Polish Spirit has been blooming in my garden since June and it is still blooming. It never has had any disease problems. It has been a great clematis. It just needs room.

Thank you! The reason I did not mention Duchess of Albany is because I already have it and I'm so glad to hear that it does well. I have a lot of new growth on her since I purchased her about a month ago.

I think I will purchase Polish Spirit then, I also just purchased Roguchi and Comtesse De Bouchaud. Not sure what made me purchase the Comtesse other then the fact that I love pink flowers and I've heard that it flowers profusely.

I'm really going to have to hide these last three from my husband, he think's I've really gone over the edge with all the Clems I've been purchasing. I just bought Henryi at Home Depot this past weekend, it was on sale and in a 3 quart container with a lot of growth and a few buds, how could I possibly have resisted!

On the subject of viticellas, I'd like to put in a good word for my new favorite - VESUVIUS/GALORE (Evipo 32), one of the Festoon series. My first year plant (granted, it was from Silver Star Vinery, with HUGE root system) outperformed my second year Polish Spirit this year. It's just my opinion, but I think it's a lot prettier too. The color is more blue - don't know if that's a plus or a minus - but it's bloom form is very striking, like a little starfish to my eyes. I'm not as crazy about the PS bloom form - almost incomplete-looking.

I only have one texensis - Princess Diana. It is just, bar none, the best clem in my garden. Like Miguel said, it does brown out in the worst heat, but mine has had no mildew problems at all. (All the mildew went to my gallica roses this year...) It is absolutely a prodigious bloom-machine practically all season long. It is comparatively late to get started, but it is even blooming now. And talk about beautiful. Everyone wants to know what it is. If the other texensis cultivars are anything like this, I have got to put in some more. I think I've just been enabled on that Duchess of Albany recommendation...

I'm Tickled to hear yall give "Princess Diana" rave reviews...I just planted her this morning!!..I have clematis ETOILE VIOLETTE, ROYAL VELOURS and POLISH SPIRIT and they are all nice "Polish Spirit" is the thug of the group..it grew up my Apple Tree this past growing season and bloomed like mad!! "Royal Velours" is a tad bit stingier for me but maybe change with it's age..it's only 2 years old...Jeanne

Robin, only goes to what I have been saying time and time again. Each clematis reacts to the individual garden it is in and what works for one gardener, might not for another. What is a stellar performer in one garden is a dud in another! My Princess Diana bloomed early on and then browned/mildewed out. I whacked it back and it was blooming just a week ago.

If you love Princess Dianna, you will more than likely fall head over heels in love with the Duchess of Albany!

Three bloom seasons for PS and so far one bloom.The other 2 I planted same time VenosaV and Prince Charles bloomed very well although Venosa browned out completely, and it certainly wasn't lack of water.

What about differences in the where they are planted Flowergirl or where the plants were purchased? You are one of the very very few people I know I have ever heard of having a nonperforming Polish Spirit. I suspect something else going on there!!

All 3 are planted on an 8 ft wide trellis on the north side of my garden shed, all planted at the same time and they came from Song Sparrow. they all are on a soaker hose and I know they've never been too dry. they're about 2 ft apart. It grew well, but no bloom.

robiniaquest ~ Was happy to hear about how much you like your Galore ~ Festoon Series. I just planted it and have hopes for it taking off on a new large arbor my husband just made me. I liked the color and flower shape. Was looking for a smaller flower too. Happy about it being very free-flowering. It sounded like just what I was looking for.

I have posted previously on my non-blooming Polish Spirit and at least Flowergirl had one bloom. I never did get any. Mine is also 3 years old also.Every other Viticella I have bloomed beautifully.Hard to figure.
Lois

Just puzzling why a Polish Spirit would not bloom. Mine has been a blooming fool since I got it.

Maybe because it is on the North side? Maybe it wants more sun?

