Hi there,

just so glad,that the Clematis (some NOID hybrid, purple, single flowers) takes off so well.

Last year we took over an allottment, lots of veggie beds and the odd rose.The previous tenants mentioned a "climber thingy" at one side of a rose arch, so we watched it last season to see what it was.

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So a puny struggling hybrid, throwing out few flowers on one thinnish vine (despite compost). But, to be fair, it was half choked by a rampant Campanula-patch.

The rose on the other side of the arch was no climber but just some grandiflora or such, not performing well despite pruning+feeding.

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so come autumn, I got two real climbers. When planting them, I was prepared to cull the Clem, but after digging it up there were so many great buds on the base, I decides to pop it next to the New Dawn, well 1 foot apart at least.

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And despite our weird winter (mild, some light frost around Xmas, warmer and a mean frost in February) it grows now: at least three fat buds on the stumps (2 inches) of last years shoots and 3 or more new vines peeking out of the soil. I did plant it somewhat deeper and gave it lots of compost into the planting hole.

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Now I will see whether the Clem and the New Dawn go well together in the long run. For this season I am glad to have the Clematis for flowers as the climbers are unlikely to do much (well, apart from growing prober long canes/shots)

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Just so excited, and hubby is not really so interested in plant details. Well, have a great spring, bye, Lin