure, not just for the garden but for myself personally, was exhausting. However, the huge wave of support 74

Lockdown 2020 | Section 3 and real love out there for this beautiful garden has been reassuring for all of us, both staff and volunteers. The garden, empty of visitors, became quite a different place. Our ability to focus on what was needing to be done, enabled us to really pull together as a team, and make the transformation we couldn’t have achieved had we been open to the public.

Helmsley Walled Garden exists for and through its volunteers. With over sixty garden volunteers attending up to four Helmsley Walled Garden sessions every week, my initial concern was naturally their safety and well-being. Notwithstanding risk assessments, signage, thorough cleaning, and hi-vis vests which all had to be in place, one of the best things we have now instituted is a weekly rota. This ensures that the number of volunteers on each session doesn’t exceed our maximum of ten. This means that our volunteers get a bit more support, a bit more instruction and assistance, and that we have volunteers at the garden five days a week, rather than just the two sessions we had previously.

Last September we were awarded £10,000 from Awards for All, to run our new volunteer buddying programme, “Over the Garden Gate”. Simply put, this means we pair up volunteers in the garden to work together, overseen by our volunteer coordinator, Heather.

Without the resources to employ a big team of supervisory staff, this enables us to extend the benefit of what we do to wider and more diverse groups. By pairing people up to work together, we afford everyone the benefit of pretty much one to one support.

Without our appeal we would have run out of money by the end of May, resulting in the loss of Helmsley and a considerable impact on so many people. The natural consequences are that without staff, and without the resources to pay bills, the garden would, most likely, have drifted back to the wilderness it was, when discovered and nurtured back to life by Alison Ticehurst, twenty-five years ago. We would have seen not just the disappearance of a beautiful garden but the loss of an essential community resource.

It was a joy to be allowed to finally open our gates to the public on August 1st, it being appropriately Yorkshire Day. We welcomed around 300 visitors over the weekend.

The garden is looking wonderful, which is a testament to the amazing work of our volunteer teams. There is now in place a rather beautifully executed one-way system, consisting of colourful hand painted wooden arrows to direct our visitors. It has further enabled us to guide visitors discreetly past the less finished areas of the garden, including our newly planted ‘Secret Garden’, our ‘Gardening with Native Plants’ border (funded by the Finnis Scott Foundation), and, sadly, our rather overgrown ‘Clematis Garden’.

However, our plans for the next few months will see this intricate little garden quickly transformed. We are currently working on an area historically named the ‘Long Border’ – even though there are two others just as long! Here we shall be lifting and dividing 75

Section 3 | Lockdown 2020 perennials to turn it into a border with a pastel colour theme and a focus on peonies.

I am trying, and failing, to establish its name as the ‘Peony Border’. Nobody understands my reference to it unless I call it the Long Border. I expect greater success in this endeavour over time, once we have a good number of plants established there.

I like to think of a future for the garden where we can demonstrate some specialist plantings for our visitors and, in that process, teach our volunteers a little more about the plants they are looking after.

What better combination than irises, peonies, and clematis, all beautifully diverse, and all complimenting each other as the season progresses. Left to their own devices, our clematis have rambled happily through phlox and salvias, effortlessly establishing some stunning colour combinations, and thereby, giving us lots of ideas on how we can develop the clematis garden to be a more interesting and balanced area of planting.

C. vitalba

We exposed much of our beautiful 18th Century wall in creating our new iris border last year. During the earliest weeks of lockdown, I planted around six clematis of different types from our plant sales tables, left over from last summer. With the garden to myself, it really struck me how much of the wall would be ideal for these lovely climbers. There is several hundred meters of brick wall for one thing and, not to mention a multitude of small trees and shrubs that would benefit from a colourful companion.

In a living testimonial to the past few months we are also going to be establishing a maple garden, right at the far end of our long iris border. We have just one maple in the garden at present. This is forming the mature structure for this new space,

Phlox and Clematis

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C. ‘Princess Diana’

C. Arabella

and the plan is to plant a further ten small trees here in the autumn. A positive outcome to what we’ve all suffered this year.

The Clematis Garden is next on our list for restoration and rejuvenation, but I like to think that we will be increasing our clematis population right the way through the garden.

We are also looking to get that hydroponic propagation system off the ground, with the aim of both, replenishing the clematis in the garden and creating stock for the sales table.

Briefly locked down in my own house, as we all were in the early stages, I enthusiastically tackled my own square metre of garden. It is a small, stone built, raised bed in a corner of my tiny back courtyard. I somewhat enthusiastically planted up ferns, hostas, foxgloves and primula, most of which will now have to be removed, having crowded each other out.

The one bit of consistent colour all summer, and this plant has been flowering since May with no sign of letting up in August, is a C. ‘Prince Charles’. It was the only plant in here when I moved in a year ago. This lovely blue clematis has felt like a small message of hope through these months and a visual testament to tenacity and survival.

It is a delight to be feeling positive again, about a future for Helmsley Walled Garden, after such a challenging time.

As I was putting the finishing touches to this article I found out that Helmsley Walled Garden has been listed in the Observer newspaper as one of the top ten secret gardens in the Country. Wow! 77

Section 4

Cultivars, Species and Groups

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4

The Jewell’ © Malcolm Ovens

Snow White is One of Seven Dwarfs at By The Way Val le May Neville – Parry

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aving held the only National Collection of Clematis montana since 2005 I have sometimes noticed seedlings and potted them up before waiting to see if they are worthy of naming.

I decided it was time to be more selective and try my hand at growing seed from some of the very best cultivars. This is important as two of these, ‘The Jewell’ and ‘Prosperity’ 2 are particularly difficult 'Prosperity' to propagate from cuttings, both having C. chrysocoma in their genes. As you can see, they are beautiful and are amongst the most admired by garden visitors. They both flower in late April through to May and send out flushes of flowers on long stems, held proud of the shorter stemmed leaves, throughout summer and into autumn. Amongst the plants to mature to date have been some compact montana seedlings including seven amazing dwarf specimens, all less than a metre tall, ideal for planting in deep pots in small gardens, on patios, balconies or even on doorsteps.

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Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups The first dwarf flowered in May 2016, the lovely ‘Chloe’, seed from ‘The Jewell’, sown in November 2014. It featured delicious bright pink flowers, three six, and one five sepalled. In addition, the reverse of the leaves was deep crimson. Matt Biggs, of Gardener’s Question Time, asked me to name it after his younger daughter, Chloe. I understand from Matt that it flowered well in May 2020, but collapsed immediately after flowering. He dug it up, potted it in a long pot, cut off the one long stem, and is praying for new stems to emerge from the crown. The roots look healthy, so we will have to wait and see but there was still no sign of growth by the end of August.

'Chloe' first flowers 2014

A few weeks later another dwarf from ‘The Jewell’ seed parent showed exceptionally pretty flowers. This has remained with me. We named it ‘Emma Joan’ after a talented young gymnast turned footballer who has visited me frequently with my friend, Mary, for six years. It was planted in a bed in September 2016. Note the pretty ruffle-edged flowers standing proud of the leaves.

Matt Biggs collecting 'Chloe' 10 Sept 2016

Although flowering well in 2017 and 2018, by 2019 the plant was clearly struggling, with no flowers and weak stems. I dug it up and trimmed the roots before potting it into a long pot. Within six weeks it had sent up two strong new stems and a third was emerging from the crown. This year it has sported over fifty gorgeous flowers and the seed heads are beautiful. There are also two new stems emerging from the crown. Whatever the pollen parent was, it has been gifted prettier seed heads than ‘The Jewell’! The sparkling heads extend the interest period of the montana group, most carrying delightful seed heads throughout the summer months. Cuttings were placed in my hydropod on the 21st of June 2020 and the first little roots appeared by the 14th of July, just 23 days later. By the end of July four of the five cuttings had white tipped roots.

A third seedling from ‘The Jewell’ as seed parent is the beautiful ‘Alan Postill’. Alan has been Master Propagator for Hilliers Nursery for well over fifty years. He was the first to propagate ‘The Jewell’ in 2016 – I had failed for many years to root cuttings. Alan and wife, Jacqueline, came to see the plant in May 2019. It has exceptionally pretty, shiny, bronze early leaves with delicate pink and white flowers. The seed heads are also attractive.

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 My sister, Pam, was 80 in April 2020, just as a fourth seedling from ‘The Jewell’ opened its first flower. At 8cm diameter, this, together with ‘Brian Collingwood’, is the largest of the dwarf flowers and is as big as most on the more vigorous plants, some of which grow to 20 metres in height or more. It has wide open, prettily veined pink sepals, and should produce many flowers in the years to come. I have named it ‘Pamela Coral’ in Pam’s honour. It will be monitored for the next year or two before registering.

Mary with Emma Joan and 'Emma Joan' seedling 2016

Now for the ‘Prosperity’ dwarfs. These were from seed sown in 2012 so they have had two years longer to grow and mature.

‘Brian Collingwood’ was named last year after the editor of the British Clematis Society Journal for the last ten years.

It is a stunning plant with snow white flowers, which are similar in shape to the parent plant. It took eight years to grow from seed to maturity this year. Suitable to adorn the centre of an outdoor table or small weather-proof stool, this plant’s twelve stems spray naturally downwards.

The leaves are grey-green and the smallest in the collection. The pure white flowers emerge from tiny buds, starting very small and maturing to 8 cm in diameter. By the 20th of June there were still dozens of buds and several mature flowers after the other varieties and cultivars had finished flowering. This is a must to propagate.

By the end of the first week of September, two cuttings taken on the 21st of June were showing emerging white tipped roots that were one to two centimetres long Thank goodness, I did not throw them out when inserting four or more at the end of August.

'Emma Joan' 2018

Another ‘Prosperity’ seedling has flowered for the last two years. It is very pretty, producing its first mass of white with pink

'Emma Joan' seed heads July 2020

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Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups

'Alan Postill'

'Brian Collingwood' aka Snow White

blush flowers in May 2018. On the 21st of May this year, just as the plant was giving its best show, ex-colleague, Lucy, came to the garden with her elder daughter, Ellie.

Ellie’s 18th Birthday was the following day and she admired the plant. So ‘Ellie’ is now the name on the label for the plant, which was re-potted and cut hard back the following week. Strong new growth should carry flowers next spring.

Ellie is also the name the daughter of a fifties college friend, and is the name of one of the daughters of British Clematis Society member, Keith Shortland, so, when tending the plant in years to come, I will remember all three friends, as well as their daughters.

'Ellie'

Emma Joan has a sister, Rhiannon. I had previously named a magnificent vigorous seedling for Rhiannon. It grew too big for its position in the garden, so I had it dug up. Sadly, insufficient care was taken, the well-established roots being ripped out of the ground. It died, and I have not allowed anyone else to move plants since! This year, ten lovely white flowers opened on a third ‘Prosperity’ seedling and Rhiannon has accepted this as a replacement. Interestingly, Rhiannon was 18 on the day the first ‘Emma Joan’ roots were spotted! It is another dwarf, having taken eight years to grow to 60cms tall and to produce flowers. These are currently developing into pretty seed heads.

In April 2020, a photographer visited the garden twice, just as the early flowering cultivars were at their best. He kept socially distant as have all visitors since mid-March. There was a picture and brief article in the May 13th edition of Country Life Magazine.

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© Christopher Grey-Wilson

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4

A form of Clematis tibetana subsp. vernayi with red flowers photo-graphed in Marsyangdi Valley, Nepal

The Orange-peel Clematis Christopher Grey – Wilson

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N 1971, WHILE TRAVELLING from Kew on an expedition to Afghanistan, I saw and photographed Clematis orientalis growing among a scrub of willows and roses along the banks of the Hari River. After that, the expedition happened upon it on a number of occasions, nearly always in similar habitats or tumbling over rocks.

It seemed to me it was a very variable species and I promised myself that when I had time I would study it and its allies more closely. That time came in the 1980s culminating in a paper on the topic in Kew Bulletin (Grey-Wilson 1989).

The Clematis orientalis aggregate, as currently interpreted, consists of 14 species which range from Greece and Turkey through the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia to western and northern China as far as the Korean peninsula and neighbouring Russia (Vladivostok region). It is an interesting cluster of species formerly recognized as a separate genus, Meclatis (an anagram of Clematis), by Spach in 1839.

Michio Tamura (1967) adopted Meclatis as a section within Clematis and his view has been almost universally accepted since that date.

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Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups © Christopher Grey-Wilson

Section Meclatis subsection Orientales is characterized by mostly climbing species, rarely suffruticose, bearing pinnate or bipinnate leaves that can be thin and green or rather fleshy and glaucous.

The nodding flowers are solitary or in clusters (rarely more than five) borne on the current season’s growth, with yellow predominating, although the buds are sometimes speckled, blotched or suffused with red, brown or purple.

There are four petaloid sepals which can vary from erect to spreading or recurved, depending on the species, and hairy at least along the margins. The stamens are very A form of Clematis tibetana characteristic, forming a tight embrace subsp. vernayi with red flowers around the achenes, the anthers glabrous photo-graphed in Marsyangdi Valley, Nepal but the filaments densely hairy, especially in the lower half. The styles are hairy from base to apex, the hairs generally patent.

In the wild the species are plants of relatively dry mountain habitats, usually inhabiting rocky places, often by streams or rivers, tumbling over rocks or clambering over neighbouring shrubs and small trees. They avoid the monsoon-rich lands of the Himalaya and the mountains of southwestern China. In Nepal they are found at the drier western end of the country and in the rain-shadow areas of the northern Himalaya, stretching well into southern Tibet. The fact that they are adapted to quite dry habitats make them excellent plants for growing in the drier parts of Britain.

The members of subsection Orientales are easy garden plants and include among the species several that are widely available and familiar to gardeners, including Clematis akebioides, C. serratifolia, C. tangutica and C. tibetana.

Clematis ‘Orange Peel’ Available from a number of sources in the UK, Clematis ‘Orange Peel’ dates back to a collection made during Frank Ludlow and George Sherriff ’s 1946–47 expedition to southern Tibet concentrating on the area of the Tsangpo Gorges. The collection is recounted by Harold Fletcher (1975): ‘One lot of clematis fruits (13343) proved to be those of the fragrant nodding bell-shaped, yellowish-green Clematis rehderiana whilst the other (13342), those of a most desirable form of C. orientalis.’

