Clematis

peteS · May 2020

I've just bought 3 clematis...Mrs N Thompson, Rouge Cardinal and Niobe. But I can't find anything which tells me which group they belong to. Could anyone help. Also when planting them out do you need to add compost or manure to enrich the soil. Many thanks.

Fairygirl · May 2020

This is a very useful site

http://clematisontheweb.org/index.cfm
Or you can look on any of the specialist sites - Taylor's Clematis, Thorncroft or Hawthorne's.
Niobe is a Group 3, as is Rouge C. Cut back in late winter/early spring. I don't grow the other one, but you'll get the info on any of those links.
I don't use manure for mine, unless they've been put in a new border of some kind that's had it added the previous year. Mine do get compost added to them each year.
Plenty of water for them, and just a slow release food is fine, although you can add a feed as well when they're forming buds, up until flowering. I rarely do that.
However, if they're just these tiny ones that supermarkets sell, I'd pot them on until next year before planting out.
Niobe is one of my favourite clems

peteS · May 2020

Hi @Fairygirl. Thanks for that advice. Yes they are the tiny ones from the supermarket and I will pot them on. What size of pot would you suggest, and will they grow much in between times.

Fairygirl · May 2020

Ideally - a clematis pot, which is about 5 inches wide, about 9 inches deep if possible, but if you don't have them, anything reasonably deep. Wait until they're filling the pots they're in - you should see roots coming out the bottom.Then pot them on. Don't let them get roasted and dried out. A wee bit of shade while they're growing.
If you look after them, they should grow on well by the end of summer.

mikeymustard · May 2020

You've got 3 good'uns there. Mrs N. Thompson's a big showy early flowerer so group 2 pruning.
A word of warning about those little supermarket specials - they can be very addictive, and the evil so and so's seem to get new varieties in every week so I keep picking up a couple on my shopping trips (unless I hear the megaphonic tones of my partner shouting "Put down the clematis; step away from the clematis!). Otherwise they seem surprisingly robust, I have only lost one in a couple of years of collecting, out of about 20 (still got 15 on my patio)

peteS · May 2020

@mikeymustard, At 3 for a fiver, I'm beginning to understand what you mean. I've already ordered 12 long pots to grow them on over winter on the advice of @Fairygirl.

Clematis

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