Maiden Grape And Clematis Fargezioides - A Brilliant Partnership

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

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In autumn, a large mass of crimson colors of grape leaves can create a somewhat gloomy impression, especially on cloudy days. I involuntarily want to add something light, airy to them.

And therefore, here it is worth considering such an interesting option as a partnership of especially ornamental plants, which are quite affordable and, most importantly, resistant to diseases and pests, winter-hardy without shelter and special pruning.

Probably the most exquisite and especially colorful autumn is a duet of maiden grapes and clematis of the Fargezioides variety, which braid the wall of the garden house to the very roof. Of course, like any flowering plant, clematis is planted in a sunny location in partnership with grapes. Clematis of the Fargeziodes variety is winter-hardy, begins to bloom profusely with star-shaped, creamy-white numerous flowers, sometimes already from the end of June until frost.

And even when its flowering weakens in late autumn, shoots with openwork pinnate leaves and small fluffy seed heads remain decorative. Unfortunately, this variety practically does not tie seeds, therefore it is propagated vegetatively: by green and lignified cuttings, layering, grafting on the roots of varietal clematis and species seedlings (Clematis viticella, Clematis vitalba, Clematis orientalis).

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In September - October, crimson grape leaves with blue fruits especially emphasize the airiness of green, light brown shoots and graceful white star-shaped flowers, later - the fluffy seed heads of this rare variety of clematis. It is as attractive as it is unpretentious - it does not require pruning, removal from supports, any cover, except for mulching the root zone with mowed grass or obtained after weeding. In the fall, it is useful to fill the base of the bush with a light earthen mixture with sand and ash (about a bucket by volume). This will protect the lower nodes and allow them to form new roots faster in early spring. Cut branches with flowers and seedlings in the bouquet give it a special charm, keeping it in a dry bouquet.

To create a bright autumn duet of vines with a contrasting color of foliage and texture of leaves, it is enough to plant grapes and clematis at a support near each other. You can choose not only the Fageziodes variety, but also its "progenitor" - vine-leaved clematis (Clematis vitalba was crossed with Clematis fargesi in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in 1964).

This is an unpretentious, powerful liana with ribbed shoots 3-4 m long. It grows wildly, filling a large area of support, walls of a house or a fence. Grape-leaved clematis blooms from the end of July until frost, very abundantly, with white four-petal flowers 1.5–2 cm in diameter. Multi-root infructescence is formed in late summer and ripens in October - November. They are also a particularly elegant element of clematis decor: openwork spherical heads are formed by long (up to 4 cm) curved fluffy noses of each nut 0.3x0.2 cm in size. Good fruiting of this species allows you to get a large amount of planting material by sowing seeds before winter. Seed germination lasts 1–2 years.

Before sowing, fluffy noses are separated from the seeds. The easiest way to propagate species clematis is by layering lignified stems - both horizontal in spring and autumn, and vertical in spring and summer. Let me remind you that vertical layering is done in the same way as I do for some indoor plants. The knot on the stem is notched, treated with a root formation stimulator, wrapped with a film in the form of a sleeve, the lower end of the film is collected and tied, the knot is covered with wet perlite, peat or sand, or their mixture, the upper end of the film is tied.

As soon as the roots are formed, the stem is cut from the bottom and planted for growing in a bedding bed. In spring and summer, you can pin the clematis nodes into pots through one, placing them on the ground along the mother bush and sprinkling them with nutritious soil entirely. In any case, the soil and substrate are kept moist throughout the season.

At the end of the season or a year later, young plants are planted in a permanent place, not forgetting to fill the seats with humus and 1-2 teaspoons of granules of long-acting complex fertilizer AVA for two to three years at once. Mulching plantings with a loose substrate will improve the wintering conditions for plants, since we grow our gardens in an area of risky farming, and often frost binds the ground even before the snow falls.

You can cover the trunks with mown grass, cut off perennial stems, dry healthy leaves, sawdust - in a word, any available organic matter or just branches that will hold back the best “blanket” for plants - fluffy snow.