In October 1950, Messrs W.E. Th. Ingwersen Ltd exhibited flowering specimens, grown from fruits of 13342, to the Royal Horticultural Society. The flowers, on peduncles four inches long, were bowl-shaped with four elliptic lemon-yellow sepals, almost as thick in texture as orange peel, with a central tuft of yellow stigmas surrounded by a mass of slaty purple stamens. Many forms of Clematis orientalis had been in cultivation in the past 84

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 but all had lacked the outstanding character of this particular form, the unusual thickness of the sepals. The plant was given an Award of Merit, since which time it has been known by the cultivar name ‘Orange Peel’.

A precise attribution Close inspection of ‘Orange Peel’ shows that it is attributable to Clematis tibetana, a species native to northern India (Uttar Pradesh), through Nepal to southern and central Tibet (Xizang).

Clematis tibetana is distinguished from all other species in the complex by a combination of characters of which glaucous leaves that are lobed but scarcely toothed, flowers that are solitary, epedunculate with thick sepals, glabrous outside but finely hairy inside, are the most significant. It is closest to C. akebioides in general appearance but that species, from western China, has broader, more oblong, crenate-margined leaflets, while the flowers are normally borne in fascicles of 3–7, the sepals glabrous apart from the margins.

The Tibetan plateau, an image taken by George Sherriff in 1948

The Tibetan plateau (above), an image taken by George Sherriff in 1948; (right) George Sherriff (with umbrella) and Frank Ludlow in Gangtok, Sikkim in 1933.

George Sherriff (with umbrella) and Frank Ludlow in Gangtok, Sikkim in 1933

Two subspecies can be recognized under C. tibetana. The typical subsp. tibetana is restricted to northern India and the immediate neighbouring part of Tibet at 3,300–5,000m altitude and has lantern-shaped flowers, the sepals moderately thick in texture and long-acuminate. Much more widespread is subsp. vernayi, found in Nepal and southern Tibet at altitudes ranging from 1,800–4,150m and characterized by more open bell- shaped flowers with thick and fleshy tepals that are acute or apiculate.

While subsp. vernayi can have plain yellow flowers, the sepals are more often flushed or spotted with rusty brown, bronze or purplish brown on the exterior. Occasion the flowers, particularly in bud, can appear to be almost black. It is to this subspecies that ‘Orange Peel’ belongs.

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© Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Archive

As stressed already, in those post Second World War days, and indeed up until the 1950s, most of the yellow-flowered Asian Clematis were assigned to C. orientalis.

However, subsequent research, both by the present author and others (notably Tamura 1955 & 1967, and Johnson 2001), has clearly shown that this name has been applied to a complex of closely allied species.

© Christopher Grey-Wilson

Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups

The thick, waxy sepals of Clematis tibetana subsp. vernayi ‘Orange Peel’ make an impressive display

The plant is a very attractive clone traceable directly to Ludlow and Sherriff ’s collection under their number 13342, which is sometimes still attached to plants sold in commerce.

The collection seems to have been of seed only for there is no supporting wild-collected specimen under that number in herbaria, although there are several under that number from plants raised in cultivation. Ludlow and Sherriff did in fact collect the subspecies in flower under several numbers, notably 1944, 5703, 6199 (with George Taylor), 13928 (with Col. Henry Elliott), 15478 (with Col. Henry Elliott), all in Tibet in the vicinity of Kongbo, the Tsangpo Valley and the area just to the east of Lhasa.

As 13342 was collected in seed, the collectors would not have known what it was like in bloom so it must have been exciting to see it when it came into flower for the first time, probably in 1949. While the actual plant given the name ‘Orange Peel’ is clonal, there must have been other seedlings raised from the same source, but these appear to remain unrecorded.

‘Orange Peel’ is a vigorous plant and, once established, can be expected to put on 3–5m growth in a season. Like many other members of the C. orientalis aggregate it has two flowering periods, one in mid-summer, but an even finer display in the autumn, particularly late September and October, to be followed by an attractive display of silky fruits which become woolly in time and last well into the winter.

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Growing in the garden The majority of species and cultivars of the C. orientalis aggregate have similar preferences in cultivation and are among the easiest of all clematis in the garden. A sunny site and a free-draining, yet moisture-retentive soil (pH 6.5–8) is perfect. They are all fully hardy, H6–H7. Most are vigorous growers once established and need adequate support for their clambering growths.

Pruning is simple: as plants flower on the current year’s growth cut hard back all growths to 30cm in late winter and they will begin to sprout the moment the weather starts to warm up. Another factor very much in their favour is their resistance to pests and diseases, for they do not suffer in my experience from clematis wilt, mildews, slugs, snails or aphids.

Propagation is best carried out in spring, using young shoots that are beginning to harden up; one or two node internodal cuttings root fairly easily in a heated or unheated propagator with the help of hormone rooting gel or powder. Older shoots taken in summer fare less well as they are by then investing energy in the development of flowers.

While the majority of cultivars in the C. orientalis aggregate are of hybrid origin, selected from crosses made in cultivation, ‘Orange Peel’ stands out, as it has a fine lineage which takes us back more than 70 years to one of the most famous botanical partnerships. Ludlow and Sherriff ’s explorations in Bhutan and Tibet yielded a great number of collections (in excess of 21,000) and they not only greatly enhanced our gardens, but added significantly to our scientific understanding of one of the world’s great treasure houses of botanical diversity.

‘Orange Peel’ deserves to be more widely grown in gardens. It is as fine as the widely available ‘Bill MacKenzie’ and, like it, puts on a fine display of flowers as autumn advances into early winter.

Christopher Grey-Wilson is a horticulturist and taxonomist with a wide range of plant interests.

References Fletcher, HR (1975) A Quest of Flowers, the plant explorations of Frank Ludlow and George Sherriff: told from their diaries and other occasional writings.

Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. Johnson, M (2001) The Genus Clematis. Magnus Johnsons Plantskola AB, Södertälje, Sweden. Tamura, M. (1955). Systema Clematidis Asiae Orientalis. Sci. Rep. Osaka Univ. 4: 43–55. Tamura, M (1967) Morphology, ecology and phylogeny of the Ranunculaceae. Sci. Rep. Osaka Univ. 7: 21–43.

Editor's Note My thanks to The RHS for allowing us to reprint this article which first appeared in the June 2020 edition of The Plant Review. Thanks also to The library of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for the images.@

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Clematis leaves & leaflets

Clematis Diversity – a Learning Journey with the British Clematis Society (BCS) Alison Booth

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now know that there are more than 300 native or wild species of the genus clematis, predominantly but not exclusively found wild in the northern hemisphere. For comparison with other garden plants, there are about 40 wild species of chrysanthemum, 42 dahlias, 300 roses and 39 lavenders.

The name clematis comes from the Greek, meaning a vine branch but, like many of our garden delights in the UK, they have a common name also. The one native British plant Clematis vitalba is also known colloquially as old man’s beard or traveller’s joy. On chalky soils particularly, it can cover hedges and quite large trees producing masses of fluffy seed heads in autumn. Clematis have been recorded in Greece as early as 300BC but C. vitalba was the only clematis known to be growing in Elizabethan Britain hence some say it was named virgin’s bower at the time for the “Virgin Queen”.

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 In your reading of this journal and many other related published works plant nomenclature can seem baffling in the extreme. I have revised my understanding through the BCS. The taxonomic or classification hierarchy for our purposes starts with family Ranunculaceae or buttercup family, then genus clematis being the only climbing member of the family, and then species. In the name C. vitalba, C.vitalba C. then stands for the genus known as clematis- so distinct as a group they have common evolutionary ancestry observed in DNA sequence analysis. The vitalba stands for the species of clematis---a group of similar individuals which can successfully reproduce with each other but at the same time being reproductively isolated from a similar species. Think; the mostly extinct animal genus known as Homo of which the modern remaining species is sapiens meaning the wise, discerning, and sensible one!

Of course, when you purchase a new plant you may also see variety and cultivar described.

Varieties are true to type, that is, their seeds produce offspring with the same unique characteristics as the parents e.g. all the varieties of montana species are all deciduous and vigorous. However, plants are often advertised at nurseries by their cultivars e.g. Ernest Markham and Princess Diana. These do not occur naturally in the wild and have been produced through crosses in cultivation and so do not reproduce true to seed. Using all this information, The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) published its International Clematis Register and Checklist in 2002 acknowledging Wim Snoeijer of the Netherlands as main naming proposer. He is an eminent Dutch taxonomist and horticulturalist from Leiden University. He influenced, for example, Thorncroft Clematis of the UK in their clematis catalogues. Wim has been a regular visitor to and supporter of the BCS over the years.

It is thought by some that popular C. viticella, the native plants found in Spain, were brought over in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1569. From Hungary in 1573, the herbaceous C. integrifolia arrived in the UK as trade in plants around the world became more popular. From the Mediterranean in 1590 came the evergreen C. cirrhosa flowering in the British winter.

By 1840, New Zealand specimens joined those of the northern hemisphere here in Britain. The majority of clematis species C. integrifolia ‘Blue’ (over 250) have an origin in China and by 1850 the large flowered varieties e.g. C. patens arrived from there and Japan and caused a sensation. Hundreds of different varieties have been raised from the large flowered 89

Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups arrivals producing examples such as “Henryi” and “William Kennett”. Many crosses were made with C. viticella including with C. lanuginosa from China. It is now believed that the latter species imported clematis wilt into many hybrids especially the resulting large flowered types. So, the trade flourished setting the scene in 2020, after much hybridization from the 19th century onwards, for over 300 known species of the genus Clematis, many hundreds of varieties and hybrid cultivars all within the diverse family of Ranunculaceae, providing a hugely diverse array of sizes, colours and habit for modern gardeners to enjoy.

I didn’t always have clematis in my life, despite their long history in the UK. In the 1980s I was too busy by far to spend long in my garden. By the 1990s my large garden received more attention and I started with 2 early large clematis having seen them at the garden centre full of large colourful blooms. I planted them as I would other flowering plants and quickly learned that it was more difficult than I anticipated to maintain the healthy-looking plants that I had bought. In 1999 I moved to a house with a much smaller garden and decided to give them another go and find out where I went so wrong they couldn’t be that difficult!

One of the most predictable outcomes of growing a genus sourced from across the world is of course, for modern growers, the immense variation in cultivation requirements and peculiarities to try to understand and learn. To think I really believed that the large flowered group represented all clematis. I joined the British Clematis Society and then began my learning journey for real. Little did I know the journey I would have, and which continues to this day. As I attended the many BCS instructive talks, garden visits and demonstrations the first 2 variations that hugely surprised me were the existence of evergreen and deciduous types and the availability of clematis for all seasons. Considering then these 2 characteristics, I heard a lot about C. armandii, a white flowered evergreen and indeed it is promoted in books as the best and hardiest evergreen for the UK – but I have never really liked it. It came into the UK in 1590 from the Mediterranean. I did decide however, that C. cirrhosa would suit my small garden and pergola and there seemed to be quite a variety. Its tri-lobed ovate leaves are attractive, and the bell shaped, pendulous flowers long lasting. It covered my pergola at 3.5 metres and I learned to just trim it after flowering to keep it in check. My favourite evergreen is C. cirrhosa “Wisley Cream”—the creamy flowers really stand out from the foliage well through the winter. It can even flower on young wood in summer. It does lose leaves over time every year while the old ones go brown and fall. New growth will eventually cover the dead and dying leaves but not quickly enough for me with my “Winter Beauty” which can be unsightly for months through the summer. C. fosterii, an evergreen from New Zealand sounds attractive, but is described as not hardy in the UK and I have no room for a greenhouse.

In a modern small garden, it is a particular challenge to display many of these lovely climbing plants without filling borders with supporting shrubs and trees which I didn’t want to do. Clematis climb quickly by their leaf stalks twining and clinging as they go but need to be coaxed regularly to twine where you want them! In good conditions some clematis can climb up to 60cm in a week. My imagination has been exercised in devising attractive supports that do not detract from the plant itself especially bushy and tall varieties. Once the surrounding walls, fences and pergola are full then borders require 90

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 metal or wooden supports, or some can happily creep along the ground with pegged down shoots so that the flowers form a carpet looking upwards. The BCS has been helpful with ideas and even offering, through suppliers, different types to purchase at meetings.

My “Canary Bird” rose that flowers for months in the spring also hosts several clematis in the summer. Each must be carefully observed as the rose can act as an umbrella causing soil dryness and failure of the new clematis.

Most of the spring, summer, and autumn flowerers are deciduous, some like the many large flowered spring types losing just lower leaves as the top continues to grow, giving an untidy appearance. I have been asked many times about this while volunteering at the Malvern Show BCS stall; people worry that their plants are dying.

So, moving through the year from the evergreen winter flowerers I have tried quite a few of the Atragene hybrids both early spring types from the C. alpina species and late spring multi sepalled types from the C. macropetala species like C. “Sorbet” I have been reasonably successful with them in my former farmland heavy clay soil. Most of them are native woodland deciduous climbers and ideal for north and east facing borders originating from C. Sorbet mountainous regions. They produce an abundance of small, single, or double bell-shaped nodding flowers some with interior “ballet skirts” and most are blue or pink. They also have lovely fluffy seed heads, another interesting personal discovery. Despite using drainage material when planting them, I think I planted quite a few in borders receiving too much sun at the same time as not enough water—the experiment goes on! My favourites have been lovely dark purple C. alpina “Helsingborg” and pink C. alpina Jacqueline du Pre, and the smaller flowers of C. macropetala “Lagoon” formerly called “Blue Lagoon”.

Moving on again to flowers in May and June I have planted C. montana species. I chose the larger lilac pink flowerer but less vigorous climber of C. montana “Tetrarose” for my small garden and for the high wall the lovely C. montana “Broughton Star” a double small sized pink flower which grows to 5 metres. C. montana ability as a deciduous climber is phenomenal and they are named because of their preference for the mountainous areas of Asia from Afghanistan to Taiwan. Left unchecked they can reach 12 metres high and they can demand much water when in the sun but otherwise have done well in my garden.

