My grandmother used Sweet Autumn Clematis as an effective maintenance free ground cover. It did climb and take over a bush back before I was born, but didn't seem interested in climbing the fence or the altheas later.

Hope that helps!

I'd have to say that clumsygrdner's grandmother's experience with SAC is far different from mine and I'd be very hesitant to use such an aggressive vine in a mixed planting with rather delicate and small perennials. My SAC regularly "eats" anything within range, including a variety of good sized shrubs.

There a number of herbaceous clematis that can be grown easily among perennials and small shrubs - integrifolia, heracleifolia, x durandii. And any of the smaller growing forms of the large flowered hybrids would work pretty well also. Keep in mind that true vining forms (like the LFH's) will naturally want to climb and grow upward and will take the opportunity to do so on anything vertical they encounter. I'd try to keep them clear of herbaceous perennials as the vining tendrils can easily strangle and crush the more delicate tissues of these plants. Woody supports like small shrubs are far less likely to be damaged by eager vine growth.

Thanks for the info. As my shrubs are all on what I would call the smaller size in the beds where I would like to try this I will take gardengal48's advise and look for the smaller, less aggressive varieties and keep them away from the perennial areas. My shrubs are fairly well spaced so I should be able to find a couple of spots where I can try this & perhaps keep the volume of vines climbing up the shrubs in control. I'd like some intertwining but do not want the shrubs covered. Thanks again, gives me an idea what to look for this spring!

Sharon

I planted a bunch of integrifolias in my mixed borders between shrubs last year. They don't cling so they work really well. Of course, they are babies so I don't have much experience yet but was happy with growth last year. They were big plants, left over from previous seasons with many stems.

I have also seen climbing large flowered cultivars used as groundcover in an established garden here in Portland. They weren't really aggressive/huge cultivars though.

Here is a link that might be useful: integrifolia group article

Clematis recta
x durandii
'Arabella'
'Juuli'
'Pangbourne Pink'
'Petit Faucon'
'Alionushka'
'Blue Boy'
'Rooguchi'
'Inspiration'

There are more, that site I linked to above is a great Clematis resource. Many of the mail order nurseries give a lot of information too.

buyorsell - what a great site. I will spend some time going through it and comparing it to the catalogues I have from the local nurseries around here & see what is available in my area. I noticed a picture on the site with the clematis growing through the roses - exactly what I am hoping to do. Thanks for the link and list.

Sharon

You are welcome. I found that site from this one last year and had not heard of integrifolias before either. I love the pics in that article and hope my garden will look that that soon.