Need advice/insight on my Clematis

11 years ago

I'm in Zone 5/6, Pennsylvania.

So I bought this Clematis years ago in a dark purple. I chose that specifically because my house is a beige brick, so I wanted a dark color. The first five, six years it was beautiful. Two years ago, the colors of the flowers turned to a lilac color. and there was one that was more towards the dark purple color, but it was funny looking. See picture. It's down towards the bottom.

And then last year I had two whopping flowers on the whole thing. :(

So I've already put two doses of Miracle Gro on it because I realize I probably should have been feeding it over the years. I've never fed it since I planted it. It always did so well that I hated to mess with it. :)

Do you think it will change back to the dark purple and have more flowers by using the Miracle Gro, or is there a better food out there for Clematis? Or any other suggestions?

Thank you, in advance, for any help.

Alicia

Featured Answer

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

It looks to me like you have two different clematis there. Perhaps they both came in the same pot initially by accident, or perhaps the larger, lighter colored one is a seedling. The darker on on the lower right that is "funny looking" looks to be 'Multiblue' and since the other clematis is blooming at the same time, both are probably type two prune clematis.

Generally, folks who feed their clematis use rose food which is formulated for good bloom, so you might try that. Also be sure that the clematis gets regular soaking to reach deep roots when the soil is dry below the surface, and adding a mulch to help maintain even moisture levels.

I like the current clematis that you have. If you want a really dark purple as well, you can add one or more that blooms later in the season (type 3 prune, which means cut down to a few buds annually since they bloom on new wood and this keeps the flowers lower) on another trellis. Viola, Mikelite, Etoile Violette, Romantika, and Jackmanii all have rich purple flowers and are type 3 prune. I've seen all of these in the last year or two on the lists of one of the mail order nurseries I use: Brushwood, Silver Star Vinery, Hummingbird Farm, and Joy Creek.

Viola (with Betty Corning, the lavender bell) is in reality a bit bluer in color

Mikelite is a bit less pink than this, but still has more red/pink than Viola

Romantika

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Comments (7)

lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, I actually bought it about 15 years ago at like a Walmart, and it was just a single plant. I never noticed the flower you called Multiblue on the bottom until last summer. So I don't know what's going on with it. :) I was hoping if I fed it, I may get my dark purple flowers back . The lilac flowers are pretty, I just wanted a little more color against my brick house. If feeding it this spring/summer doesn't produce darker-colored blooms, then I think I will have to buy another one to mix in with it. But I will definitely try the rose food first. I ultimately wanted dark purple and red, so I may just yank it out and start all over! :) I saw some really pretty varieties out there in the magazines. Spectacular color combinations!

Your lower two Clematis remind me of the one I have in my back yard on a trellis that's a magenta color. It's gorgeous!

Thank you very much for your advice. I really appreciate it!

Alicia
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Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
11 years ago
How strange... that darker bloom at the bottom definitely looks like multi-blue to me. Do you have a photo of it when it was dark purple? Did someone prune a tree that causes it to get more sun? I know blooms can bleach out if they are in the sun all day but that doesn't explain the mysterious multi-blue bloom at the bottom.

If it's a really focal spot in your garden and you're unhappy with it, I'd dig it up and move it to a part of the garden where you don't mind the lilac colors and plant something with bolder colors there. At the end of the day, if it doesn't make you happy, then I say change it up and plant that dark purple & red combo!
lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA thanked Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
User
11 years ago
Walmart has sold Multi Blue for a number of years. It is reportedly a sport of The President. I have read that double sports will sometimes have a bloom period as a single. But 15 years!

I love what you have and bet if you put 'free lav. clematis for the digging' on Craig's List you'll have people clamouring for it.
lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA thanked User
lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you both! I sure wish I would have kept the tag for it. But you're all probably right with the Multi Blue. It was before my days of "serious" gardening. Now I keep the tags and names for everything. Have been for years now. I think that Cleamits was one of the first things I planted. I probably will keep it no matter what, as it kills me to pull anything outof the ground. I usually add more to my gardens instead of taking them away.

They do get the morning and afternoon sun. Maybe the heat from the brick and all that sun isn't good. LOL They do thrive wonderfully there. I'm sure I'll get more flowers this year once I feed it. It used to get lots of flowers like this one.

I've never fed this one either. Go figure! And I just remembered that I took a little bit of the "lilac" one and planted a sprig of it near my patio in the back of my house and found a picture of it. And lo and behold, it's that Multi Blue! I'm just baffled.

It still looks a little different than the one in my lilac picture. Oh, well. What a variety I've got going on here. I can't wait to see what I get this year!
Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
11 years ago
That is just baffling to me. Especially since it took so long for it to change!The good news is they are all pretty. Even with the lighter purple it's still a nice contrast from your house. I really love multi-blue and got two very small ones from an online source last summer so I am happy to see how pretty they are and am hoping they come back this year.

Good luck with all your mystery clematis you've got there, glad to hear you plan on keeping it! It's quite lovely regardless! :)
lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA thanked Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA
Original Author
11 years ago
Yeah, when it flowers, it's usually just full of them and so lush looking. So I'm hoping for that again at least. And everyone is right here, it's beautiful regardless. I just thought maybe someone on here had a similar thing happen and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask in case I was doing something wrong with mine. I just wish I would have taken pictures of it when I first got it and it was blooming dark purple. That was before my camera days, though. :)