My 4 year old Sweet Autumn reached 18 feet last summer, and it practically buried the arbor it was on. I'd pair it with a large tree. lol

I run two SA Clematis along the entire side fence and grow several viticella (Betty Corning, Madame Julia Correvon among them) clematis & some annual vines over it as well. There is still some bloom on the other clematis when the SACs get going, but mostly they bloom before it. I don't hesitate to chop out hunks of SAC if she starts to smother the other vines.

Here she is crossing from the fence to the arbor with a Pink Mandevilla vine in a pot at the base of the arbor. The inside of the arbor is planted with Viticellas Alba Luxurians on one side and Venosa Violacea on the other. They are completely done by the time this picture was taken.

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You can just see a few blooms of Julia on the 2nd SAC towards the end of the yard.
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The mound you see here is created by two pots hanging from a metal free standing plant hanger. The pots are filled in late May with annuals and as the seasons progress I let the vines grow over everything to hide the electrical stuff & air conditioner in my neighbors yard. Some years I have let Morning Glory Heavenly Blue or an Orange Black Eyed Susan Thunbergia vine grow here from a whisky barrel set along the fence line.
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Leslie197 - WOW all I can say is WOW!!! Your last photo there is phenomenal!!! Are you saying this last clematis is basically in a hanging basket type??? And all 3 clems are Sweet Autumn ??? Thanks for sharing your lovely photos! Golden

Marilou, I would have to agree with the other posters here. SAC can get to be a giant and will eat most other clematis for lunch. I wouldn't pair it with anything and expect the other clematis to survive!

Leslie, impressive plants!

By the way Marilou - WELCOME to the group!!! Golden

I second the WOW! Your photos are beautiful!! I am new to clematis (just researching now), and was afraid to get a SAC due to the possible invasiveness. But now I am rethinking my hesitation after seeing that yours are so pretty and are sharing space with other plants. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Anne

Thanks, Golden! Leslie, your photos are awesome! It looks like your SACs are in sun. The other SAC I have (besides the new ones on the pergola) is older and in the shade. It's nowhere near the length of yours! Perhaps it is the difference in light?

I was impatient and put 2 Niobes at the feet of the pergola without knowing whether they'll fade. I probably overdid it, but the pergola now has 5 vines... 2 SACs, 2 Niobes, and a Mandevilla. It's a good sized pergola and mostly shaded. By late summer I should know if I put in too much!

Does anyone know if Niobes' color fades?

M.

Golden,

There are two SACs along this fence. They are planted in the ground in heavy clay soil. The mound in the last picture is created by two hanging baskets on a pole (that have annuals like Portulaca or something like that in them) which gets covered up by the SAC late in the season. I could stop this cover-up, but choose not to.

As for SACs living with other plants, the entire fenceline has planting gardens all along them. There is a shade bed under the tree with hostas, heucheras and the like, a large daylily bed with yarrows, catmints, salvias, knautia, and a small annuals bed with Iris being the only long-termer. There are a total of 6 other clematis on this side fence (plus the two inside the arbor that I mentioned before) in addition to the various annual vines.

The only work involved in these two SACs is cutting them down in the spring (they make a nice winter block of my neighbors yard all winter) and weaving the very pliant stems (not as brittle as most of my clematis) in and out of the fence. I don't tie it in or do anything at all to make it stay in place. If an occasional stem won't weave, I chop it off. I have never fertilized them at all.

Marilou,

Yes my SACs are in full sun. They run north to south on the east side fence line, but other than the one tree between them there are no buildings, trees or shrubs to block the sun. My neighbor on this side waited 5 years to plant a couple of small shrubs around his deck and has nothing but grass everywhere else. That's part of the reason that I planted the SACs there on the fence. By the end of May (after cutting back in early April) I have 5-8 foot long length of living green fence right where his patio is, by August I have two 20 ft plus stretches of green, soon to be topped with flowers.