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emski037

Clematis dummie here. Need help choosing

At first I wanted to plant climbing roses around my "pergola" after research and suggestions from other members I decided to go with clematis. I don't know much about them. I'd like to choose a variety that either reblooms or a few different varieties that bloom at different times. My goal is to have blooms all season long. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated. Here is a picture of what my pergola looks like. Where the arborvitaes are located is the east.

Comments (4)

  • 10 years ago

    It looks like the shade is fairly bright so you should be able to grow things that like part shade. You could also consider planting both climbing roses and clematis to increase the length of your bloom time; they grow well together. A rose such as Zephirine Drouhin has grown fine for me, though some cold years it has to start over from ground level. It is part shade tolerant, scented, and relatively thornless with pink blooms in spring and some repeat over the summer and into fall. One or more of the type 3 summer blooming clematis might be a nice combination and give you a long season of bloom. You could fasten the rose canes up the columns along with perhaps some wires, and then the clematis would climb the rose canes and wires combined. the clematis won't climb just the posts since they need something that's less than half an inch diameter to wrap the leaf petioles around. The type 3 (hard prune) clematis are the easiest care IME.

    Here's a link to the previous discussion where you got suggestions from other members so perhaps you have to do less repeating here.

    Do you have a color preference? White, lavender, purple and reddish with a slightly blue cast are all common colors, and I think any would look nice with the pink of ZD rose or with each other.

    Are you planning to plant in the soil just off the edge of the decking and do you only want them growing up the posts, or do you plan to add other trellising materials to make more of a wall?

    Since you hoping to have them grow up to the roof line of the pergola, about how high is it from the ground? Many but not all of the type 3 clematis will be tall growing, but I am not sure how well they will grow right under the edge of the roof mentioned in your previous post due to the increased shade. Perhaps you can loop wires a foot or 2 down so the clematis can grow across them.

    One few large clematis that I like that can reach at least 10' unless otherwise noted:

    Betty Corning (lavender bells with a very light scent for some folks)

    Venosa Violacea - deep purple with white centers

    Viola - deep purple

    John Huxtable - White

    Princess Diana - bright pink bells and a bit less than 10'

    Gravetye Beauty - Deep red bells

    Little Bas - Medium blue-purple with white centers


  • 10 years ago

    NHBabs wow thanks so much, very helpful info. I actually looked into Zephirine Drouhin and it was one of my top choices along with Blaze Improved. I was afraid of the hardyness of it though. On some websites I haved looked into my zoning has changed into Z6 but that doesn't really mean that we won't get a harsh winter. It's so unpredicted here. Glad to see it's doing well in your zone. You mentioned it may regrow from the ground up. How long does it take to reach a descent size when this happens? I am planning to plant it along the decking by the post (I am thinking now that maybe I will plant only along one post so I can have a nice corner area and leave the rest open) I will add a support thinking of maybe some hooks with wires etc.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    My ZD only gets to 6'-7' or so, and it regrows fairly quickly in few weeks when necessary. Mine is own-root, so even if it gets killed to soil level, it comes back true to type.

    The hooks with wires plan sounds great since it can support both the rose and the clematis.

  • 10 years ago

    Everything NHBabs said is always on point! I would add that I have had amazing luck with the Viticella's, I planted Venosa Violacea in 2013 and the next summer it climbed to the top of an 8' Obelisk. Also my Dutchess of Albany, a Texensis variety like Princess Diana, grows very tall, both of these are very long blooming, hardy and both type 3. Good luck choosing, there are so many to choose from.

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