Although I started growing clematis with the group 2 early large types I have had very little success with them again and no longer plant them. Many wilted badly and others just disappeared, I clearly have a lot more to learn about them! So, my garden has many July to September flowers of C. viticella giving such a good show and with variety in abundance showing large, medium, and small flowers, single and double in white through pink, red and blue to purple. Height can vary from a metre or so to 4.5 metres, they are 91

Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups largely disease resistant except for some occasional mildew but being vigorous require plenty of nutrients and water.

One of my favourites is single “Victoria” which is rosy purple, reliable, vigorous, and free flowering, from mid-summer to early autumn. C. viticella “Huldine” was introduced in 1934 by Earnest Markham and is beautiful from the front and behind! It is upward looking, 10cm in size, with 6 tepals of glossy white tinged with violet and like 80 other varieties and cultivars of clematis it has been given an Award of Merit from the British Royal Horticultural Society. Light blue clematis are not common and my favourite hybrid is “Blekitny Aniol” (Blue Angel). I love its pronounced ruffled surface and wavy edges with anthers of pale yellow. It was bred in Poland by Brother Stefan Franczak one of the world’s most successful clematis hybridists and introduced in 1990. Brother Stefan was born in 1917 and his life’s work as Keeper of the Monastery Garden in Warsaw has given us over 20 new clematis.

C. ‘Victoria’

C. ‘Huldine’

There has been much debate in the botanical world about the parentage of modern day cultivars exploring questions such as “when is a C. viticella not a C. viticella?” or when for example examining “Etoile Rose” and “Pagoda”; “are they C. viticella or C. texensis hybrids?” Most gardeners just concern themselves with their performance and beauty but others who may be interested in hybridisation would examine the morphology of the downward facing trumpets of both and the foliage of both and conclude they have a relatively higher percentage of C. viticella parentage through the breeding done by Lemoine et Fils in France. Geneticists can take the investigation much further still, following

C. ‘Blue Angel’

C. ‘Juuli’ flower single

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 on the recent emphasis of genetics rather than morphology for accurate classification.

Well, I have tried small, medium, and large flowered C. viticella; tall and short ones, striped and plain and some with mixed parentage. Talking of which I must wax lyrical about blue “Juuli” introduced in 1985 from Estonia being a cross between C. integrifolia and C. viticella growing to 1.5m. She is similar in habit to better known herbaceous “Durandii” but paler in colour and with conspicuous white stamens. Being herbaceous it is nonclinging, plus scented and comes up year after year in profusion. I am so pleased to have discovered the herbaceous types – so colourful and robust.

C. ‘Juuli’

This brings me to my other observation and learning curve re the diversity of clematis. I am pretty sure I can recognize a Clematis leaves and leaflets rose leaf, a lavender leaf, a chrysanthemum leaf but species of clematis leaves vary hugely depending on their origin. Clematis leaves are usually opposite each other on stems; the large flowered types usually have 3 leaflets, but other types are hugely variable. The leaves from New Zealand species vary from the rush stemmed of C. afoliata to the small evergreen finely cut foliage of C. australis.

Several clematis have fern like leaves such as C. cirrhosa “Calycina” also known as “Balearica”, or C. ladakhiana flowering yellow from August to September in my front garden. C. chrysocoma as its name implies has leaves covered with golden brown hairy down and likewise C. languinosa is named for its woolly leaves brought from China in 1850. In 1900 as previously mentioned also from China came the evergreen C. armandii introduced by E.H. Wilson, carrying large glossy green three lobed leaves, while in my garden C. orientalis from Tibet has finely cut leaves in the example of “Bill MacKenzie”, producing the largest flowers in the group. I am sure that society members could name many other shapes and sizes of leaf to confound the clematis beginner.

The reader will also have seen species and hybrid variety ranging from scented as in C. flammula to none scented; striped as in “Nelly Moser” to plain; double flowers as in C. viticella “Purpurea Plena Elegans” and the large “Countess of Lovelace” to the many singles and then vigorous growers like C. orientalis and C. napaulensis and compared them to those that can be grown in pots like “Miss Bateman” and “Mrs N Thompson”. I have had “Lord Herschell" in an urn shaped terracotta pot (not recommended) and in the sun (not recommended) for many many years after buying it at the Hampton Court annual flower show and it has never failed to look lovely. What a feast of variation for the modern gardener and what a learning journey for me!

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Conclusion If you asked me now I would not deny that clematis are incredibly diverse, fascinating and on occasion frustrating in equal measure. They are mostly of course native in origin far from these shores, growing here with unfamiliar climatic conditions, all enabled by the many adventurous plant hunters in succeeding centuries. They can be very reliable, great wall scramblers, as well as short climbers in a vast array of colours and forms. There is the bonus too of interesting seed heads lasting into the autumn.

The many large flowered hybrids can be troublesome and prone to wilt, that causes loss of young plants especially if accidental C. ‘Lord Herschell in pot damage to stems happens allowing entry of the dreaded fungus. Other types can disappear and reappear years later, and they can sulk for no apparent reason. I can plant them carefully according to instructions and they fail while my neighbours just plant them and they flourish. Some specimens given the same treatment and soil grow strongly for years, while others limp on clearly telling me they don’t like it here. Some live for over 50 years such as montana varieties while others such as 'Petite Faucon Evisix' live a relatively short time. Montana varieties were planted by William Robinson in 1893 at Gravetye Manor in Sussex in a once famous clematis garden and are believed to be still flowering today. Some clematis types seem so reluctant to flower I begin to think they will never bloom, however give them enough time to establish e.g. C. calycina, they do so in their own good time. After initial planting of 2-year-old plants they can go blind for a whole season for no reason apparent to me, but once their roots are established with good quantities of water and food show their true glorious colours next season. I have given some up for dead but up they rise again in later years.

Whatever the issue I have encountered with my at least never boring clematis, I have always been able to ask someone within the British Clematis Society at our local or national meetings about what is the best method to minimize the calamities and enhance their growth. The newsletters provide shared ideas from fellow enthusiasts who are never shy to confirm that they too have had similar challenges. There is the website to consult and the annual journal which never fails to enlighten. From the beginner to the experienced enthusiast they can learn from the journal about the botany and the vagaries and joys of growing this diverse group. I have learned clematis genetics from one national meeting and how understanding their botany and countries of origin explained why their needs are specific to them and their place of origin.

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 Helping and answering queries from visitors at the British Clematis Society stall at the wonderful annual shows at Malvern helped me to understand I do know a lot more now and actually enjoy sharing that learning with others.

Finally, I would like to share a piece of advice from Mike Brown one of our most knowledgeable enthusiasts in the BCS. As described earlier, one of my favourite and best “doers” is C. viticella “Victoria” C. ‘Victoria’ which has rosy purple large flowers with buff coloured stamens flowering from July to September and therefore benefitting from hard pruning. One year she decided to have a sleep through May into June and I asked Mike what on earth to do with this reluctant child. He happily said, “Just put in a fork and give the surrounding soil a wiggle and she will wake up”. Well I did, and she did!

Bibliography John Howells: Trouble free Clematis. The Viticellas. 1998 Garden Art press Jim Fisk: Clematis The Queen of Climbers. 1991 Cassell

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Figure 1

Viorna Research Project Highlighting the role of Taxonomic Research in conservation with a new Clematis Species from the Piedmont of Georgia Thomas H. Murphy & L. Dwayne Estes

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axonomy is the field in which organisms (in our research, plants) are named, described, and classified. When conducting research of any group, taxonomists often discover new species to science and are tasked with describing its relationships within the context of morphology, geography, ecology, and evolution. Among the hundreds of plant species described every year, it is common for many of them to be rare and/ or narrowly endemic to a small geographic region.

Being that many new species described, as a result of modern taxonomic research, as rare and threatened with extinction, it quickly becomes apparent how taxonomy can be directly linked to conservation. Typically, taxonomy and conservation are perceived as separate fields with little interaction. In reality, taxonomy informs conservation efforts.

If we fail to detect the presence of an undescribed or unrecognized species, how can we 96

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 expect to conserve it? Here, we discuss the discovery of a new Clematis species and our hopes that it will better inform conservation efforts in the Pine Mountain Ridges of Georgia.

In 2013, our colleague and collaborator Dr. Aaron Floden described Clematis vinacea ‘A. Floden’, only known from a handful of populations in extreme southeastern Tennessee and northern Georgia. While reviewing herbarium specimens with the second author at the University of Georgia Herbarium, Floden noticed a specimen that resembled C. vinacea from Pine Mountain, Georgia, but was better placed in the C. reticulata species complex due to its raised-reticulate leaflet venation. Until the recent study of more herbarium specimens and multiple visits to a single extant population, its taxonomic Figure 2 placement has remained uncertain. Results from the masters research of the first author has revealed that populations of Clematis from Pine Mountain represent an undescribed species (manuscript in preparation), which is in urgent need of conservation due its rarity and confinement to a narrow region.

The new Pine Mountain Clematis is distinguished morphologically, phenologically, and ecologically from the much more widespread C. reticulata, which grows in the general region, by the following characteristics. First, it grows as an upright herb and usually flowers at about 8-15 inches in height with the flower borne at the tip of the main stem (Fig. 1), (insert 1) whereas C. reticulata produces a long vine, 3-10 feet in length, with the flowers borne in leaf axils along the distal half of the stem, but not at the terminus.

The two also differ phenologically, with the Pine Mountain Clematis flowering earlier in the season, in March or April, and Clematis reticulata flowering in late spring-early summer (May-July). In addition, there are other morphological features that separate the two including length of hairs on the sepals and length of the petioles (leaflet stalks) Ecologically, the undescribed Pine Mountain Clematis is unique in its habitat being subxeric soils with an exposed geology of Hollis-Quartzite. The habitat photograph shown in Fig. 2 is where the only known extant population is found. (Insert 2) A few details stand out, including the dense canopy, deep leaf litter, and sparse herbaceous vegetation.

Within close proximity to this population, though, is longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), which is notable for being resistant to fire and is typically found in more open woodland or savanna. Longleaf pine benefits from fire because it kills competing species that are not fire resistant. Therefore, the presence of longleaf pine within a habitat usually indicates that fire has played a role in maintaining the vegetation of that system to a degree.

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Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups Two aspects of the Pine Mountain Clematis population are notable. First, species in the C. reticulata complex are virtually never found in forests with dense tree canopies, as we see in the Pine Mountain population. Fieldwork across the range of this group has shown that they occupy habitats with canopies that are sparse to non-existent, typically in communities which are maintained by regular fire or flooding events (if habitat is riparian). Secondly, this persistent population is not necessarily as reproductive as we would expect. During early spring, most mature individuals are in flower, but upon return later in the season, there are typically few plants that have produced fruit. Through fieldwork, we have gained an intimate knowledge of Clematis subgenus Viorna and thus can infer that this may not be a natural community, nor was it what the Pine Mountain Clematis historically inhabited. Instead, the present densely forested mountaintop habitat is an artifact of prolonged fire suppression.

In June 2020, we visited Pine Mountain to meet Nathan Klaus, wildlife biologist for Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR). The goal of this trip was to search for additional populations of the undescribed Clematis species, guided by both historical herbarium specimens and presence of suitable habitat. After showing Klaus the population, he began talking about how this habitat reminded him of a fire-suppressed version of a Sprewell Bluff Hog Plum Basic Glade (herein referred to as hog plum glade[s]), a critically imperiled community. Klaus has spent several years restoring this community on the eastern escarpment of the Pine Mountain Ridges with thinning and prescribed fire. He was able to infer dominant tree species and canopy cover with dendrochronological data and comparison of historical land survey documents to recent surveys (Klaus 2019).

We met Klaus at Sprewell Bluffs, Georgia, where he would take us to the hog plum glade complex GADNR has restored. We rode in the back of a four-wheel-drive truck while being transported to a remote area. At the end of a rugged path, we parked and hiked up steep slopes of the Pine Mountain Ridges to access this habitat. As we made our way to the hog plum glades, we walked through old-growth stands of longleaf pine, some 200-300 years old. Upon reaching the glades, we immediately noticed the canopy opened up. Sand post oak (Quercus margarettae), sand hickory (Carya pallida), and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) were scattered sporadically throughout. Herbaceous vegetation was by far the most diverse component of the hog plum glades. Notable species found in grassland habitats can be seen in Figure 3. (Insert 3) While we did not successfully locate another population of Clematis, we got to see a glimpse of what the ridgetops of Pine Mountain would have looked like historically before extensive logging and many decades of fire suppression.

Thanks to the efforts of GADNR, they are now actively restoring hundreds of acres of mountain longleaf pine woodland and savanna habitat. Doing so involves a combination of removing many of the canopy and sub canopy trees from fire-suppressed stands.

After more than a half-century of fire-suppression, undesirable species (e.g. red maple) have crowded the desirable species such as longleaf pine, post oak, blackjack oak, and some hickories. GADNR reintroduced fire after selectively removing trees. The result after several years is the restoration of an open, grassy woodland or savanna that supports a diverse assemblage of native grasses, wildflowers, vines, and shrubs that would otherwise be unable to grow in dense forests.

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 Unfortunately, the single existing population of the Pine Mountain Clematis is located in a state park where park managers are actively discouraging the use of fire to maintain healthy habitats on Pine Mountain. This reflects a general aversion to the use of fire that has been common in the U.S. throughout much of the 20th Century. But in the case of the new Clematis, continued refusal to use fire Figure 3 as a management tool poses a direct threat to the existence of this soon-to-be-described new species. Based on observations at nearby Sprewell Bluff, we predict that if state park managers would adopt a similar management strategy of selective thinning plus burning that it would result in healthier pine woodlands. We expect the new Clematis would likely respond favorably with increased fecundity and vigor. We also anticipate many more species would be benefitted, including native plants, woodland birds, reptiles like the Pine Snake, bats, and pollinators.

Not only do we hope that naming the Pine Mountain Clematis will bring attention to the need for conserving this rare and narrowly endemic species, but we also hope that this leads to more biologists taking a broader notice of the hog plum glade systems of Pine Mountain for further research to better direct conservation efforts. Because the Pine Mountain Clematis is still only known from one extant population, conservation action needed is urgently needed. There could be additional undescribed biodiversity currently not detected by biologists. Instead of maintaining this single population, conservation efforts will need to go beyond conservation of single species and focus on restoring entire habitats and communities. Only then will rare species like this have the opportunity to reproduce in suitable habitat for continued persistence within the Pine Mountain landscape.

