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clematis in need of identification
happymarion
Posts: 4,591
in Plants
Could someone enlighten me on the name of this clematis which was left in a corner of my potager in a small pot for me to find by one of the many visitors to my garden? I did recognise it as a climber, put it in a big pot with a stake and put it under my Fuchsia magellanica to shade its roots, then forgot it was there and now its purple flowers with pale green middles are scrambling through the big fuchsia bush and I cannot tell my visitors its name because no one has owned up to leaving it for me.
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Could it be Polish Spirit? I'm no clemaris expert but it looks like something that I have always taken to be Polish Spirit.
Thank you, waterbutts. That looks like it. I shall now label it. It is very pretty.
Ours has hundreds and hundreds of flowers on right now. The plant is more purple than it is green
I'd agree with Polish spirit which I also have - it's a Group 3 and a 'good doer'. I cut mine back to about 30cm every Spring - grows back to about 3-4m and gets absolutely covered in flowers.
Wow, now was that not a lovely present to leave me in my potager? It does have loads of flowers on it still in bud so, if the weather staysbenign the fuchsia is going to be a riot of red and purple for a good few week's yet.
Back again - but at a proper computer this time, so had a look on my "Clematis on the Web" site. Not sure it is Polish Spirit because the flowers only have four petals, whereas Polish Spirit has five. There is a four petalled one called Liisu, which might be a candidate. However, I would have a look yourself, because only you will be able to see whether the bars on the petals look right - its difficult to pick that up in a picture.
Link is here:
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=814
There is a handy feature where you can input all the details you know (flower colour, flowering time etc etc) and it will come up with all the potential candidates.
My Polish Spirit only has 4 petals, chicky. The number is variable with most clematis.
BTW, ever tried real Polish spirit? Not a beverage for the faint-hearted (It'll strip varnish, too!)
Er yes, Bob. One house we bought was owned by a Polish couple. The husband was clearly keen on a tipple as there was a full bottle and a bit of this stuff when we opened the garage.
I use it for cleaning as it's virtually 100 proof.