Beware of what you may read :-) While roses and clematis are often a great pairing, it will depend heavily on exactly what rose you may want to pair with what clematis! Depending on the vine chosen, even ONE clematis might be too much, let alone 3!!

Besides the future compatibility of the two different plants with regards to size and vigor, I pair by colors, generally selecting from opposing sides of the color wheel - blues and purples with yellows, peaches and apricots and whites with reds. To me, that offers the best visual contrast. I don't do pinks at all - a personal thing - but whites, blues and purples work here also, as would a complimentary or contrasting pink.

And let me offer some very personal advice...........until you become more familiar with clems, I'd stick with pruning group 2 vines for any pairings, primarily for their more modest size and pruning requirements. And start with only one clem per rose :-))

I too am on the .must have clematis bandwagon .

But my plan is to plant them behind a shorter rose for ease of pruning.

I just put together this pairing this year and it seems promising. Both plants are still young: clematis Olympia and Crown Princess Margareta rose. I have another blue clematis, First Lady paired with a Souvenir de Malmaison rose climber which I'm looking forward to see next year (no blooms yet)

Ana that's a beautiful combination!

I don’t like to see plants fighting, especially fights that are hard for roses to win, which is why I keep my clematis away from roses. The only rose player I allow to enter the match is Teasing Georgia, and she seems to coexist with Dr. Rupple just fine.

I have to admit, I do let my roses fight with each other all the time by planting them less than 2 feet apart😂

Claire

I like the apricot roses with blue or purple clems. Flowers, those are stunning and I like the Hagley Hybrid with John Davis. The Multiblue reminds me of Crystal Fountain.

I thought this one looked weird, almost Martian, but the blooms were so big and the centers looks spikey but were so soft. The blooms went through interesting changes.

My interest in clems really took off a few years ago. It's too early to say how roses do with clems growing near them or on them but I share a concern that the clems will overwhelm the roses and shade them too much. I've had a mystery clem growing in Maggie for many years. It's a large flowered type 2 and never has threatened to overwhelm the plant.

I thought it was Nelly Moser but now think it could be Dr. Ruppel. This clem mostly stays pretty low. It can be mostly pink shades but this year was quite purpley.

I planted Mme. Julia Correvon and Betty Corning on the same large arbor with wire fencing attached to it. I planted rose Polka a little further out from them but on the same arbor. So far the clems like the wire fencing so much they are staying on that, not climbing on Polka.

Negritjanka with Traviata

Arabella and Wise Portia

Rooguchi with Ballerina. I do think Rooguchi shaded Ballerina too much.

Venosa Violaceae with William Morris

Princess Diana with Allister Stella Grey...Diana is pretty big now and shading roses in that bed a bit much.

Erasmus, your first pic is such a beautiful soft color. I bet your mystery clem is Dr. Ruppel. I've read he grows well in the shade. Absolutely love your Mme Julia, Betty Corning and Polka combo. Betty is overwintering in the garage because I wasn't able to get her in the ground. At the Rosarium, she is quite large. Negritjanka with Traviata is stunning! I love the unexpected combination. I planted Arabella as a ground cover under Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas. Big mistake! Arabella pulls the canes down and flattens the hydrangea out. It's pretty at the beginning of the season, but Arabella gets aggressive as the season wears on. LOVE Rooguchi and Ballerina. Both vigorous enough to stand up to one another. I might copy that one! Your last two are my favorites. VV is such a standout! Princess Diana is perfect with Allister Stella Grey. What a gorgeous bunch of clematis and roses you grow!!

Wow I cannot believe how gorgeous the photos on this thread are. How long would you all say it takes a clem to reach maturity? Mine are still so wimpy.

Magpie in my yard most need a solid four years to really shine.

Okay, my oldest ones are only 2. So they need some time, that's good to know. My 2nd year ones got quite tall this year but still aren't filled out by any sense of the imagination. And they didn't bloom very well eithereithereither

Thank you, flowers. I went overboard buying them several years ago due to the time it takes for them to mature. I wanted to get started. I planted Duchess of Albany last year and it hasn't bloomed at all yet. It grew well. Princess Diana did the same thing when planted. So some of them put their energy into getting established before blooming. I try to root cuttings of many of mine so that if the parent plant dies I can try again in another location. The thing I'm most surprised about with clems is that they are not as finicky about water as I expected. I do water most of mine but they seem tougher than I thought.