No it's on the South side.My Etoile Violette was gorgeous and just covered with blooms most of the summer. Betty Corning and Price Charles re-bloomed.The others did well also except for Polish Spirit and Huldine.
Lois in Iowa

My PS has never bloomed either. It is much much older, don't remember when I got it, around 2000 or so, I think it was in a liner sized pot or slightly bigger. My old records got lost due to previous computer failure. I didn't know better at the time, so I planted it directly in the ground on the northeast side of a huge lilac clump. Two years ago, I think, it started making more vines. I thought maybe competition with the lilac roots was keeping it back, so last year I dug it up and potted in a large tub-like pot with Dorota and a gallon pot of Dr Rupel, This Spring I removed the Dr to keep my groups together.

I finally got the guts to prune the PS back to a foot or so in early May, but Dorota wasn't even that tall to begin with. I fed regularly, but all PS did again was grow more long vines. Dorota just started showing new growth (slowly) last week.

I also had a pot of Tie Dye next to the PS pot, west of it, but even further into the lilac clump, away from the road where the late afternoon sun got to it. All it did was put up one long vine. About 2 weeks ago I pulled its tub closer to the road, but that still wasn't enough sun. Took it out of the tub & have put in a new area I made that gets a lot more sun, EV has been doing well in a spot next to this new area for years.

So I think that next Spring when I cut back PS again I will move that tub to a sunnier area.

There is a plastic large kettle which had a gallon pot of VV on the east side of PS and had one flower a few months ago. Last weekend I thought it might need transpotting, and found that roots were coming out of the bottom of the gallon pot like crazy, so I carefully slipped it out of the pot, placed a gallon pot of another vit, Pink Fantasy which I had just gotten, in the space that remained, and ammended the soil in the kettle for the VV roots to spread out more. I guess she didn't flower much because she was too busy making great roots. Hope I won't have to move her too, be I want something to climb up in the lilacs.

Marie in ME

All I can say is that an underperforming clematis that is supposed to be Polish Spirit would be shovel pruned in my garden and replaced with another one from a different supplier. There is no room in my garden for underperformers, especially one that is as prolific as Polish Spirit is for most people.

Well all I can say is I hope that my Polish Spirit does okay, I haven't received it yet and not sure where I'm going to plant it yet, I was told that it doesn't need a lot of sun.

On Galore, the Festoon Series, I came so very close to purchasing that one and also Bonanza from the Festoon Series, wish I did now, the photos I've seen of both of them are beautiful. There's just way too many types of Clematis which makes it so very hard to choose.

Thank you all for the help, it's much appreciated!

Linda

I have had my Princess Diana for several years, but still not a strong grower and few flowers. But the flowers are so pretty, that I keep on hoping it will improve.

I, too, have had a Polish Spirit dwindle in blooms as the years passed. Interestingly, the Chicago Botanic Gardens reported this as well in their trials a few years ago. Next year it goes and something else takes its place, though I have a feeling a PS from another source might do the trick.

I should also not the the CBG rated Ascotiensis and Gipsy Queen highly, and they wilt constantly for me. They are gardening in a more clay-based soil, and mine is more sand-based, however.

So do you think your issue with PS was related to age alone Mike? Could it be root competition from nearby plants that have grown up over the years? Your experience with Ascotiensis and Gipsy Queen come as no surprise to me since we have revisited the issue of how some clematis do wonderfully well in some gardens and end up as duds in other gardens!

Joan, my experience with Princess Diana has been the same as yours. I have had it one year less than Duchess of Albany and it is nowhere near as vigorous in terms of number of stems it has produced and number of blooms. Then again Robin in Virginia has it and said previously that it is "absolutely a prodigious bloom-machine practically all season long." Go figure! LOL The fickleness of clematis in individual gardens--what more can I say?!

I just planted clematis "Princess Diana" a few weeks ago when I got her from Murray and she has about 6 vines and shot up a foot already...So either I got me a good one or she loves Texas!!..If this is a sign of things to come from her..she just might be vigorous for me..fingers crossed!!...Jeanne

I know this is an old thread, but I'd like to recommend Clematis 'Betty Corning' a viticella resistant to clematis wilt and has fragrant bell shaped pale blue flowers on it. This one gets hard pruned in spring if winters are severe.

jazzmom516, I had a gardening friend from Edmonton, Alberta(Canada) mail me one of the Betty Cornings several years ago. It is very vigorous and love the scent. I hard prune mine usually in Spring as well. Love it.