We have a few but one of the 'fullest' is the C. viticella 'Abundance'.

We have 4 of these. They were 4 plants in gallon pots for 50 cents total at a year end garden center clearance. I was rather disappointed with them the first 2 years but then they came into their own. Fantastic and worth the wait. Not too tall at 5 to 6 feet but covered top to bottom in leaves and blossoms.

Two others really full top to bottom are the C. tanguticas (Golden tiara) and 'Bluebird'.

Butterclem, I have most and they all to some degree or another lose their lower leaves regardless of how much water I give them. Another point is that I have never had any sunburn. Clematis don't need their feet shaded, they need moisture which is assisted by providing mulch. I do agree with alpiner that of all the ones listed, Abundance has done the best in my garden in full sun.

One thing to remember regardless of the clematis is that if the lower leaves are shaded in any way, the clematis will lose those leaves because without sun or limited sunlight, the leaves have no purpose so they will be shed.

Alpiner, tanguticas were removed from my garden due to their willingness to seed everywhere or sucker. The species seeded terribly for me (almost as bad as terniflora) and Helios and My Angel suckered like you wouldn't believe. Both of the latter were executed by spraying with Roundup. Too bad since My Angel was quite attractive and Helios' blooms smelled like coconut. I have heard of others growing these in colder zones that didn't have this issue with the tanguticas, but it seems to be more of an issue in the warmer zones.

nckvilleduds:

I've never figured out the tanguticas. Ours do fantastic. Literally a million seeds but only a couple volunteers each season. It's not just temperature related because there is a town called Exshaw on the slope of the Rockies (colder than we are) that has tanguticas growing everywhere. Tangutica seem to sprout and thrive in the scratchy natural gravel.

I've also never obsessed with covering the base of clematis as is so often recommended. We mulch with either shredded cedar or rock, depending on the locale. We also water and then water some more. In addition to the sprinkler, I'll just pour a bucket of water on each clematis every couple days.

Hi,

Sounds like I need to remove the dwarf deutzia that's in front of some of my clematises! Of course, I put it there deliberately to shade the clematis roots. Thank you for the good advice. Do you have a favorite mulch? I have mulched some of mine but I haven't been very consistent about what I've used.

I am indeed giving lots and lots of water.

Pat

Pat, I personally prefer an organic mulch that will decompose over time. This way you add tilth to the soil as the mulch decomposes and it serves to preserve soil moisture as well. The downside of course is that you have to add more as it decomposes but as they say, COMPOST HAPPENS! LOL

Alpiner, interesting to hear about the tanguticas in your area. Just goes to show again that everything is locale specific when it comes to clematis! Too bad about both Helios and My Angel as I said since I loved the look of My Angel and the coconuty fragrance of Helios.

I can relate about the water issue. We have had way too many days of 90 degree temps and no rain. The grass looks burned and I am having to water the clematis a lot. In fact, I set up one of the drip irrigations systems to run and it is running right now. Supposed to be 93 to 95 this weekend and I am going out of town so have to get the watering in now!

Miguel, I can't compost on my small city lot. I tried doing it behind my garage for awhile and got complaints about groundhogs, flies, etc. Can I used purchased, bagged composted manure for this purpose? I put a bag on each clematis in late March every year and again after the first hard frost. By August,of course, the March application has been absorbed. Is the product too hot to add more of it now?

Pat

hi there,
i have an alba luxurians growing up our english ivy covered lampost in lots of sun, and it has not a brown leaf in sight. it is in it's 3rd summer now, and it has always looked good without browning at the bottom. i knew nothing about clematis when i planted it, and can't believe how lucky i was to plant such an easygoing type!

Butterclem, composted cow manure is fine but it would not be a mulch in my book. All the composted cow manure that I have ever purchased (Black Cow brand) is fully composted and can be added at any time. I have even added it when clematis were in bloom and it didn't seem to affect their blooming time.

Congrats Emmgus. Move south and you will see that what doesn't brown out further north will do so down here regardless of what you do unless of course you trim it back to get the plant to put out more foliage and 2nd and sometimes 3rd rounds of blooms!

I'm using Black Cow brand composted manure, too. Would just a fine, shredded bark mulch serve the purpose? I've got to adjust my practices now that I know I don't need plants to shade clematis roots?

Pat

Pat, we have clay soil that was impossible to dig in when we moved here. We have brought in manure/mushroom compost every year and then covered it with a thick layer of double ground hardwood as mulch and it has improved our soil tremendously. the double ground hardwood (sounds like it is the same as fine shredded mulch you are asking about) breaks down quickly. We put it down in early spring and it has decomposed by late fall so we put more down in the late fall to put the garden to bed for the winter.

Carol