Thank you Sultry :) I should mention that Olympia (in the Boulevard clematis series) seems to bloom non stop in the summer. Lovely photos in this thread. Very tempted to try Diana, it looks stunning in your photo, Erasmus

Thank you, Ana. Usually Princess Diana's flowers face upwards.

What gorgeus combinations! I royally flunked with clematis this year. I planted 5 and all died except one ot two. I am

curious if the two i think that are alive will come back in the spring.

Lala, I lost 3 in the last year as well and I just don't know why 🤷🏽‍♀️

I too find clematis difficult here. Some have petered out. Others attacked by critters. I think in general it is too hot here. I may have overwatered and rotted some too because I was worried about the heat.

I was a member years ago of a clematis society run by Edith Malek who grew wonderful clematis in California. She could do it, but I appear to be lacking.

For those of you who feel that you have lost a clematis, give it a year or two to see if they come back. Sometimes the roots are still alive and they come back the next season. In my current gardens I have far too many voles and have to plant clematis in cylinders of wire or plastic mesh, or they get eaten.

Where I have combined roses and clematis in the garden, I plant them in separate holes a few feet apart and and provide separate support for the clematis. Getting size and bloom timing right can be difficult. I had Prince Charles clematis planted near Zephirine Drouhin rose, and they bloomed at the same time some years but did not other years.

New Dawn

Awww! I'm such a sucker for these soft colors combined. Beautiful, Holly!

Flowersaremusic, where did you buy the Mollie rose? It is beautiful! As are your photos.........

Judith

Bought some new Clems today, 2 "Multi Blue" and 1 "Fireworks". 3 Clems for $15 so I figured it was a small enough investment to see if they'll do okay. Not sure yet where to put them. My original 3 "President" Clems are getting totally covered by roses that grew more vigorously than I expected, I wonder what will become of them. I definitely planted things too closely 😬

I crazily bought 6 clematis last year and they were small so I potted them up to let them get some size . Those teeny little plants all got a bloom

They just look like a tangle of sticks right now but every one of those little plants has buds on them.

I guess that I didn't kill them ( yet ) whoop whoop. They are all a prunning 2

Kristine, which ones did you buy again?

Oh, and I planted this clematis on an arch opposite Constance Spry last year... It was supposed to be Comtesse de Buchad but it's definitely not. First bloom was quite small, I was thinking Romantika maybe, next blooms were slightly bigger. I don't think the place I got it from was even selling Romantika, though. Online image search suggests Jackmanii or Etoile Violet. Any ideas? I'm a total clematis newbie and a lot of the purples look alike to me so I can't tell what it is.

Magpie, I'm pretty sure that's Etoile Violette Viticella; flowers in great profusion; 10-13 feet, a big one; type 3, prune to 8-12" to include two strong sets of buds. I just ran through Edwards 15+ page clematis list to check this out. It's fun, and every time I look at all those clems, I want two or three more. They are $16 for a big plant, ready to bloom, with its own little lattice. They are grown locally by the head of roses and perennials at Edwards. Diane

I've shown various photos of my clematis Rosemoor, which I like a lot and is very easy to grow. Diane

Diane, $16 for a big clematis is such a great deal. The online nursery I've ordered from in the past (and killed every single clem I bought from them -_-) is $26 per clematis, the local plant nursery here is about the same. The 3 for $15 box I just bought was from Sam's Club, and they're just tiny bare rooted clems that take quite a long time to mature. Thanks for searching what type of clematis the above photo might be. I'm pleased to hear it's likely Etoile Violet, as I've been wanting to try a viticella but I've been hesitating to pay for the pricey ones and Sam's Club has a tiny selection of mostly just the early large flowered types.

I have another clematis that i managed to get it to bloom last year, i hope i didnt kill it. Maybe it‘s Rhapsody. It’s planted next to Alchymist rose. Here in SoCal, clematis should have their roots in the shade, but their growth should be in the sun.