Literature Cited Floden, A., 2013. A new leatherflower (Clematis: Ranunculaceae) from the southern Appalachians. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, pp.1-7.

Klaus, N., 2019. Fire History of a Georgia Montane Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) Community. Georgia Journal of Science, 77(2), p.5.List of Figures Figure 1. Photo of Pine Mountain Leatherflower (Clematis sp. nov. ined.) taken in situ atop Pine Mountain, Harris County, Georgia, showing short, erect stature, and the terminal and solitary flower.

Figure 2. Habitat of the only known population of Pine Mountain Leatherflower.

Figure 3. Hog Plum Glades are a globally rare plant community found at the east end the Pine Mountain Ridges. They are small-scale grassland communities found on mountain slopes surrounded by open, fire-maintained woodlands dominated

by Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris).

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Clematis Shenlungchiaensis Ton Hannink

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description of the species: Clematis shenlungchiaensis has been described in Flora Reipublieae Popularis Sinicae 28:355 Addenda and 129 with Chinese text 1980.

This species is very closely related to C. pogonandra. However, unlike C. Pogonandra, it is restricted to a small and isolated area. C. shenlungchiaensis grows on rocky slopes c. 2900 metres above sea level, in W Hubei (Shennongjia Linqu) in China. The flowers are yellow, often flushed with purple-brown or violet-purple.

My experience In August 2018 I obtained 10 seeds of C. shenlungchiaensis, collected from the wild, and I sowed them directly after receiving them, using a specialist cuttings/seeds soil based medium. After two months the first seed germinated and grew very well.

After two further months, three more seeds germinated, and these young plants grew moderately well. This was similar to my experience of propagating C. pogonandra.

In June 2019 the leaves became the right colour, which was darker than C. pogonandra.

The stems grew 2-3 metres high, then at the beginning of September the first buds appeared. I was surprised that this took so short a time. As the buds developed they became yellow though I had expected a more orange colour which I had seen on a Chinese website. However, those pictures had been taken under difficult circumstances.

One month later the first flower opened which was yellow with a purple-brown flush.

The anthers were brownish-red. This unusual species has very beautiful leaves.

I made a few cuttings for safety and I kept one cutting for myself. In March 2020, the first leaves appeared, and I was then sure that my plants were still alive, which was a surprise because at beginning of April I had seen the first little buds on the cutting, but the mother plant was still dormant. The flowers on the cutting opened at the end of April and the seeds ripened in July. In Holland, C. pogonandra usually flowers in the autumn.

Clematis shenlungchiaensis is worth having in your collection but its hardiness is not yet certain because I did not take any risks with this rather unknown species.

More information about this species can be found on the following sites: http://www.cfh.ac.cn/spdb/TaxonNodeTree. aspx?sonid=6148&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1# http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200007727 further information may also be found in the following references: Christophor Grey Wilson, Clematis the Genus, page 147 says similar to C. pogonandra.

Magnus Johnson, The Genus Clematis, page 317 says similar to C. pogonandra.

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4

Comparison Pogonandra

Shenlungchianensis

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Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups

C. ‘Arabella’

Clematis as Border Perennials Richard Hodson

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lematis are known mainly as climbing plants with very colourful displays on walls, through shrubs, or small trees, for most seasons of the year. Becoming increasingly popular are the perennial clematis, which are invaluable for mixed herbaceous borders in the summer months, with long flowering periods and very little maintenance. They provide C. 'Integrifolia' some stunning displays at a time of year when many gardens are looking quite tired and in need of a new injection of colour.

Top of the list is the Integrifolia Group, which consists of many different cultivars, and species, based on Clematis integrifolia which is reputed to have been introduced to Britain from Europe as early as 1573. A superb border plant, only 2 to 3 ft. tall, with deep blue nodding bell-shaped flowers, followed by glorious seed heads. Seeds which germinate readily, and after a few years the resultant plants can be propagated by division. It is a non-clinging form of clematis, so needs a small metal obelisk or a few hazel twigs, to keep it upright. However, some gardeners say that they prefer to see it scrambling around the edge of the lawn. Here, at Hawthorns Nursery, it can be seen scrambling through a small euonymus shrub in one of the borders.

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Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 Also available, and just as garden worthy, are the many other colours of Clematis integrifolia; pink, white, and lots of different blues. Many Integrifolia Group cultivars have larger, flatter flowers, as these have been hybridised over the years with other species and large flowered hybrids. I am sure that many members know, and grow, C. ‘Arabella’, a fantastic Barry Fretwell hybrid.

C. ‘Ryuan', is a recent newcomer here, and is seen seems perfectly happy scrambling through the lower branches of a hybrid musk rose. Integrifolia cultivars have also been crossed with the Viticella Group to provide some of the stars of the seasonal show. C. ‘Alionushka’, C. ‘Blue Rain’, C. ‘Lilac Wine’ all grow very much taller and can reach up to 8 ft. in height.

They are outstanding through larger obelisks in the mixed summer border.

We also use several species clematis in the beds and borders, all of which are summer flowering. They mix in nicely with the phlox paniculata, salvias, delphinium elatum, penstemons etc, to provide more interest and, of course, more clematis seeds.

The Clematis pitcheri shown, was grown from seed, collected wild in Illinois, many years ago and is a favourite of mine. It is grown at the front of a border through a 3ft. metal obelisk, but scrambles to 7 or 8 ft. in all directions, with lots of beautiful pinky cream bells, followed by the most amazing clusters of red seed heads. We also use Clematis kirilovii, a Chinese species, to clothe a couple of the pergola pillars. It is quite compact, but has good, scented, pure white star flowers which are much admired. C. mandshurica is perfect for growing through larger shrub roses, here it is shown in late July, growing through a pimpinellifolia rose, which finished flowering in June. It also has a good scent.

C. ‘Ryuan'

C. ‘Alionushka’

C. ‘Blue Rain’

C. ‘Lilac Wine’

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C. 'Pitcheri'

C. 'Pitcheri'

C. ‘kirilovii’

C. 'Tutti Frutti'

A few of the Viorna Group hybrids have crept into my garden over the years. I am a huge fan of C. ‘Sophie’, (SOPHIE 888) which is another, front-of- the- border, small metal obelisk variety. It starts flowering at the end of May to early June, with beautiful blue bell flowers. It is a real “come and look at me” plant. Then In midJuly the flowers finish, and unfortunately by then the foliage is usually affected by powdery mildew, so there are two options.

Chop the foliage down to the ground to await its recovery and it will soon refurbish and produce more flowers on fresh, late season, foliage. The alternative is to leave the old foliage and allow the seed heads to mature for sowing. Here at The Nursery we pursue a 50/50 policy, chopping half the stems back and leaving the rest to produce seeds. One of the seeds from a previous year produced this new cultivar, which I recently registered as C. ‘Tutti Frutti'.

Finally, for the information of members, I hope to have seeds from Clematis ‘Sophie’ available for the British Clematis Society Seed Exchange this year.

Hawthornes Clematis Nursery, Marsh Road, Hesketh Bank, Nr.Preston, Lancs. PR4 6XT.

C. ‘Mandshurica’

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Clematis ‘Fascination’

Observations on Three Lesser Known Clematis Aidan Armitage

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maller flowered varieties of clematis are often much less showy than their impressive larger cousins, but they can be just as interesting and rewarding to grow. Because there is so little information or photos available about some of these I thought readers might welcome some information on three cultivars I’m particularly fond of; Clematis ‘Fascination’, C. Sonnette and C. Radiance.

Clematis ‘Fascination’ This is a great addition to any garden, large or small. A modern hardy hybrid created by Wim Snoeijer in 1992, it is a hardy upright semi-climber. It has dark glossy violet-purple nodding flowers which are quite striking, and it flowers right through the summer from June until August. The flowers are about 3.5 cms across and have thick fleshy sepals which recurve upwards at the tips and attract a lot of bumblebees and honey bees.

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Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups It is in the herbaceous group, so it is short and compact with stems reaching 1.5m in height which lack tendrils so needs to be tied to a support to enable the flowers to be seen to their best advantage. It could easily be grown in a large pot. I have mine in the garden supported and tied to a small obelisk.

Clematis ‘Fascination’

As for its parentage, it has Clematis ‘Olgae’ (Integrifolia Group) as the seed plant pollinated with Clematis ‘fusca’. The original plant of C. ‘Olgae’ was obtained

by Jan Fopma from the Valley Clematis Nursery in the UK. The Valley Clematis catalogue of 1990 describes C ‘Olgae’ as “Pale blue version with twisted sepals and sweet scent, flowering June to August and with a growing height of 2-3 metres”.

After crossing the plants, Wim was able to raise several seedlings as the seeds germinated in spring 1993. One plant was selected in 1996, named in 1998 and has since been propagated by Jan van Zoest at the Clematis Nursery J. van Zoest B.V. In 2002 C. ‘Fascination’ received recognition with an Award of Merit by the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society and a Silver Medal at Plantarium.

Clematis ‘Fascination’

Some people have said C. ‘Fascination’ is slightly fragrant but I have yet to notice any scent from my plant. As it is very popular with bees, it pollinates easily, and the seed heads are nice and silvery. I have raised two seedlings which have more in common with C. ‘Olgae’ as they have blue nodding flowers with twisted sepals.

Many thanks to Wim Snoeijer for providing me access to his cross-breeding records and allowing me to use them for this article.

Clematis ‘Sonnette’ formerly called ‘Peveril Peach’ Clematis ‘Sonnette’ is a beautiful hardy small flowered cultivar in the viorna group raised by Barry Fretwell in 1983. Barry says he introduced this cultivar to extend the rather limited 106

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4 range (at the time) of the small-flowered varieties (see page 117 of his book “Clematis as Companion Plants”, Cassell 1994).

C. ‘Sonnette’ grows to about 6ft or 1.8m and has very pretty, small nodding peach coloured flowers. The flowers are urn shaped on average about 2.5cm long.

The sepals have white margins and the tips strongly recurve revealing the pink colouring both inside and out. Flowering time is from June until September in optimum conditions, though mine finished flowering in mid-August.

The seed heads are not as large and spectacular as C. viorna, but they have their own special charm with the seeds (acenes) turning a lovely reddish peach colour as they ripen.

Clematis ‘Sonnette’

‘Sonnette’ does have one shortcoming which I should mention which is that if the plant is kept too dry it can be susceptible to mildew. Therefore, it needs a lot of water to help keep this at bay.

Barry Fretwell rarely divulges details of the parentage of his hybrids but if I was asked to make an educated guess I would imagine that as well as C. viorna the parentage might well include C. pitcheri but if not, I’d love to be corrected by Barry!

Footnote: Barry Fretwell gave the name C. ‘Peveril Peach’ to two different cultivars but the earlier 1983 raised one was withdrawn after trials. The later 1990 cultivar was commercially released but the name ‘Peveril Peach’ had been termed unacceptable (ICNCP Art. 17.13) so he agreed that the name ‘Sonnette’ should replace it. I bought my plant as C. ‘Peveril Peach’ which was marketed under that name at the time by Westphal Clematis in Germany but has since been renamed as ‘Sonnette’.

Clematis ‘Sonnette’

Clematis ‘Sonnette’

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Clematis texensis ‘Radiance’

Clematis texensis ‘Radiance’

Clematis texensis ‘Radiance’

Clematis texensis ‘Radiance’

‘Radiance’ is another intriguing hardy hybrid raised by Barry Fretwell which you will not find mentioned in any clematis book. I haven’t found a single entry in any book on C. ‘Radiance’ apart from the International Clematis Register and Checklist 2002 second supplement. I think that’s because it’s not stocked at many nurseries so it’s quite obscure and difficult to get hold of. Even Westphal clematis has discontinued stocking it.

It has semi-nodding trumpet shaped flowers 7.5 cm across which are a pleasing white on the outside. But its beauty lies on the inside of the flower where the white colouring merges into a lovely deep blue-purple shade around the sides and tips of the sepals which have lovely crimped margins. The shading is not unlike C. 'Betty Corning' but darker in colour.

The stamens are blue and white but like a lot of hybrids it doesn’t produce viable seeds.

It is not a small plant and typically puts on growth of 2.5 – 3m producing lots of lush glossy green foliage which perfectly shows off the delicate white flowers which hang around it and are best appreciated when viewed from below.

It is a mid-summer flowerer from July to September and can grow in full sun or in partial shade as mine does. It likes a lot of water but like all clematis in the Texensis group it is susceptible to mildew, and this can take hold towards the end of the flowering season with the later flowers being smaller and fully recurved.

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Margaret, Rosie, Lynsey and John at the 'cutting' session

Passing the Baton To Louise Bryant at Wicor Primary School Val Le May Neville Parry

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n the last twelve years I have tried to pass the Montana Collection on to Charlotte at Wemyss Castle across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh and the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire. Charlotte clearly has a Collection to stun the most avid clematarian but did not want to do the necessary recording – which is understandable.

The Hillier Gardens have quite a few cultivars in situ, but rooting, bringing on to maturity, planting and nurturing proved too big a task with their staffing limitations.

When Rosie Yeomans, the Plant Heritage National Collections Co-ordinator in Hampshire, told me that Louise Bryant, a member of the support staff at Wicor Primary School, Portchester, Hampshire, would like to accept the challenge, I was delighted.

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Emma Joan holding two rooted cuttings of 'Emma Joan' (all 5 cuttings rooted)

Julian preparing his cutting material

© Lynsey Pink

Mary holding rooted cutting of 'Mary Hazel'

Cuttings in their bag

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Rooted cuttings from Lynsey and John

Louise is responsible for developing the school’s gardens and promoting horticulture throughout the primary school curriculum. Rosie and I immediately agreed two dates in June 2020 for up to ten people to come and take cuttings which, when rooted, could be given to Louise and the school. Their garden opens once a year under the National Garden Scheme and has won both local and national awards.

Then Covid-19 hit us.

I had a bad fall – backwards, crashing the back of my head on a massive ceramic pot, at the top of the run of brick steps beneath my lounge bay window. The ambulance arrived. The fall knocked some sense Clematis montana var. rubens 'Veitch' into me. We had cancelled both cuttings sessions but, once recovered, I mailed Rosie to request reinstatement of the second session.

