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Clematis or Old Man's Beard?

CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
in Plants
I have this seedling popped up in a pot where I am nurturing wisteria seedling (I know, 15 years to flowering so I won't be seeing it!).  Can anyone identify for sure? It could be either old man's beard or clematis as I have both growing nearby.  With my luck i fear it is the former  :'( 

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    A picture might help, but Clematis and Old Mans Beard are one and the same.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
    So here's the photo!  But they are not one and the same as far as a my garden is concerned.




  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    Old man's beard is Clematis Vitalba.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    that's OMB, can become a weedy thug. I'd NOT plant it in the garden
    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Old Man's Beard is just a common name @Collareddove. It's still a clematis, hence your confusion possibly. As @floralies says - it's Clematis vitalba, and can be a nuisance.  :)

    Not well behaved like most types of clematis, although some are more thuggish than others. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
    I am not confused @Fairygirl, I do, of course, understand that old man's beard is a clematis, however it is not a 'garden' clematis.  I wanted to know if anyone could identify from the leaves alone which version of clematis I have as i do not want to plant a thuggish weed in my garden.  it would appear that there is no way of differentiating between the two until flowering, by which time it may be too late.  I shall have to weed it out and assume the worst, clematis vitalba.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I'm virtually 100% sure it's OMB
    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Well - it depends on the garden too. :)
    We could easily have grown it in the garden at the last house, but there was several hundred feet of boundary there. I could grow it here, as  I've got one boundary that's around 80 plus feet, and plenty of hedge/fence for it to scramble along and through, but I don't like it, so I wouldn't. Many C. montanas cover similar spaces, as do many other climbers - hydrangeas, parthenocissus etc, so it really comes down to the space available and whether you like it enough   :)
    If  you know what the other clematis is, perhaps it could be IDd, but many of them are too similar in the foliage, so it wouldn't necessarily help - the flower shape and colour etc would be better for specific advice, but I agree that it's most likely C. vitalba. Most other clems don't seed/layer or spread that easily. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
    As @Hostafan1 and @Fairygirl, I think it must be c.vitalba - as a seedling it's growing too well to be a cultivated form.  Out it comes!
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