" Here in SoCal, clematis should have their roots in the shade, but their growth should be in the sun. "

That is the planting recommendation for ALL clematis anywhere they are planted.

I ended up jumping into the Clematis pool!

I mainly purchased boxed/bagged clems from Sam's, Lowe's, and Walmart. I bought four from a nursery during their "winter sale" and only two of those four show signs of life. I shared a large portion of my multiples with my sister, which of course justified my original purchase.

Many of these are potted but some have been planted. I'm curious with so much mislabeling abound, what will really pop up?

Here are the possibilities:

Bees Jubilee

Belle de Woking

City of Lyon

Elsa Spath

Ernest Markham (Type 3)

Henryi

HF Young

Hyde Hall

Miss Bateman

Niobe

President

Warsaw Nike

+I pared Elsa Spath with Mme Isaac Pereire and Sweet Mademoiselle

+I have Hyde Hall near Distant Drums, Munstead Wood, St. Cecilia and Peach Drifts

+Warsaw Nike is near Julia Childs and Peach Drifts

+President is by Francis Meilland and Spirit of Freedom

+Ernest Markham is between Spirit of Freedom and Raspberry Cream Twirl

+President is between Raspberry Cream Twirl and Honeymoon

+Miss Bateman is with a blackberry and might mingle with Spirit of Freedom

All the others are in pots except for the two mystery clems from the nursery. I think those are not coming back this season.

So, I have a dream. I have a vision. But who knows how this will all turn out. Hopefully I'll have some good news in the next year or so to share.

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) yay for your new clems!

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw are you planting the budding clems this year? I'm wondering how long to keep mine in a pot.

Someone should warn others that a year or two after you've been bitten by the rose bug, you will be bitten by the clematis bug. I feel quite sore from those two bites.

@flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA your combo of Hagley/Davis is terrific. I think most folks go for strong contrast, but you've created dimensions which only elevates both flowers in my opinion. Gorgeous.

I added nine clematis last year, and it looks like 5-6 made it through the winter (the others I can return for a refund). Rooguchi, for those who do not grow it, is a terrific one for beginners. It's a gentle thug...ours was in a 4-inch pot for TWO years before we planted it. Never died. We've moved it a few times and it just keeps growing and growing. And ours blooms from spring to fall.

Robert, Rooguchi gets high praise from Edwards, and I've wanted this one for years. You've convinced me. Diane

@erasmus_gw your clem with Maggie looks like the image of Bees Jubliee on the Edward’s website.

@User

Rooguchi is so cute! happy to hear the great review. ill have to add it to my wishlist. Please send all ”great for beginners” recs my way! It’s so true about the clem bug biting hard and the rose bug too. I just started collecting roses in 2019 and have been on a roll since.

Diane your Rosemoor is georgous. If Munstead doesnt work out for me, I’ll try it to give me that wine color in the garden. And ilove hearing that it’s easy!

@flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA i adore your Multi Blue and Mollie combo! The fuzzy texture of Multi Blue is phenomenal.

Do yall usually pick up clematis online, in local nurseries, or in big box stores?

My local nursery had clematis on clearance early winter a long with some other unsold perennials from the season. They all seemed to have veryvery healthy roots (the plants were dormant) so I bought 5 different varieties. Fingers crossed they do well in my garden! Some are just starting to wake up by forming bud eyeseyes.

Thanks, Sunny. I buy clematis locally. Edwards has 15+ pages of them, and they're grown locally by the head of perennials and roses at E's. They have Rooguchi and some purple clems I'd love to grow. Good luck if you try Rosemoor.

Librarian, what are the varieties you chose? Diane

Diane, I'll have to take a walk one day this week after work and read the tags 😅 gosh I've always thought that your Edwards is a special place and everytime you mention something about it the place.sounds more wonderful!

I purchased Marie Curie for Spring Hill. Way overpriced for a 4 inch . Marie is a beautiful Double white.

From Donahues I bought

Diana's Delight

Paulie

Diamantina

Pink Champagne

Samaritan jo

Bernadine a clematis for shade.

A couple are only 4ft tall so they will stay potted.

Not sure which 2 will be behind Francis Meiland.

I believe that I will get them planted this year .

Diane your Rosemoor is glorious!

