Reliable, trouble-free plants are what we're all after, and Clematis 'Arabella' certainly fits the bill.
Reliable, trouble-free plants are what we're all after, and Clematis 'Arabella' certainly fits the bill. I planted mine at the base of another really reliable plant, the evergreen Teucrium fruticans, placing it on the shaded north side so its roots kept cool out of the sun. There it was left to its own devices, using the shrubby germander as a living plant support.
C. 'Arabella' really comes into its own through late June into July, when its six blue petals open around a bold central boss of white anthers, but it'll keep flowering right through summer. Each flower measures about 7cm across. Although not as large as the flowers of many summer-flowering hybrids, the succession of blooms makes C. 'Arabella' really worthwhile. Clearly the RHS thinks so too, as they've given it their Award of Garden Merit.
'Arabella' is a herbaceous clematis; it doesn't twist around objects like 'proper' climbing varieties, so it does need planting partners for support. That's one of the great things about clematis: you can fit them into tiny gaps to provide extra layers of colour to existing shrubs.
As I want 'Arabella' to continue developing into a robust plant, I do treat it to a monthly drench with liquid feed, but that's about it. All shoots can be trimmed down to about a foot from the ground during winter, and new shoots will start developing from late February to continue the cycle.
Many great clematis have been bred in this country by Raymond Evison, who own Guernsey Clematis, but 'Arabella' comes from another great breeder, Barry Fretwell, who used to run Peveril Clematis Nursery down in the West Country (I think he retired a few years back). I like to know the origins of the plant varieties I grow; the people at the nurseries who put so much skill and expertise into breeding the outstanding plants we enjoy in our gardens.
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