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Clematis alpina question please

blameitonthedogblameitonthedog Posts: 122
in Plants
'Constance' in this case.  Is it normal for alpinas to still be producing lots of flowers in mid July?  I would like to grow more clematis for different flowering seasons...do they often go off-piste with when they are meant to flower as I had thought the alpina should have finished long ago?

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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    It may just be a response to stress over winter and the late spring.  I wouldn't be too worried.  Plants don't read the manuals.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • blameitonthedogblameitonthedog Posts: 122
    Thank you.  I wasn't sure if it was a common thing for alpinas to do.  If it were, I had in mind another as a nice combination with something else that flowers at this time....but I won't bother if it isn't usual for alpinas to do what mine is currently doing.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Normal flowering time for Constance is April/May but that will vary depending on where you are and how exposed is your garden.  This site is good for finding clematis info when you're selecting new plants - http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemlistsearch.cfm

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    I am growing clematis Constance too blameitonthedog.  This is it's first year of flowering - the plant is just (approx) 20 inches tall, with new shoots.  There are a few flowers now, they are very small though - delicate I would say.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    My Constance is flowering just now - same as usual, although the flowers are very faded this year - the sun has bleached them.
    They are always a bit paler in summer than they are in spring though. The seed heads are good too  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • blameitonthedogblameitonthedog Posts: 122
    Yes, these summer flowers although unexpected and welcome are faded by comparison and smaller (than in spring).

    The biggest surprise however is a. that it is still alive and b. how big it has become so quickly.  My previous clematis experience (bar Montana) has been buy, plant, tend with loving care, watch it die. Repeat.

    This alpina covered one side of our shed and up and over one side of the roof from March of this year.  I didn't realise they were so easy... and then got all excited about the prospect of more alpinas and flowers all summer.  But you can bet if I bought another.....!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    it's never easy to stop at one, is it?  These online clematis specialists are a nightmare when you start looking!  :D
    Alpinas are happier in a  drier medium than many others, so they can be easier to maintain if you're in an area with lower rainfall, or have much lighter soil. Lovely plants - the diversity of clematis is often overlooked. They can be quite different from the ones we think of when someone says clematis   :)
    The summer flowers on mine aren't usually so pale, but it's been very hot, dry and sunny here this year, so they're more faded than normal. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    We have alpinas on the northfacing fence on the Shady Bank which can be very dry due to the roots of a large ash tree.  They virtually clothe a long fence and flower their socks off in the spring ... we don't get much of a second flush but by then the honeysuckles and herbaceous planting in front of them have taken over.  I have a soaker hose on the bank, but only use it rarely in very dry spells such as just now, and then only once or twice a week at most.   Love Clematis alpinas  <3

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd like another for my back fence Dove - it's a similar aspect to yours, and it would be pretty for spring, and perhaps a few flowers just now. A white/cream/lemony one would be perfect to go with all the spring bulbs  :)

    I'd need to shift those interloping hedgehogs though....that's where they're living... ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I've got a Clem. montana 'grandiflora' on the back fence ... part of it blew down into a heap during a spring storm, and now our hedgehogs seem to have taken up residence underneath it ... as it's at the back of the Wilderness we decided to leave it in a bit of a heap for them and it's looking fine, and already sending out tendrils back up the fence as well so I think it'll be fine. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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