My soil is acid and they grow just fine. Clematis love the same fertilizer that roses do. So whatever you feed your roses the clematis will love too. Make sure you have a pruning group 2 or 3 for the clematis that you grow through your rose so you don't have pruning problems.

My soil is acid and I never lime my Clematis and I use Rose-Tone fertilizer.

The higher middle number he is talking about means more phosphorus than nitrogen or potash and that is what triggers blooming.

It seems that so far the news is all good! I bought "Bees Jubilee" after finding it in response to someone who posted a pic and asked for an ID it looked similar to me and I loved it. A group 2 so that is great! I never would have thought of the pruning thing. Thanks! I am definately going to give it a try.

Ditto to what all others have said. My soil is acidic and it has never affected the growth of my clematis. The myth that clematis like limey soil is based on the fact that in England some of the species clematis were found growing in chalky soil. In truth, the chalky soil probably had pockets of water that more influenced the clematis' success there than did the lime. Many of the US native clematis are found growing in acidic soil. This is just another myth out there about clematis.

Clematis and Roses were made in heaven to be mated..they both love the same conditions..same fertilizers..etc...I have tons of climbling roses and clematis living in purrrrrfect harmony!!..Jeanne

I add a handful of lime to the hole when planting. If I remember to in spring, I scratch in some along the ground by the stem(s). I don't do any lime any other time, and I feed my clems with rose food since most are in rose beds.

I think it's probably NOT a really good idea to mess with the pH of the soil unless you really know that you need to...e.g., you've had your soil tested, the plants are "telling" you they're unhappy, etc.

I grow all my clematis with my roses as well.

Now, on the other hand, I have found that lavender does really well on the edge of my crushed stone path which I think is very basic....but, that's for a different forum.

Robert

Robert, I think the lavender likes the drainage provided by the crushed stone. I mulch around the lavender in beds with stone and they thrive in that environment. The area also heats up and dries out better due to the stones.