At that time up to six people were allowed to meet up outside, 2 metres apart.

Rosie, Margaret Pallant, secretary for the Hampshire Plant Heritage Group, Lynsey and John Pink, who hold the National Collection of Salvias, agreed to come on the 17th of June to take Montana cuttings to grow for the Wicor School. Louise was working, and Julian Noble came on Sunday 21st to take further cuttings.

Well what could I teach such experienced propagators? Not much. Lynsey, John, Margaret and Rosie are renowned for their expertise and have all the skills, cunning and equipment. Rosie has since been to Wicor to meet up with Julian and Louise and Julian spent a morning showing one of the garden volunteers how to take cuttings.

Rosie took some of her rooted cuttings. Margaret rooted three ‘Victoria Welcome’ and one var. williamsii. I had rooted a few cultivars in my hydropod. One is named ‘Mary Hazel’ for my friend from choir and her late mother, Hazel, who died last year.

It is clear that this plant is a seedling from ‘Veitch’ (see below), as it is exactly the same pure flower colour, but the flowers are twice the size and very numerous. It is currently smothered with wonderful seed heads.

As I write in September, I have already seen a number of rooted cuttings from Lynsey and John.

So, we are getting there. With any luck Louise will be planting the cultivars and varieties of montanas, no longer available commercially, into the Wicor School garden by September 2021. Then I can relax. In addition, there are still several of the best plus the occasional new one available commercially. It has been a privilege to hold the Collection since 2005 but a challenge to pass it on. It is a wonderful group and has brought with it so many new friends. I will continue with my Collection as long as possible but can now enjoy them rather than needing to protect the only one of its kind.

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© Malcolm Ovens

Cultivars, Species and Groups | Section 4

Section 4 | Cultivars, Species and Groups Thank you Rosie, for finding Louise, and you, Lynsey, John, Margaret, and Julian for rooting the cuttings. And good luck to you and your colleagues, Louise.

I cannot wait to see your garden.

September update on rooted cuttings: Julian has one or two cuttings of ‘The Jewell’, ‘Kathleen’, ‘Giant Star’, ‘Madame Wemyss’ and ‘Miss Christine’ (named

by Sheila Chapman for her daughter).

They are now getting more air and on a shaded stage in his greenhouse. I have the following rooted cuttings: 5 'Emma Joan’, 3 ‘Brian Collingwood’ with emerging roots, 1 each of ‘Mary Hazel’, Dianna Jazwinski’ and ‘Giant Star’ and several of both ‘Alan Postill’ and ‘The Jewell’. The challenge for everyone is to get them through the winter.

Alan Postill taking cuttings of 'Veitch'

Montana named the Plant Heritage Threatened Plant of the Year 2020.

I submitted two montana cultivars in this new competition organised by Plant Heritage, ‘Veitch’ and ‘The Jewell’.

The competition aimed to showcase rare and unusual plants. The entries had to be a named, garden-worthy cultivar grown or sold before 2005 in the UK or Ireland that is not currently available commercially or not consistently available through commercial sources. I was delighted to know that ‘Veitch’ won the judges vote.

There was also a public vote, as in all the RHS shows, and I look forward to hearing which plant won that. This is what I wrote about the winner, ‘Veitch’.

Clematis montana var. rubens 'Veitch': Clematis ‘Veitch' is a stunning plant, with deep pink, wide open flowers (6.5cm across). Despite C. montana’s reputation for size, this is very compact, can even be grown in a large container and always performs well for its owner. The seed was collected in the wild in China by E.H.Wilson, and grown in John and Sarah Phillips’ garden in Devizes, Wiltshire. Cuttings were taken by Wim Snoeijer shortly before John and Sarah died. I gather from Karen, their daughter, that a builder bought the house and demolished all the climbers when extending the property. Wim donated a rooted plant to the Collection in 2006. Well done Wim for saving this beautiful plant.

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Priorswood Clematis

Specialist growers of Clematis and Climbers based in Hertfordshire Year round mail order service for year round plants sales@priorswoodclematis.co.uk Tel. 01920 461543

Other climbers include Honeysuckles, Wisteria, Jasmine and Passiflora. web site: www.priorswoodclematis.co.uk

Find us at Priorswood, Widbury Hill, Ware, Herts. SG12 7QH

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Propagation and Breeding

Propagation and Breeding | Section 5

The Hollies

The Jackmans of Woking Everett Leeds

William Jackman (1763-1840)

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he Jackman Nursery was founded by William Jackman in 1810 on a 50-acre site at St Johns, Woking, Surrey, and it was later inherited by two of his sons, George and Henry in 1830, ten years before William died. This partnership did not prosper, for within two years it was dissolved, and Henry went on his way. It is interesting to note the other two sons of the founder, James and William, were also involved in the nursery trade in the vicinity of Woking. When James died in 1865, there were 18 men and 5 boys in his employment. William married Ruth Waterer of the well- known nursery family and his Nursery was at Hook Hill, Woking.

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George Jackman I (1801-1869) George was the outstanding nurseryman among his brothers and he lent his name to the nursery which is now familiar to all. The 1851 census shows him as a widower, with his niece Mary Chitty as his house keeper. He held 90 acres and employed 35 men and 6 boys. After his death, he was buried in St John’s churchyard, Woking, where he was chapel warden for twenty-five years. The Gardeners Chronicle wrote he was ‘beloved and esteemed for his kind hearted genial Christian character by his friends and workmen’.

George Jackman II (1837-1887) George Jackman ll (to distinguish him from his father), son of George Jackman I, was born on the March 13th 1837, four months before the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was introduced in England. At that time, as in the past, it was common practice to name the eldest son after his father. He married Mary Ann Lee in 1865 and they had eight children, two of whom, Arthur and Percy, later ran the business.

George junior was prosperous and always had an eye for business. The nursery did not only specialise in clematis, but also trees, roses and shrubs. He grew George Jackman ll ornamentals such as peaches which were profitable. Perpetual and old roses were cultivated and later, when hybrid Tea and China roses were introduced, these formed a large part of his trade. The Nursery grew so many that they were able to sell rose petals to the nearby Essential Oils Distillery at Byfleet at 2.5 pence per pound (pre-decimal). It may not sound very much but they had the capability to sell 2,240 pounds (1,010 Kilos) a year. At the nearby Woking railway station there was a flower stall which the nursery kept supplied with flowers for sale to commuters and other passengers.

Although the main line railway station to London and the south/south-west ran adjacent to the nursery, the nearest stations were a little way away and therefore not convenient for his business purposes. Consequently, George ll tried to persuade the railway company to build another station next to his nursery, enlisting the help of prominent local people for support, one of whom was the Earl of Onslow, who agreed to provide the land. However, all was to no avail as it was deemed to be an uneconomic proposition by the railway company.

One tends to think of special composts and blends of fertiliser for specialist plants as a modern invention, but the nursery, in conjunction with John Newton & Co. 116

Propagation and Breeding | Section 5 of Rotherhithe, South-East London, developed a special clematis compost, which, after trials by the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester, was advertised for sale in the nursery catalogue. Unfortunately, the college has no records extant of these trials, but a Jackman catalogue of 1938/9 gives the analysis as: Insoluble Phosphates 5.49%, Soluble Phosphates 4.58%, Ammonia 5.33% and Potash 7.50%.

Brick making was also part of his business in the 1870s to late 1880s. In the 1871 Census he describes himself as Nurseryman and Farmer (employing 50 men and boys) and in the 1881 Census he is recorded as Nurseryman, Brick Maker, and Farmer (employing 55 men and 5 boys). The brick works was situated on his land at Goldsworth nearby to his nursery and the products were used by local builders for Horsall Church, a school and several Knaphill public houses.

George Jackman ll owned houses on and away from his own land and most were occupied by his employees, both nursery and domestic. The family lived in a large Victorian house called ‘The Hollies’. (Now called Deerstead House) During his tenure horses were bred on the nursery and kept to pull the carts needed to transport the trees, shrubs and other plants around the nursery. Prior to the introduction of horses, everything was moved manually by hand and barrow. It became fashionable during Victorian times to have ‘instant gardens’ by planting mature trees. Large trees would also be moved from one part of a garden to another at the whim of the owner and Jackman provided such a service with specially designed horse drawn carts. He also grew-on large trees and mature conifers for screens and this became yet another lucrative part of his business.

I have not seen a copy of the last will and testament of George II but it appears that the nursery land at St Johns was sold for house building either just before or after his death on May 29th 1887, following a cold which developed into congestion of the lungs (pneumonia). Building land always fetches a good price and the deal might well have been motivated by his acumen for business. By 1860 the St Johns Nursery had in excess of 300 acres of growing plants. When the nursery moved site to Mayford and Smart’s Heath Road it was about 130 acres, plus the leased fields at Hook Hill. These fields remained in the Jackman Family until 1904 when the lease ran out.

Initial hybridisation of clematis Mr Henderson of Pineapple Nursery, St John’s Wood, London, is credited with the first successful attempt at clematis hybridising when he raised Clematis hendersonii in 1835 (now better known as Clematis x eriostemon – see The Clematis 1994, p.32). There is no certainty, but the parents were supposed to be C. viticella and C. integrifolia. Whether it was a deliberately designed cross or just a happy accident is not very clear. Robert Fortune introduced Clematis lanuginosa from China in 1851 (according to A G Jackman (2)) or 1850 (according to Christopher Lloyd (3)), which became the centrepiece in all hybridising projects during the Victorian era.

It was not long before the Jackman nursery joined in. In July 1858, George II then aged 21, and his father aged 57, set about a programme of hybridising clematis. C. lanuginosa was crossed with C. hendersonii and C. viticella atrorubens (nursery code numbers 17+10+12).

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Section 5 | Propagation and Breeding Four months later, the resulting seed from the above cross were sown. Jackman’s original notes state, ‘Seedlings about 300-results of hybrids are very robust growers, abundant in flower of rich deep purple and maroon.’ From this group was chosen C. Jackmanii, and it was given the nursery code of number Seedling No:1. It was an immediate success and was awarded First Class certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society Floral Committee on August 4th 1863. The certificate was signed by Joshua Dix, Chairman and Thomas Moore, Secretary. This was the same Thomas Moore who co-authored with Jackman the first book devoted to clematis-The Clematis as a Garden Flower.

In all future hybridisation programmes undertaken by the nursery C. Jackmanii was given the code number 30. There is an interesting note in Rowland Jackman’s own handwriting (August 30th 1873), explaining the practice of using code numbers on the nursery. ‘It is a common practice in nurseries to save labour to give each variety of plant in a family a number instead of writing its full name on the label.’ Thus, in the hybridising notes made

by George Jackman in 1858, C. lanuginosa is designated No: 17, C. hendersonii, No: 10 and C. atrorubens, No: 12.

In the entry for July and August 1862, C. lanuginosa, No: 17, appears once again and this time crossed with seedling No: 1 and C. viticella venosa. Seeding No: 1 was no doubt the best of the 300 seedlings produced from the ‘crossing’ made in 1858. As it happens No: 30 is shown within brackets and to this day C. Jackmanii goes under this number at Jackman’s nursery, Woking. (4) The resulting seed from the above-mentioned crossing was gathered in November 1862 and then sown the following month. Seven seedlings resulted, with robust growth and good large lavender flowers, which George Jackman described as ‘fine’.

In December 1864, about 200 of seedling No: 1 were sown and George Jackman commented ‘poor degenerate lot, many seedlings like the original viticella atrorubensfrom information I have received I am led to believe they were nearly all atrorubens not hybridised.’ The notebook, written in George Jackman’s hand (price 3/- that is 15 new pence), was started in January 1868. Therefore, all these notes on hybridising must have been transcribed from other documents or recalled from memory. The writing is all in one hand and there are entries dated after 1869, the year his father died, so it can be assumed that George II wrote it.

The notebook shows results of seedlings up to 1866 and a general note is included under those selected ‘No:72 named C. ‘Countess of Lovelace’. Others were ‘No:65-C. ‘Baroness Burdett Coutts’, No:66- C. ‘W E Essington’, No: 67 C. ‘Lady Stratford de Redcliffe’, No: 68 C. ‘Lord Polworth’, No: 69 C. ‘George Cubitt’, No: 70 C. ‘Marquis of Salisbury’, No; 71 C. ‘Verdent Greece’. (Note: the writing was difficult to decipher and therefore the last name may not be accurate.) No: 73 C. ‘Princess Louise’, Nos: 74-78 were unnamed.

The last entry is dated June 6th 1873 and reads as follows:35 by 49 and 40 + 20/36 & 49 – 60 seeds: 32 by 33 + 20 – 500 seeds: 32 by 33 + 49, 35 by 32 + 49, 35 by 33. Unfortunately, I have not seen an index of the code numbers and apart from those given with their correct names what exactly they represent is open to conjecture.

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Propagation and Breeding | Section 5 George Jackman’s notes also contain some interesting observations on an article in The Gardeners’ Chronicle (21.12.1867, p. 1296) giving details of a paper read by Isaac Anderson-Henry of C. Henryi fame, who wrote ‘…having last year got the new and beautiful C. Jackmanii to flower and anxious to preserve its pollen as long as possible, I collected and stored it and its anthers in a simple pill box on 4/7/1866…and put it into a drawer of a cabinet in my own sitting room where it remained wholly away from the damp. On 5/6/1867, having carefully emasculated a flower of C. candida, I crossed it with then eleven months old and from this cross I have this Autumn gathered and sowed right well-developed seeds.’ George Jackman observed …’I cannot speak of the vitality of clematis pollen, having had plenty to hand-in looking through my memo book I have read of a similar cross as the above this season using seedling variety out of the same batch as C. Jackmanii and have sown several fine plump seeds, the results I presume will be similar.’

When looking at the list of worthies after whom clematis were named, it is obvious this was a good way of broadcasting one’s reputation. Needless to say, that all these influential people patronised the Jackman Nursery (or their gardeners did). Remember, these were the days of large estates which employed many people. Trees, shrubs, and other plants were ordered by the dozen and it was good business to keep in touch with them. What better way to encourage and flatter them than to name a new cultivar after a member of their family!

