The summer flowering clematis, Viticella Group, Texensis Group and many of the species are the easiest of the whole genus.
Simply chop them hard back every February.
Unfortunately, some are difficult to display in flower on 3 ft. canes in the garden centres, so preference is given to the earlier, larger flowered varieties.
The only one I would hesitate about are the texensis which I have found to be a bit more finicky than other varieties. Having said this it was when they were in the ground and they are prone to clem wilt. So in a pot you would probably be fine.
Viticellas are fabulous and very easy to look after but have a tendency to go bare at the base which can be annoying in a pot.
Your best bet is to try them--you could mix more than one late-flowering form together as Richard suggests. But don't mix varieties from different flowering groups because they need different treatment and in trying to prune one you'll damage the rest.
Montana, armandii, and some others are really too big but for scent you could try flammula. If only the breeders would use this in their work more.
Having had my knuckles wrapped on a couple of occasions on these pages when I have tried to defend the humble clematis, I ask the following question with the utmost politeness and curiosity.
I grow the following Texensis Group clematis........Duchess of Albany, Gravetye Beauty, Lady Bird Johnson, Mienie Belle, Princess Diana, Sir Trevor Lawrence plus a couple of the species and several home grown crosses..
I have never known any of them to be affected by clematis wilt, sometimes if the roots dry out powdery mildew can kick in, so I am surprised when a poster on this thread says that ' texensis are prone to clem wilt '
My understanding , and I might well be wrong, is that it's the large flowered Clematis which are more prone, and the smaller types which are less prone.
I've only ever had one clematis keel over on me and it was in a half barrel, but might well have dried out briefly. It was planted with a climbing rose so I never bothered to dig it out and 3 years later it re-appeared.
The viticellas are immune Hostafan, but the texensis are notorious. Some large-flowered ones will succumb but the newer ones don't seem nearly as troublesome (at least in my experience), so perhaps the breeders have been at work here. Interested that yours came down with it in a tub, I'd always supposed it was a soil-borne disease but perhaps not. Even more interesting that it came back!
New knowledge has brought hope to managing clematis wilt. We now know that only one group of clematis out of 12 is vulnerable. Another occasionally wilts but too rarely to need treatment. Ten groups are entirely wilt free. Furthermore, the fungus almost never kills a plant. Ignorance fuels alarm, understanding brings promise.
The Enemy Faced with an opponent, it helps to know that opponent. Better still put yourself in the place of the enemy - in this case a tiny fungus - phoma clematidina.
This little chap can only feed on clematis. For centuries it had a thin time. Then Jackman in 1860 hybridised Jackmanii. This beautiful plant had such an impact that clematis took off. By 1880 Jackman had over 400 new clematis in his catalogue. Other nurseries followed all over Europe. Now the tiny phoma never had it so good. The best way to start an epidemic is to pack people together. The same applies to clematis wilt. It spread and spread so that it brought the industry to a halt by 1880. But the gardeners and growers then had little notion of germs and fungi. Now we do.
The Fungus Gloyer, a scientist in New York State, USA, discovered the fungus in 1915. His finding was ignored until recently when his finding was confirmed in the UK, Holland and New Zealand. But there was another conundrum. Working with a group of expert gardeners and growers we found some years ago that the fungus only attacks one group of clematis - the Early Large Flowered group with clematis such as 'Nelly Moser', 'Elsa Spath', 'Countess of Lovelace', 'W.E. Gladstone', etc. This finding was confirmed by research at the University of Derby. So why is this group vulnerable? I found that it was due to the fact that C. lanuginosa, the woolly clematis, from China had been extensively used as a parent in the last century. This is very vulnerable to wilting and it has parented most of the clematis in the Early Large Flowered group, the vulnerable group.
Posts
The summer flowering clematis, Viticella Group, Texensis Group and many of the species are the easiest of the whole genus.
Simply chop them hard back every February.
Unfortunately, some are difficult to display in flower on 3 ft. canes in the garden centres, so preference is given to the earlier, larger flowered varieties.
