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Why does'nt my Clematis 'Jingle Bells' flower?
MoominMama
Posts: 36
Originally I grew my Clematis Jingle Bells in a large tub, to cover a shed at the head of the drive. Poor growth and no flowers! My drive is quite a wind tunnel, so I moved the clematis to back garden. It is now planted in a bed, approximately West facing and more sheltered. But still, leggy growth and no flowers 
. Its really not earning it's keep. I wonder why it is not thriving?
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My hasn't flowered either and the growth is Browning. It is in a sheltered position.
is that Clematis cirrhosa?
Mine has always been a waste of space. It either goes brown from too hot and dry in summer or from cold in winter. A few flowers some years if I'm lucky. I cut it right back to the ground early last year, kill or cure (rather hoping for kill), It made a lot of healthy looking growth in spring, then went brown in places. No flowers yet
In the sticks near Peterborough
The RHS site says it needs a sheltered position so probably doesn't like either full sun or strong winds or cold spells.
It is a chance seedling of Freckles and is supposed to like the same conditions. I used to have one of these growing at the south facing front of my Belgian house on a westerly facing trellis. It was in a very fertile clay/loam soil and grew well for a few years but its flowers were always shrivelled up by frosts below -5C. The entire plant died in a minus 15C.
I've got Clem. cirrhosa 'Freckles' - it's been here about 4 or 5 years and has covered a large panel of trellis and would have gone further if I'd let it. It flowers well for most of the autumn and all of the winter and a few flowers at other times too. It's in the northwest facing corner of the west facing front garden and the soil is quite damp most of the time. If the soil does dry out the leaves go brown and it looks awful, but a few buckets of water and it's soon happy again.
I give it two or three good dollops of clematis food through the year, and all my shrubs get some Fish, Blood and Bone in the spring.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Like Dove, I also have c. cirrhosa 'Freckles' and find it does well anywhere, even in my north-facing back garden on clay soil which is in a frost hollow. I think it's a much hardier plant than 'Jingle Bells' so might be worth a try instead. The only downside is that it can be rather rampant if left to it's own devices and tends to layer itself if allowed to trail on the ground (although that also means lots of free plants, of course!)
Thanks everyone,
At least I know its not just me that's failed! You would think a climber called ' Jingle Bells' would at least be hardy enough to cope in Yorkshire! We're not really talking minus temperatures very often! This plant just seems to be a softee and is on borrowed time in my garden. As its a group 1 clematis it shouldn't really be pruned back Nutcutlet, but hey - why not? I think I'll give it another year, a good feed and a few kind words. Then, we'll see....
Can't go by the name.
I had a cercis canadensis Forest Pansy which did not survive Belgian winters of -20C and worse. I suspect that's because we had the cold without a blanket of snow. Ditto a northofagus antarticta that failed at -25C. Several conifers and evergreens such as viburnum tinus, eleagnus, choisya and skimmia also wiped out.
I too have jingle bells, masses of tendrils and green leaves, this year one bell! Exactly the same as last year. It was a freebie from T&M about 8 yrs ago.
this year I am going to dig it out and banish it to the bottom of the garden, and not waste any more manure, fertiliser on it. Feckles as a twin freebie, that died ages ago
Oops just seen I typed feckles, but that sums up both clematis really!
Oh and i thought it is just mine who didnt flower. It is well looked after, fed and watered through summer and kept at sheltered place through winter.