The First Clematis Book In 1872, George Jackman collaborated with Thomas Moore and published the first ever book entitled The Clematis as a Garden Flower, devoted entirely to the genus. It measured 21 cm x 13.5 cm and contained 160 pages between substantial covers.

There is no information on its retail price in my records.

A cheaper version was published in 1877, costing 2s 6d (12.5 new pence) post free. There were two colour plates, the first, placed just inside the front cover, illustrating C. rubella and C. marmorata and the second plate showed ‘Mrs James Bateman’ and C. viticella rubra grandiflora.

Photos of the first and second plates are shown on page 120.

Both plates were by J L Macfarlane and the remaining 15 black and white illustrations were from differing sources. In George Jackman’s notebook there is a reference to ….`cost of engraving 4 plates £10-1-0 etc’. It is not clear though to what engravings it referred. The book was dedicated to Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck, the mother-in-law 119

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Clematis viticella rubra grandiflora

1. rubella 2. marmorata

of King George V, in the following typical Victorian style. ‘This volume, treating on one of Her favourite flowers, is, by permission, respectfully dedicated, as a slight acknowledgement of the considerable support which Her Royal Highness has constantly given to whatever might tend to the improvement of public taste in horticulture.’

The book was published on commission through Messrs John Murray of 50 Albemarle Street, London, W1, whose involvement extended purely to distribution and accounting.

The 1972 edition went to 400 copies and these were presumably sold out. The cheaper second edition was not handled by Murray Publishers. In a letter dated January 9th 1872 from Moore to Messrs Murray, he puts forward the idea ‘in conjunction with my friend, Mr Jackman, I am preparing a little book on clematis, now becoming a popular plant…. we had thought of selling it at 7/6d. I shall be glad of a line to say you can countenance such a work & also chiefly for the information of Mr Jackman on what terms you would publish…’ These books are a very scarce commodity today, but they do occasionally surface on the market. My wife Carol and I were fortunate in stumbling over a second edition copy at a specialist book stall at the Malvern Spring Flower show.

It is interesting to see George Jackman’s name appears first in the advertisement for the book in the 1875 Jackman Nursery catalogue, whereas on the front cover and elsewhere on the book itself, Thomas Moore is given first billing. Moore had already written some horticultural books on Ferns and it was a combination of his writing talent and George Jackman’s practical application which produced such an interesting and unique volume.

Before charting the rest of the history, it is worthwhile to raise the question ‘who was the prime mover in hybridising clematis, father or son.?’ If one believes in the 120

Propagation and Breeding | Section 5 Victorian stereotype, it would be the father assisted by his dutiful son. George Jackman I died in 1869 before the publication of The Clematis as a Garden Flower. To publish a book on the genus at one’s own cost, albeit in conjunction with a leading and respected horticulturist, implies a depth of understanding and love of the subject which must have gripped the young Jackman II at an early age. I expect we shall never know who the prime mover was, but, fortunately for us and the genus, the next generation of Jackmans kept the interest well and truly alive.

Acknowledgements Grateful thanks to the publishers and/or authors for permission to use much of the material from two interesting and readable books, Jackmans of Woking (Pamela Gauntlett,1995) and Nurserymen to the World (Eleanor Joan Wilson,1989).

Also, my thanks to the Surrey Record Office (Guildford Muniment Rooms) for permission to reproduce items from their Jackman archives, the RHS for use of their library and Virginia Murray of John Murray (Publishers) Ltd for details of their involvement with Thomas Moore and the book, The Clematis as a Garden Flower.

References: (1) The Gardeners Chronicle 1869, p.197 (2) JACKMAN A.G. (1900) Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society Vol XXIV, p.315 (3) LLOYD C. (1977) Clematis, First Edition, Collins, London (4) Surrey Record Office 1216/3/1 (5) Surrey Record Office 1216/3/1 (6) THE CLEMATIS As A Garden Flower, Thomas Moore and George Jackman 1872 edition Editor's Note ‘The Jackmans of Woking’ first appeared in the 1997 edition of The Journal of the British Clematis Society. It is part of a series which we shall be retreiving from the archives for those of you who have joined in the last few years and have therefore not had the opportunity to enjoy some of the older, more significant, articles.

If you have enjoyed this first article about the Jackman dynasty, you can look forward to part two which will be published in next year’s journal: Plus, Wim Snoeijer’s research into whether the Jackmanii we grow in our gardens today is a direct descendant of the original. On page 148 of this Journal you will find a drawing of Clematis Jackmanii (Plate XIV) from ‘The Clematis as a Garden Flower’ by Thomas Moore and George Jackman, first published in 1872.

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How to Minimize the Occurrence of Clematis Stem Wilt Peer Sorensen

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f you are serious about minimizing the risk of stem wilt, then follow these recommendations:

ʀ Young clematis need strong and thick lower stems to support a good plumbing system

as the plant grows. If upper stems are thicker than the lower ones they will not receive the water or nutrients that they require for healthy growth. Therefore, when buying a two or three-year old plant make sure that the bottom stems are well developed.

ʀ When pruning, ensure that all prunings are disposed of to reduce the risk of importing

wilt into the garden.

ʀ If you buy a younger clematis, or grow your own, regardless of what variety it is,

prune hard when it is one year old leaving no more than two nodes on each stem.

This is to encourage strong lower growth and short lengths of stem between nodes which will thicken up more readily than longer ones. Long thin stems are not able to thicken sufficiently.

ʀ No clematis has ever died from hard pruning providing that it has not been pruned

below the first (lowest) set of nodes. The aim is to later plant it with at least two nodes in the ground.

ʀ Clematis need plenty of water otherwise young plants will collapse and die and older

ones will go dormant until sufficient moisture is available to them.

Peer and Merry Sorensen run Yaku Nursery, North Island, New Zealand which they opened in 1989.

Peer and Merry Sorensen run Yaku Nursery, North Island, New Zealand which they opened in 1989.

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Propagation and Breeding | Section 5

From One Hemisphere to Another Peer Sorensen

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f human traits could be ascribed to botanical specimens, immature clematis plants could be ‘young and foolish’ as compared with the mature plants, which would be the ‘old and wise’.

There is a considerable difference between young and mature plants. Young plants of less than a year’s maturity are not fully developed, and do not yet have inherited memory.

When short of moisture, they seek to keep the upper structure turgid at the expense of the supporting lower structure. Naturally, the plant gradually dies.

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Section 5 | Propagation and Breeding However, plants of greater maturity having established vascular systems, have a different reaction. Any neglect usually results in disposal of soft growth, and a subsidence into dormancy, awaiting appropriate growth conditions.

When plants are transferred to a different hemisphere this needs to be taken into consideration. If the plant is already in its adult stage, it is important that cuttings are taken as soon as possible. My suggestion is to grow multiple generations of cuttings from the juvenile growth. Doing that will enable the plant to adapt to its new environment.

Just trying to grow the adult plants as they are is likely to result in a lack of development and a probable early demise. The poor growth will inevitably also make them susceptible to bugs and diseases.

This consideration may not apply to all clematis cultivars, but has certainly applied to most that I have had. My own clematis propagating has been low for some years and specific to certain cultivars. I did generate several Evison cultivars after regrowth.

The parent plants had been delivered direct from Guernsey to a nursery with quarantine facilities in Auckland. As the cultivars were new to New Zealand, my first inclination was to observe their performance as a batch.

However, because of its notable instability, C. ‘Josephine’ had to be put into propagation straight away. As only three plants of C. ‘Guiding Promise’ came into the country and were similarly showing signs of instability, they were also propagated. C. ‘Diana’s Delight’ stood out as a promising prospect. Other cultivars like C. ‘Kingfisher’, C. ‘Franziska Maria’, C. ‘Rebecca’ and some others were much weaker than expected, so where just potted on for observation.

The observation period was necessarily prolonged, and some cultivars were lost. I was prompted to begin propagating from those with poor growth, in the hope of keeping them alive. These plants had first come into the country some ten years ago, and it is only now, in the last couple of years, that some reasonably mature plants have developed.

They have improved a great deal in the last twelve months, to the extent that cuttings can now be taken from strong and acclimatized specimens.

Another consideration is to establish a regular and strong feeding regime for plants from a different hemisphere. I do recall that when C. ‘Multi Blue’ first came into the country, some self-appointed authority from a local horticultural society claimed that this cultivar had been developed as an annual, [or with a suicide gene], to make more sales. I took her to view our four-year-old stock plants to illustrate the error of her judgement. C. ‘Multi Blue’ had certainly needed a heavy feeding regime to get established. Now, after a couple of years of being planted out, it has established its own natural food supply.

The moral of this article is: If importing plants from another hemisphere establish their presence by propagating them. Do not wait for them to weaken and waste away.

Vernalisation* may also be helpful, as an initial, additional measure, to assist the acclimatization process. *Editors note: Vernalisation is the process of exposing a plant to a cold winter or the creation of an artificial equivalent.

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C. ‘Nubia’ with wilt

Do we need Healthier Clematis?

Ton Hannink

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hen you look on Facebook and other forums about large flowered hybrid clematis and ordinary gardeners’ experiences of them you become unhappy.

What is wrong with the clematis in the garden?

I give a lot of lectures in The Netherlands and mostly the rooms are completely full.

Many of the attendees believe that large flowered hybrids are too difficult to grow and that they want no more of them in their gardens. Yet, if they see them flowering successfully at garden shows, they buy again.

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Section 5 | Propagation and Breeding You see pictures of plants bought only two weeks previously that appear to be dying or after three months in your garden they have clematis wilt and collapse.

If you look to the plant nurseries and the specialist growers for answers you will be told that it is not wilt and that you have not watered the plant enough or have given it too much water; planted it in the wrong place; not protected the roots; not planted at the right depth in the soil or even that you must treat the plant with chemicals, and so on.

Over the years I have obtained many small wild bare rooted plants from China, even some very rare and difficult species. I have potted the plants on and never lost one.

However, when I buy 10 plants from a nursery, after two years I have only one or two still alive. What do I do wrong?

C. ‘Nubia’ regrowing

In the past, wild seeds from Clematis patens have been collected from Japan from healthy populations, but they have not usually been used in hybridizing programmes. [See article from Mariko Nakanishi, Conserving Clematis patens, The Clematis, 2017, 93 – 99.]

I have several populations of them and they are wonderful for hybridizing and sometimes produce extra ordinary results.

What are my own experiences during all the years that I make hybrids? ʀ When I start with hybridizing I place the new clematis in my greenhouse under the

same conditions as my crossings and mother plants. During summer the temperatures sometime reach 40-50 degrees Celsius (104 – 122 F). If a plant is not healthy it collapses or dies. All the new red large flowered hybrids had these problems but not ‘Westerplatte’ or ‘Niobe’. It is not just the reds that have these issues, but when I see other plants like this, I destroy them.

ʀ Another issue is that when you buy a large flowered hybrid the pot will be full of

roots and the compost will contain a high level of fertilizer to produce lots of flowers.

If I want to start next year with hybridizing, then it is not worth using such a plant because it will produce only a few flowers.

ʀ Plants sold as dwarf or compact clematis become larger in the second or third year

as they reach their normal height.

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What do I do with my hybridizing programme? ʀ I use the wild Clematis lanuginosa from China. This rare clematis has been written

about by Paul Margot in the International Clematis Society Journal 2009 (pages 4151). He said that the plant disappeared in Europe in about 1950 and re appeared for the first time in private hands in 2009.

ʀ During our International Clematis Society meeting in 2008, in Japan, I saw a picture

of the wild Clematis lanuginosa collected in China by a Japanese scientist. I was very surprised but, next year, managed to obtain a few of these plants. I have now used this species in a lot of crosses and produced healthy, large flowered hybrids, with no problems and no wilt. The problem is that most of these healthy hybrids are not chosen by breeders because they are too “ordinary” for production.

ʀ Clematis patens var. ‘tientaiensis’ had never been seen before in Europe and I was very

surprised about the long anthers, almost the same as Clematis courtoisii, and the colour and form of the pollen is special. This species can produce flowers up to 22 cms in size and is very interesting for hybridizing. Crosses with C. lanuginosa and healthy known large flowered hybrids have been carried out and give good results.

ʀ Clematis cadmia is very useful in hybridizing with large flowered hybrids and produces

very healthy and scented hybrids. Clematis cadmia is a very strong species.

ʀ Clematis courtoisii crosses with healthy large flowered hybrids giving good results and

often producing large flowers.

ʀ Clematis hancockiana crosses with large flowered hybrids giving mostly a special dark

red colour to the sepals which are mostly twisted.

What to do with new bought large flowered hybrids to get good results ʀ Immediately after buying, prune back each stem on the second/third node so that

the plant can put its energy into developing strong roots.

ʀ Now put them in about 10 litres of water for about 30 minutes so that the roots are

completely wet.

ʀ Make a hole for the plant and use a good mix of soil for the clematis. Plant it about

50cms deep.

ʀ Place the plant in the hole and make the soil completely wet so that the roots cannot

dry out.

ʀ Fertilize every week with low nitrogen so that the roots and buds can develop.

Use 10:30:20(N:P:K). The plant does not grow too fast but is very healthy with strong roots.

ʀ Do not let the plant become dry because this is stressful for a clematis and during

spring and summer a clematis needs a lot of water and fertilizer.

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How to grow strong large flowered hybrids without problems ʀ Look on the beginners’ list of the

International Clematis Society so that you know which are strong and healthy clematis; www.clematisinternational. com/cblindex.html

ʀ Most large flowered hybrids from the

Eastern European Countries are very healthy because there the climate is more extreme and, to survive, the cultivar/ hybrid must be strong.

ʀ Most of the older large flowered hybrids

have better resistance to wilt, except the old ‘Mevrouw Le Coultre’ (Madame Le Coultre in England) from 1890, which is extremely sensitive to wilt.

C. ‘Willem’

This is an own crossing of the wild lanuginosa which is growing in my son’s garden and sometimes does not receive enough water and has not got any fertilizer. This plant is at least 10 years old and is an example that healthy plants do not need the maximum care to stay without wilt.

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Clematis and Me in 2020 Mariko Nakanishi

Introduction

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t was a very sad day for me in July 2017 when Mr. Hiroshi Takeuchi passed away. The disappearance of his existence, like a living clematis dictionary of Japan, was very sad and a loss to the Japanese clematis world.