Etoile Violette would be ideal - it's a delight through late summer and into autumn. Similar aspect to what you have Redwing.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The only one I would hesitate about are the texensis which I have found to be a bit more finicky than other varieties. Having said this it was when they were in the ground and they are prone to clem wilt. So in a pot you would probably be fine.
Viticellas are fabulous and very easy to look after but have a tendency to go bare at the base which can be annoying in a pot.
Your best bet is to try them--you could mix more than one late-flowering form together as Richard suggests. But don't mix varieties from different flowering groups because they need different treatment and in trying to prune one you'll damage the rest.
Montana, armandii, and some others are really too big but for scent you could try flammula. If only the breeders would use this in their work more.
I also love Betty Corning, aym280, it has a wonderful scent. I have it in a pot, bought having seen it in a garden open for the NGS.
Having had my knuckles wrapped on a couple of occasions on these pages when I have tried to defend the humble clematis, I ask the following question with the utmost politeness and curiosity.
I grow the following Texensis Group clematis........Duchess of Albany, Gravetye Beauty, Lady Bird Johnson, Mienie Belle, Princess Diana, Sir Trevor Lawrence plus a couple of the species and several home grown crosses..
I have never known any of them to be affected by clematis wilt, sometimes if the roots dry out powdery mildew can kick in, so I am surprised when a poster on this thread says that ' texensis are prone to clem wilt '
Has anyone else had this problem ?
Thank you.
My understanding , and I might well be wrong, is that it's the large flowered Clematis which are more prone, and the smaller types which are less prone.
I've only ever had one clematis keel over on me and it was in a half barrel, but might well have dried out briefly. It was planted with a climbing rose so I never bothered to dig it out and 3 years later it re-appeared.
The viticellas are immune Hostafan, but the texensis are notorious. Some large-flowered ones will succumb but the newer ones don't seem nearly as troublesome (at least in my experience), so perhaps the breeders have been at work here. Interested that yours came down with it in a tub, I'd always supposed it was a soil-borne disease but perhaps not. Even more interesting that it came back!
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=125
"C. viticella (which is tolerant rather than resistant)"
No mention of texensis.
Cambridgerose12, Can I just point out for clarification , I said mine "keeled over" I do not wish to be seen to imply it was "clematis wilt" .
I am more than happy to bow to the superior knowledge of Richard when it comes to Clematis.
The late Dr John Howells says........
New knowledge has brought hope to managing clematis wilt. We now know that only one group of clematis out of 12 is vulnerable. Another occasionally wilts but too rarely to need treatment. Ten groups are entirely wilt free. Furthermore, the fungus almost never kills a plant. Ignorance fuels alarm, understanding brings promise.
The Enemy
Faced with an opponent, it helps to know that opponent. Better still put yourself in the place of the enemy - in this case a tiny fungus - phoma clematidina.
This little chap can only feed on clematis. For centuries it had a thin time. Then Jackman in 1860 hybridised Jackmanii. This beautiful plant had such an impact that clematis took off. By 1880 Jackman had over 400 new clematis in his catalogue. Other nurseries followed all over Europe. Now the tiny phoma never had it so good. The best way to start an epidemic is to pack people together. The same applies to clematis wilt. It spread and spread so that it brought the industry to a halt by 1880. But the gardeners and growers then had little notion of germs and fungi. Now we do.
The Fungus
Gloyer, a scientist in New York State, USA, discovered the fungus in 1915. His finding was ignored until recently when his finding was confirmed in the UK, Holland and New Zealand. But there was another conundrum. Working with a group of expert gardeners and growers we found some years ago that the fungus only attacks one group of clematis - the Early Large Flowered group with clematis such as 'Nelly Moser', 'Elsa Spath', 'Countess of Lovelace', 'W.E. Gladstone', etc. This finding was confirmed by research at the University of Derby. So why is this group vulnerable? I found that it was due to the fact that C. lanuginosa, the woolly clematis, from China had been extensively used as a parent in the last century. This is very vulnerable to wilting and it has parented most of the clematis in the Early Large Flowered group, the vulnerable group.