Richard Hodson

Clematis 'Rouge Cardinal'

Not wilt, the cold winds are to blame, give it a bucketful of water.

What is going on with my Clematis?

Clematis wilt is rather like global warming and swine flu, you hear a lot about it but never actually see it.  This is not clematis wilt, it is a sign that the plant is too dry.

Clematis integrifolia - a hard nut?

Next time try a few in a zippy freezer bag, I use the 7 inch squares from Tesco, put a handful of damp medium vermiculite in the bag, put the seeds in and shake up, then seal the bag.  Don't forget to write details on the bag

Put it somewhere warm and dark, don't unzip the bag until you see the green shoots appearing, then prick out seedlings when big enough and re-seal the bag, they don't all germinate at once.

If the integrifolias are true species wild collected, which I doubt, they will be true to type, blue about 3 ft. high.

If the seeds are garden or nursery collected, you have a possibility of raising white or pink forms of integrifolia from the seeds, don't give up, they are easy to grow and are wonderful border plants.

Clematis nelly moser

Nothing beats growing your own new clematis from seed, I have registered several new varieties, the latest being a new pink herbaceous called Carol Klein, with Carol's approval I hasten to add, not yet available to purchase.

To genuine enthusiasts I have plenty of spare seed, free, and will show you how to germinate them rapidly,

E-mail me if genuinely interested, see website www.hawthornes-nursery.co.uk

Details of the new Carol Klein can be found on Clematis on the Web A to Z

Clematis flowering problems

If they have large double flowers and one is Josephine, then they are not group 3 clematis.

Clematis flowering problems

Leigh2, do you know which 2 clematis you have ?  Are they viticellas, texensis, herbaceous, species or what ?  Most of these are summer flowering, group 3, but their growing requirements are very different, some need to be planted deep, others don't.  There are some  compact forms of summer clematis ideal for pots including some very gardenworthy Estonian cultivars, they are Late Large Flowered Group.

climbing plants

This is a viticella I grew from seed, I Registered it as Richard's Picotee, hope you like.

climbing plants

This is clematis Teksa, growing in a pot by our back door, North facing wall, a beautiful Late Large Flowered variety, photo taken in August.

Teksa is an Estonian cultivar, the name means ' denim ' in Estonian.

climbing plants

I grow several clematis in pots, mostly smaller flowered species and cultivars, all flower July to September-ish.  No problem provided you remember to water and feed them.

This is a texensis of mine in a large terracotta pot with metal obelisk

, grown from seed, gets better every year.

can I plant now?

I would recommend a hedge of mixed rugosa roses, bombproof hardy, good perfume, excellent foliage, lovely autumn hips.