I first met Mr. Takeuchi in 1999 and as I begun to get hooked on clematis.

I learned a lot from him and he gave me many of the clematis he had bred. He also taught me how to breed clematis saying "Mariko, if you have a clematis you want, make it yourself, not buy it." It was a truly thankful day.

Because I live in Gifu Prefecture, I took 3 people to the wild habitat (Clematis patens of ‘Seki’ in Gifu Province, Japan) where this photo was taken. That’s me on the left next to Hiroshi Takeuchi, with Ruth and Jon Gooch from the UK. .

In his later years, Mr. Takeuchi and I talked everyday like parents and children. Most of the time we talked about clematis, but he also taught me to look at clematis breeding techniques from overseas. This year, an unregistered clematis of his has bloomed.

It is a very cute clematis.

Unregistered clematis which bloomed this year

Breeding Clematis in Japan Few people are breeding clematis today and the commercial clematis nurseries place more emphasis on selling rather than growing. There are many amateur breeders, some of whom are members of the Japan Clematis Society. These are the people I know well.

The late Mr Takeuchi and late Mr Udagawa, Mr Hoshino, Mr Hirota, Mr Iino, and Mr Iijima. I am also a member of this Society.

There are other amateurs who don’t cross polinate clematis but enjoy sowing the selfpollination of the native species, so it is possible that future breeders will be born from this.

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My Clematis A certain amount of land is necessary for full-scale breeding, but the late Takeuchi used to say, "If you have space about the size of a living room, you can breed." However, when I started breeding clematis I realized that lots of space is required and my garden is always like a clematis forest just like Takeuchi's garden was.

Mr. Hirota's field was also flooded with clematis.

My Garden

My New Clematis this Year.

I am having a lot of fun in creating new clematis and here are some of the ones from this year. In 2016, many clematis flowers in the cross bloomed. clematis additional test that I wonder about the native species.

The parent of Clematis 'Sunnyside' is said to be Clematis Florida var sieboldiana x Clematis 'Rubra', but if Rubra is the original seed, the same Clematis will bloom regardless of who sows. The bloomed clematis was a little different, I cannot say because I could only make one strain, but it was a big purple dark clematis that is not like Clematis 'Sunny Side'

Descendants of Clematis Patens Mr. Takeuchi told me that a double patens cross would only bloom with a brownish stamen. but when it bloomed it had a yellow stamen. Also, a very similar cultivar to the existing clematis also bloomed, which was an interesting result.

Every day seeing the new clematis was great fun.

Many new clematis have bloomed, but it's a shame that there is not enough space in the Journal to show them all.

Descendants of Sieboldiana These clematis also bloomed from the 2016 crossing. All of them have sieboldiana somewhere in their parents.

Clematis florida sieboldiana x Clematis ‘Haru no Kasumi’ 2016 Cross IIt seems that big flowers come out when crossing with clematis of the patens group. These are over 20 cm in diameter. Some were even 27 cm in diameter and each with a very beautiful and gentle atmosphere.

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Propagation and Breeding | Section 5 There were some common interesting features. A flower blooms at the tip of the vine, and two vines grow from the side where the flower blooms. A second flower blooms at the tip of the other vine.

15 flowers have bloomed from the first vine, if nutrition is good, it will continue to bloom. One vine becomes two vines, then grows to four vines, and its vine grows to eight vines. It was very strange.

In the case of the florida Crossing, flowers bloom on the tips of the vines, then blooms on the nodes under the vines, and when the flowers reach the top, it ends.

In addition, there are endless inflorescences (positions where flowers form) such as with sieboldiana. sieboldiana I've never seen a clematis like this before and I wonder if you have seen a clematis like this. This discovery was very exciting.

This is a photo of Clematis florida sieboldiana x Clematis “Haru no Kasumi”.

An interesting feature is that two vines grow from the side of the flowered node, and flowers bloom on it. Two vines grow from the node next to the flowered flower, and flowers bloom, with two more on the side when the flower blooms. The fourth flower is currently blooming this way.

How interesting and fun it is to make a new Clematis bloom. See you next time in the 2021 Journal.

Editor's Note This article has been translated from Japanese and, whilst great care has been taken to faithfully present what Mariko has written, I hope that it is true to the spirit, enthusiasm and considerable knowledge that Mariko brings to her writing.

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Lavender Twirl

The History of viticella ‘Lavender Twirl’ Jack Gittoes

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acquired a batch of viticella seed from Mike Brown in 2003. Four germinated, but by the Spring of 2006 only two had survived. The first (numbered SJ4001) was a simple viticella bell shape of classic blue. The second one (SJ4002) was even more interesting, and I named it “Lavender Twirl”. It opened its first flower on July 4th, 2006, USA Independence Day. It was a beautiful flower, and I took Lavender Twirl it to a BCS Meeting where Mike Brown was running the show. It was in a barn on a farm. I can’t remember the name of the Hostess, but she said, “If it was perfumed, the world would beat a path to your door”.

After writing a short article about Lavender Twirl for the 2006 Journal, Richard Hodson of Hawthornes Nursery in Lancashire contacted me, and I agreed to send him a slice of the plant. The mature plant was, by then, 6 years old. I lifted it with a large garden fork and sliced it in half with a sharp spade, my best stainless-steel garden tool. I think Richard was both amazed and pleased to receive such a generous portion.

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Propagation and Breeding | Section 5 My strategy was, and still is, that to keep a plant in permanent cultivation, you must give it away. I also gave a plant to Val Le May Neville-Parry, who then shared it with others. I think it has now reached the USA through the International Clematis Society, at least I hope it has.

Richard Hodson gave me several of his viticella hybrids in thanks for Lavender Twirl.

Lavender Twirl

Clematis ‘Advent Bells’ napaulensis x cirrhosa var purpurascens 'Freckles' Jack Gittoes

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n the spring of 2004 Cirrhosa I obtained a sturdy new plant of Roy Nunn’s new Cirrhosa Group Hybrid C. “Advent Bells”

Planted in an open position, it flourished and covered a fence line, but after several years it failed to flower. Knowing its origins, I of course went directly to the creator. Roy quickly made his diagnosis, “too much food, you need to starve it, then it will flower”.

Well, as you can see, in 4 years the bonanza began, I will look forward, to many flowers next year.

If you consider my photography to be somewhat lacking, please go to the International Clematis Society website, and see “Clematis of the Month December 2004”, to enjoy Roy’s own display and description of this semi-evergreen cultivar.

Editor's Note This item was first published in a BCS Newsletter when Jack was the Editor.

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J.C.N. Forestier: Bagatelle in 1910 (in red, drawing from XVIII century)

Les clématites à Bagatelle Erik Benoit, Head Gardener – Le parc de Bagatelle

T

he 19th century can rightly be considered a very exciting and rewarding period in the history of hybridization. It saw the development of many horticultural plants.

Roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, and many more were the subject of special attention.

This was due to their commercial success, which prompted horticulturalists to seek a very high varietal diversity by obtaining and introducing into cultivation varieties with new distinctive characteristics. Enlightened amateur gardeners, generalist and specialist nurserymen thus proceeded to choose the plants presenting the most sought-after or the most original characteristics; gather vast collections; look abroad for unknown species and varieties; observe; describe and classify an ever-increasing number of plants.

Clematis were no exception, especially after the introduction of the Asian species Clematis patens and Clematis lanuginosa. In full development at the end of the 19th century, clematis were the subject of several publications. In France there was : Alphonse Lavallée, Les clématites à grandes fleurs 1884, Docteur Le Bèle, Les clématites 1896, Boucher & Mottet, les clématites et autres plantes grimpantes 1898.

At the end of the 19th century, France was not as passionate about horticulture as the United Kingdom, and in 1884, Alphonse Lavallée, in his book, recommended the creation of a place for the conservation of the many horticultural varieties. It was Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier, then curator of the parks and walks of Paris, who rebelled against the project developed by Sir Murray Scott to make it an allotment and, in 1904, he succeeded in convincing the city of Paris, that the estate should be purchased to make it a living museum of the landscaping art.

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Propagation and Breeding | Section 5 To increase the level of interest in the project, M Forestier brought together collections of the most beautiful outdoor ornamental plants (trees, shrubs, perennial, and annual flowering plants). By harmoniously grouping the new varieties received from the propagators and by careful labelling, he gave plant lovers a horticultural experience that did not exist in other walks in Paris. It thus allowed them to discover the most interesting plants on which to concentrate. This was of considerable assistance to a population which was not used to choosing from such a remarkable variety of plants. Although choice was made even more difficult by the abundance of varieties, this factor served the cause of horticultural progress.

The purchase of Bagatelle Park by the City of Paris made it possible to create a place where the most emblematic plants of this period could be displayed. This development led to M Forestier being able to present clematis in the park's collections. For many years, the city of Paris had developed horticultural collections. This was in agreement with the National Museum of Natural History, which, for its part, worked only on botanical species.

Not so far from Bagatelle, indoor collections of tropical plants can be seen in the “Serres d’Auteuil”. Here, amateurs can see plants like orchids, palms, tropical ferns, begonia, and many others.

The former vegetable garden was transformed into a presentation garden and "conceded" to nurserymen and seed merchants to plant their horticultural exhibits. Hence the name of "Jardin des Présentateurs” (exhibitor garden). In the garden, the old fruit wall was planted with climbing roses – each rose associated with a species or a variety of clematis.

Unfortunately, there are no records of The vegetable garden (1900) the first plantation listing. On the other hand, the inventory of the park collections of 1932 lists many climbing plants, including 65 clematis.

In the exhibitors' garden, numerous large-flowered clematis, which were very fashionable at the beginning of the 20th century, were planted along the old fruit wall, in association with climbing roses. In the centre a series of arches was planted alternately with Wisteria and Clematis montana.

This collection aimed to highlight the work of French, British and other foreign breeders.

The many hybrids and varieties grown by horticulturalists were tested there and we were able to discover the work of the breeders. The following are examples:

French Breeders Auguste Boisselot, (Nantes): Clematis 'Marie Boisselot'(1885) associated with Rosa x Gloire de Dijon’. The variety is called 'Madame Le Coultre' in the United Kingdom.

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Section 5 | Propagation and Breeding Bonamy brothers from Toulouse: Clematis x diversifolia, Intermedia Rosea' and C. viticella 'Cærulea' associated with Rosa x Sunburst Clg. Theophile Grangé (Orléans): Clematis x ‘Mme Gangé’ associated with Rosa x ‘Reine Marie Henriette’.

M Briolay-Goiffon (Orleans): Clematis with large flower 'Aureliana' (1860), obtained in 1860, from the crossing of Jardin des Présentateurs C. patens and C. lanuginosa and put on the market around 1865 at the same time as the magnificent C. Jackmani.

M Auguste Baron-Veillard (Orleans): Clematis ‘Madame Edouard André' (1893) associated with Rosa xpernetiana ‘Soleil d’Orient’.

Louis Christen (Versailles): Clematis viticella 'Madame Furtado-Heine' (1889) and large flowers cultivars C. patens 'Etoile de Paris' (1885), 'City of paris' (1885), ‘Mme Bosselli’ (1885).

Francisque Morel (Lyon): ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’; 1899 ‘Huldine’; ‘Perle d'Azur’; ‘Gravetye Beauty’; ‘Ville de Lyon’, blue mauve; ‘Abundance’ ; ‘Étoile Violette’ in 1885; ‘Minuet’; ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ ; ‘Purpurea plena’ ; ‘RoyalVelours’ ; ‘François Morel’ dedicated to his father.

Victor Lemoine: C. viticella 'Kermesina' (1883), C. lanuginosa 'Candida' (1862), C. viticella 'Venosa Violacea' (1883), C. lanuginosa ‘Nivea’; C. ‘Otto Froebel’, C. ‘Le Cid’, C. ‘Uranus’ or the herbaceous clematis 'Clocheton' (1913).

Modeste Guérin (Paris): Clematis viticella ‘Modesta’ (1866).

M. Simon-Louis (Metz): Clematis x jouiniana 'Praecox', the seedling of C. patens: C. 'Louisa Plena', or C. ‘Splendida’ (C. viticella Atrorubens x C. lanuginosa), with large dark brownish red flowers.

M Gegu (Angers): C. ‘Etoile d’Angers’ a lanuginosa hybrid with lavender blue flowers or C. ‘La France’ a superb lanuginosa variety with very large flower, composed of 6 to 8 sepals, wavy on the edges, of the most beautiful ultramarine blue.

M Desfossé, d’Orléans: C. patens ‘Edouard Desfossé associated with Rosa x ‘Noella Nabonnand’.

M Paillet, de Chatenay: C. ‘Madame Emile Sorbet’ a lanuginosa with huge flower, dark sky blue, with a metallic sheen.

M Dauvesse (Orleans): C. lanuginosa ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ with very large pure white flower.

Marcel Moser (Versailles): C. ‘Marcel Moser’ et C. ‘Nelly Moser’ 136

Propagation and Breeding | Section 5

United Kingdom Breeders Charles Noble with Clematis 'Miss Bateman' (1869), 'Mrs Cholmondeley' (1873), 'The President' (1873), 'Xerxes'(1877) George Jackman with Clematis 'Alexandra' (1858), 'Countess of Lovelace' (1872), 'Duchess of Edinburgh' (1874), 'William Kennett' (1875) Thomas Cripps, with the Clematis 'Gipsy Queen' associated with Rosa x ‘Etoile de Hollande’, 'Lady Caroline Nevill', 'Madame Van Houtte' (1867), 'Star of India' (1867) Veitch & son with the introduction: Clematis viticella ‘Alba Luxurians’.

Other Foreign Breeders Marinus Koster (NL): Clematis ‘Margot Koster’ with Rosa ×pernetiana ‘Talisman Clg’.

Max Leitchlin (DE): Clematis lanuginosa ‘Max Leitchlin’ with Rosa × ‘Duchesse d'Auerstaëdt’ Jackson & Perkins (US) Otto Fröebel (CH): Clematis ‘Victor Ceresol’ with Rosa ‘Waltham Climber’, obtained from William Paul.