Robert, you are right, clematis is definitely my new addiction ( along with dahlias, lilies and daylilies .

Rooguchi, for us, gets to be 8' tall and a little fat--2' wide or so? Not a problem, per se, just make sure you have a good trellis for it. Ours has mostly morning sun and then shade (bright shade, just in the shadow of the house) by 1pm in the summer. Blooms for months. Mildews in the fall, but by the fall, even the mildew is mildewing here with all of our rain.

Robert, I would think that clematis would do really well in Portland .

I have atleast 4 decent sports where the roots will be shaded. The potted ones will be a bit more challenging

Thanks, Kristine, about Rosemoor, and Robert for your into on it Rooguchi, which was pretty much what I thought. We don't get any mildew here in the fall. Happy about that.

Edwards clem list includes a nice photo with each clem, so you can see what they look like, even if you're not ordering. They don't ship. Diane

What size pot should I keep my unplanted clems in? I've tried to go ahead and repot all of the ladies in waiting, but based on this root system, I'm wondering if I need to put them in even larger pots. Like if you planned to simply keep a clem in a pot forever, what size would that be?

Also, is it an issue for clems to be root-bound? As I plant the clems I loosen the soil around the roots and spread the roots out. I've been amazed at how so tightly bound some of the roots are. Like you could see the rectangle outline of the pot it was in before the nursery stuck it in a larger pot to sell at "larger pot" price. Most of them are managable, but one was outrageously bound tight. I got it loose, but I'm wondering how well clems to regardless if you loosen the roots first or not. Does anyone have experience with this?

I ended up grabbing a few more clems at local nurseries last week/this week. I got a Roguchi and a Betty Corning which I'm super excited about! I planted the Betty Corning at the base of my Vitex tree. I thought the blue/purples would look pretty together, and you could see under the bells as they climb up the tree. Hopefully this combo works out. Roguchi might live in a pot for a bit.

Here's my "final" clem list:

Asao

Belle de Woking

Bees Jubilee

Betty Corning

Blue Light

Crystal Fountain

Diamantina

Dr. Ruppel

Elsa Spath

Ernest Markham

HF Young

Henryi

Hyde Hall

Kakio/Pink Champagne

Miss Bateman

Niobe

Roguchi

The President

Venosa Violacea

Ville de Lyon

So this is my first time growing clems and I don't know what I'm doing. Everytime I plant one in the ground I think to myself "I don't know what I'm doing." Is this how clem collecting started for you? I haven't gone overboard have I?

What a sight I saw yesterday as my friend Elaine and I hit Edwards. There were hundreds of large clems, each with its own little trellis, on the floor of one of their greenhouses. They are grown locally. I'm still thinking about Rooguchi, which they had lots of. Elaine got Rebecca and a second one I forgot to ask about. I picked up a second Rouge Royale, which will stay in a special greenhouse until it's time to plant the five gallon rose. This RR is going into the space poor late Olivia occupied until a gopher got her in December. I'm leaving my other RR in place because I don't want to deal with a 15 gallon gopher pot. So hitchhike a ride to Boise for your clems.

Sunny, that's a lot of clems. I wish I had the room for them. Diane

Sunny, I have the same dilemma as to when to play those in the ground. Mine are in good size pots but if they are climbing their

Permanent trellis then I will have to unwrap them to plant in ground.

Wow, what a list! How much fun to get all those new Clems. Of my 3 tiny bare-roots from Sam's Club, the "Fireworks" did not survive but I have two baby "Multi Blue"s successfully breaking dormancy and growing! They're still so tiny though, so a long ways to go until they get planted out.

Kristine, my Rosemoor is on a permanent trellis and every late winter, I prune it to the ground. It's supposedly a type 2 or 3, but blooms in coordination with the roses better if I prune it like a type 3. So, I'd just prune the heck out of those clems, rather than unwrapping them, unless it's later in the season. Diane

I really think that another year in a pot is what I will do and then prune like Diane suggested .

Sunny, you will love Betty Corning. When it is finally mature, the flowers have a sweet fragrance that carries in the air. I have one growing up through a heavily pruned lilac, and it is a fragrant pale blue haze for about a month in early summer.