However, various botanical clematis species were also planted, such as: Clematis fusca and Clematis uncinata introduced into collections in 1913. In the 1932 park collections catalogue, we can find the following species: Clematis orientalis, Clematis armandii, Clematis armandii var. grandiflora, Clematis calycina, Clematis chrysocoma, Clematis cirrhosa, Clematis fargesii, Clematis flammula, Clematis florida, Clematis florida var. venosa, Clematis integrifolia, Clematis x jouiniana, Clematis montana, Clematis spooneri, Clematis viticella, Clematis viticella var. alba. In 1937 we find Clematis veitchiana which has become Clematis rehderiana.

This collection focused on cultivars. For years, one of the axes of development was to work on the numerous botanical species. Cultivars are however not neglected and focus on two themes: The historical cultivars, primarily from breeders in the Paris region, (Christen, Girault, Guerin, Moser ...) and varieties that can be tested in different ways (trellised on trees, fences or used as ground cover).

While the historical collection, located on the wall of the presenters’ garden, mainly include large-flowered horticultural cultivars, we are now testing botanical species in the other sectors of the park.

Thus, clematis that we are also cultivating at the base of the climbing roses of the pergola of the classic rose garden are herbaceous species that have come to rest during the pruning and maintenance operations of the roses. In fact, we continue to tie our roses to the wicker; the twigs are therefore detached annually, selected, and tied with new sprigs.

The clematis used are: Clematis stans with Rosa x ‘Léontine Gervais’; Clematis integrifolia with the old rose 'Desprez’ with yellow flowers; Clematis urticifolia with Rosa x ‘Villa Rosa’; Clematis recta ‘Purpurea’ with Rosa ‘Mrs Herbert Stevens’ and Clematis hexapetala with Rosa x ‘Miss Helyett’.

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Section 5 | Propagation and Breeding We have a certain number of documents about the collections during the period 1930/1944 but, unfortunately, we no longer have any archives for the period before 1930, and between 1945 and 1980. This does not allow us to follow the evolution of this collection during this period.

In 1982, the arrival of Jean Pierre Lartigau, as head gardener, gave new life to the collections. Trained in Belgium, he took another look at the collections and relaunched, among other things, the collection of clematis which currently Jardin des Présentateurs today has 200 taxa, mostly horticultural and many seedlings under study. As a branch of the Botanical Garden, we have the opportunity to exchange with many other botanical gardens, both in France and abroad.

The collection also owes much to Bernard Travers from Travers Nursery who provided his support and knowledge.

The Garden also owes a lot to the APBF (Association of Botanical Parks of France) and more especially Franklin Picard who donated the following plants: Clematis lasiandra, Clematis viticella ‘Perrin’s Pride’, Clematis heracleifolia, Clematis texensis ‘Sir Trevor Lawrence’, Clematis szuyuanensis; in addition to Christopher Lloyd for Clematis uncinata and Clematis viticella ‘Kermesina’; the Strasbourg Botanical Garden for Clematis aethusifolia, Clematis ispahanica, Clematis kirilowii, Clematis hexapetala, Clematis glauca, Clematis fusca; Nadine Albouy and Christian Geoffroy (Pépinière Ellebore) for Clematis afoliata, Clematis marata, Clematis fasciculiflora and Clematis ladakhiana.

Unfortunately, many of these species and cultivars have not stood the test of time and growing conditions. These disappearances are an opportunity to test new subjects. This year, we suffered significant losses during the lockdown period, with the park receiving minimal maintenance. Mice have caused great damage by digging their galleries at the feet of clematis. The damage then revealed itself during the heatwave period of July.

For many years, French plant collections have been evaluated by the CCVS (Committee for Specialized Plant Collections), equivalent to the British NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens).

Among the collections of the park, the roses are a National Collection while the clematis and chrysanthemums are an Approved Collection.

The parc de Bagatelle forms, currently with the Serres d'Auteuil, the Parc Floral de Paris and the Arboretum de l'Est-Parisien, the Botanical Garden of Paris which is recognized by the French-speaking Botanical Gardens Association.

The park is open every day of the year and is waiting for your visit.

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Propagation and Breeding | Section 5

Carol Klein

Lilac Wine

Hawthornes Nursery Clematis Specialists Holding national collections of texensis, viorna and viticella groups plus a good range of herbaceous and species clematis.

Contact us Mail Order from: www.hawthornes-nursery.co.uk E Mail: richardhodson321@gmail.com Tel: 01772 812379 Find us at: Marsh Road, Hesketh Bank, Nr. Preston, Lancs. PR4 6XT 139

Section 6

International Clematis Society

International Clematis Society and Registrations | Section 6

Enjoying dinner “in the traditional style” during our meeting in Japan in 2008

International Clematis Society – 2020 Report Fiona and Ken Woolfenden

I

n the last report, “International Clematis Society – 2019 Report”, we talked about the wonderful time everybody had in June 2019 at the Society meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA, organized and hosted by the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection.

We also mentioned plans for future meetings, in particular in northern Denmark in midJuly 2020. All was going well. We made a short but exciting visit to investigate gardens and other places in order to construct an itinerary, then worked with our chosen tour company operator, Brightwater Holidays, to offer a costed package to members. We had already got more attendees than the minimum number necessary. Then the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. It soon became clear the meeting could not take place as scheduled in 2020 but after discussion with Brightwater Holidays, it was agreed to postpone the event to similar dates in 2021. I’d like to acknowledge how accommodating Brightwater have been in this matter.

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Section 6 | International Clematis Society and Registrations Fortunately, most attendees can attend in July 2021 and we look forward to holding our meeting there.

On a more positive note, the annual journal, Clematis International 2020, was produced, printed and posted to all members in the usual timescales. But even that didn’t run smoothly – a few days before it was to have been delivered to the printer that we’d used for many years, I heard they had gone out of business.

However the independent Print Consultant that we use came to the rescue, finding an alternate company who did a sterling job.

Display of clematis grown for the cut flower trade, seen at the nursery of Mr Shibuya during our meeting in Japan in 2008

In these strange COVID-19 times, the Society has been considering whether we could hold some online “events” for our members. It’s early days yet, but the signs are promising. Our president, Jeff Jabco, lives in the USA and is a Director at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College.

He and his team have experience in online tuition, lectures and horticultural events, and we are hoping to leverage expertise from this. It’s early days and these things take time, but in the long term, this could have many benefits.

C. ‘Little Bas’, planted in and growing over an old VW Beetle in the Clematis Display Garden created

by Klaus Körber near Veitshöchheim, visited during our meeting in Germany in 2013

What next year will bring is anybody’s guess. Whether international travel will be possible or advisable, we will have to see.

But in the meantime, wherever you are, enjoy your garden, other gardens, open spaces, nature and plants.

The International Clematis Society – a brief history The International Clematis Society was founded by Raymond Evison in 1984 The very first Newsletter issued by the Society in Spring 1984 listed 60 members from all over the world: Canada (3), Eire (2), England (19), France (1), Japan (14),

Walled garden decked with clematis at Wemyss Castle, visited during the 2018 meeting in Scotland

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International Clematis Society and Registrations | Section 6 New Zealand (2), Norway (2), Sweden (9), Switzerland (4), USA (3) and Raymond Evison (Channel Islands). By the time that the second newsletter was issued in the autumn of 1984 the membership had grown to 232 with a huge increase in the number of members from the United Kingdom to 127 and members from many more countries.

Now the membership is around 200 from 27 countries. About half the members are from Europe, including Great Britain. Roughly forty percent live in USA and Canada.

The remainder are from Japan and the far east, including Australia and New Zealand.

Some of the names of the founder members are now legends in the clematis world.

For example, the late Magnus Johnson from Sweden, who wrote the 900 page ‘bible’, The Genus Clematis initially in Swedish but which was later translated into English through the combined efforts of his late son in law, Bengt Sundstrom, Dr. Mary Toomey and Mrs. Rita Eustace. From Japan there was the late Mr Kazushige Ozawa, who bred a range of clematis now also found in the west including the small flowered Clematis ‘Rōguchi’ and the large flowered C. ‘Kakio’ or PINK CHAMPAGNE as it is often known.

From Poland, there was the late Brother Stefan Franczak, who bred an incredible number of good garden clematis.

Another example, from the USA this time, was the late Brewster Rogerson who, in 1971, started a clematis collection which now contains 1900 individual clematis representing over 850 distinct species or cultivars.

The Rogerson Clematis Garden now contains the most comprehensive collection of clematis within a public garden in North America.

The list goes on. Personally we feel very lucky that, being members of the Society since 1986, we’ve met all the clematis people listed above, and many more, at meetings in various countries around the world.

The Society aims to hold one meeting every year to enable members to get together to discuss clematis and to make contacts. Over the years, the Society has held annual meetings in 15 different countries.

One of the most exciting meetings was in 1992 to Latvia and Estonia with the attendees included Raymond Evison and Magnus Johnson. This meeting took place the year after the Berlin wall came down. To be present in Latvia and Estonia at such an historic period felt very important. And we discovered many new clematis from breeders in the Soviet Union such as Professor Margarita Alekseevna Beskaravainaya, who bred C. ‘Alionushka’.

We met Uno and Aili Kivistik, from Estonia, who bred so many new clematis such as C. ‘Romantika’ and C. ‘Viola’ and visited their farm which was incredible: they grew clematis on wire fences, they had so many of them!

The meeting in 1997 to Japan was another eye opener due to the number of new Japanese-bred clematis that we saw. The idea of a meeting started with an invitation to visit Asamizo Park and to see the 7,000 clematis planted around the perimeter fence

by Sagamihara City Green Association. There were many memorable moments.

We learnt about Andon-zukuri, traditional bamboo frame making, from Mr Mikiyoshi 143

Section 6 | International Clematis Society and Registrations Chikuma, to make a pleasing support for growing clematis in pots. Our President at that time, Malcolm Oviatt-Ham, was given a pair of white gloves to plant a clematis in commemoration of our visit and the conference, such thoughtfulness by our hosts.

In those days, sushi was not so well known in the west and mealtimes were an adventure!

Brewster Rogerson was one of the attendees in Japan in 1997. He had been somewhat forthright about the “new” I.Cl.S. website and in particular, the “Clematis of the Month” feature. We challenged Brewster to improve it by contributing himself and this resulted in the wonderful legacy of 100 articles from him, each describing a clematis cultivar that he’d grown and knew from personal experience.

The mission of the Society is “to stimulate international cooperation and understanding of the cultivation of the genus clematis for the education of our Members and the worldwide gardening community”. With this in mind, the Society produced our “Clematis for Beginners” list, a list of cultivars that are considered by the membership to be easy to grow, not prone to diseases, available in many countries and/or by mail order.

The list has been updated several times by the membership in the light of their experiences growing these cultivars. This list is available on the Society’s website for free, including a downloadable version.

There is a problem with the current clematis classification in that it is becoming increasingly difficult to classify cultivars within the existing groups. Duncan Donald, the previous International Clematis Registrar, in The International Clematis Register and Checklist 2002 Sixth Supplement, describes the problem as being primarily one of trying to shoe-horn a very diverse set of cultivars and a long-standing but mainly rather vague set of groupings – first called “types” by Moore and Jackman in 1872 and later built on by other authors using the term “group” – into the modern concept of Groups and subject to the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants [ICNCP].

For anyone interested in this topic, I recommend reading the Sixth Supplement, available free as a download on the RHS web site.

The International Clematis Society is developing a new Clematis Classification, specifically aimed at gardeners. A working group of Society members, the British Clematis Society, international experts and the RHS was convened for a two-day intense discussion in 2017 and a draft classification resulted. With further input from a wider audience, this has been refined and is currently at a testing and proving stage with our membership and some other interested parties. The Society hopes to openly publish the classification in the not too distant future.

An aspect unique to an international society is as described in the name – internationality.

The International Clematis Society brings together people of different traditions and cultures under a common interest and love of Clematis. Our President, for example, sits for two terms, after which the members elect a new president, usually a different nationality to the incumbent. This is also true of our Council Members. In this way the Society maintains a global perspective on all things Clematis. We try to reflect this in the things we do, for example holding meetings in a difference country each year 144

International Clematis Society and Registrations | Section 6

The Beginners Garden at Luscher Farm, Oregon, USA, location of the Rogerson Clematis Collection visited during our meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA in 2019. The cultivars here are all ones in International Clematis Society “Clematis for Beginners List”.

(COVID-19 excepting!). Similarly, our leaflets, newsletters and annual journal, “Clematis International”, are conscious of need to reflect the situation for growing clematis in all countries, in particular, climate, growing conditions and availability of cultivars.

Interest in gardening and plants is world-wide and the International Clematis Society aims to address this for Clematis lovers wherever they live.

For more information please visit the Society’s website at www.clematisinternational.com.

Note from the Editor Because of the “lock down” and associated furlough of the International Clematis Registrar, the Royal Horticultural Society was not able to supply details of registrations in time for the publication of this Journal. It is hoped that these may be available in the New Year and, if that is the case, they will be published in one of the British Clematis Society newsletters.

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Section 6 | International Clematis Society and Registrations

Editor’s Acknowledgements Ken Black

I should like to thank: All the authors, whose names are listed in the index, Everett Leeds for his wonderful cartoons and Ron Kirkman for his inspired suggestion for the cover photo.

I should like to thank our advertisers for supporting the Society, some of which have been with us for many years:

Niobe

Wollerton Old Hall The Plant Review Taylors Clematis Priorswood Nursery Place4Plants Hawthornes Nursery Garden Ties

Thank you to our dedicated proofreaders: Aidan Armitage Alison Booth Charne Griffiths Richard Hodson Everett Leeds Sue Reade Keith Treadway Chris Wilkinson My gratitude goes to Alison, Glenn, Lizzie and Julian for persuading so many people to write for us this year, and for their help and support throughout the process. I should also like to thank Keith Shortland whom I enlisted (ambushed?) to help me with the editing.

Particular credit must go to Julian Noble for his initiative in respect of the production of this year’s journal and obtaining the help of Laura Bray and Peter Scranney at The Graphic Design House in Portsmouth. I am particularly indebted to Peter Scranney for his patience and for steering me through the world of fonts and paginations.

I do hope that you all stay safe and continue to persevere through these strange and difficult times. Have a very good gardening year in 2021.

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International Clematis Society and Registrations | Section 6

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Image taken from The Clematis as a Garden Flower by Thomas Moore and Gorge Jackman published in 1872

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