General Information About Clematis, Types And Planting

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

Liana clematis - queen of climbing plants

General information about clematis

Large-flowered clematis

In the 80s of the last century, an incredible interest in a rare perennial liana - clematis, whose name comes from the Greek word literally meaning "branch or shoot of grapes", flared up in our country.

In the ancient world, this term was used for various climbing plants, including clematis. One of the first written mentions of it dates back to 1548: in the work of V. Turner "The Name of Medicinal Plants" there is information about the grape-leaved clematis (Clematis vitalba), which at that time was used for medicinal purposes.

Experts say that only in European languages this plant has about 200 popular names, although its culture is very young in comparison with many garden plants: clematis, warthog - this is how it is called in Russia, elulyng ("string of life") - in Estonia, ragan ("Witch on a broom") - in Lithuania, mezhvitenis ("climbing plant in the forest") - in Latvia, sippranka ("climbing anemone") - in Sweden, waldrabe ("forest vine branch") - in Germany.

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Perhaps the most poetic folk names for clematis exist in England, and when translated they sound like “the joy of the traveler; the joy of the shepherd; girl hair; honesty; flame; fucking gut and witch rope; the warthog and the old man's beard ", and even" the snow in the harvest"

If you think about it, this amazing plant really evokes a lot of similar associations. The lush green of the carved leaves is akin to girlish curls, and the large bright flowers that cover the bush are like a flame; and clematis fruits are very decorative, their fluffy filaments in a rounded head really resemble snow balls.

Clematis Jacques

Botanists count about 150 species of this genus of the Buttercup family, widespread in the nature of the temperate climatic zone. The most common life form is a climbing liana, which attaches to supports with leaf stalks and leaflets curling around them. Vine stems can be woody, in which case the entire shoot hibernates; semi-woody - only the lower ranks of the shoots remain by the spring; and herbaceous, dying off at the end of each season and regrowing in spring. It is the origin of the species and variety that dictates the characteristics of their cultivation, including pruning.

Less common are evergreen forms, which are especially interesting to grow in a container culture (as, indeed, deciduous ones). In culture, there are both species clematis and varietal groups of Jacqueman (English breeder G. Jackman), Vititsella, Lanuginoza, Florida, Integrifolia and others. Many of the varieties bred in the late 19th century in England are still cultivated and will be multiplied in the future. Clematis is such a beloved plant in the world that it was awarded the title of Queen of climbing plants.

In 1984, Raymond Avison (England) founded the International Clematis Society, which is engaged in the introduction and selection of clematis. R. Evison is known as the author of almost 70 varieties and hybrids of clematis, articles and books about this culture, and most importantly - as the founder of the most famous specialized clematis nursery on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel.

The nursery grows about 200 species and varieties of clematis, sells 5 million plants a year to 20 countries of the world. The varieties coming from this nursery have the code prefix Evi - this is how you can recognize them in the catalogs.

Clematis Jacques and phloxes

In the 19th century, large-flowered clematis were selected mainly in England and France. In the XX century, such work was carried out in the USA, Holland, Poland, Sweden, Japan, but for us these varieties are almost unknown and have not been tested. Domestic breeding of clematis was carried out mainly in botanical gardens. New varieties, resistant to wilt and adapted to Russian realities, were bred in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden by M. A. Beskaravayna and A. N. Volosenko-Valenis. In Kiev, in the Botanical Garden, MI Orlov worked on this topic, in Leningrad - VM Reinvald. Specialists and amateurs in the Baltic countries have also done a lot for the study, distribution and breeding of clematis.

One of the best books on culture is Clematis (V. Riekstina, I. Riekstins, 1990). In the Moscow region, MF Sharonova, the author of many undersized and abundantly flowering varieties, began breeding at the age of 70 and achieved great success, completing her creative and life path at the 103rd year of life! This suggests that it is never too late to devote yourself to your favorite work and to beautify your life. It is a sad fact and at the same time joyful - the varieties of our breeders are multiplied by foreign nurseries and they are sold to us. As for the domestic industrial floriculture, its fate is still sad …

Interest in clematis, like other ornamental plants, has had its ups and downs. In times of peace, gardeners exchanged planting material, botanical gardens and individual amateurs created collections, engaged in selection. The First and Second World Wars severely undermined the work on the introduction of clematis in our country until the 50s. They were especially fond of clematis in the Baltic States, where interesting and rich collections were created. The spread of the culture was also delayed by the fact that varieties unstable to wilt gave large attacks.

It is interesting that in 1873 the journal "Bulletin of the Russian Society of Gardening" wrote that clematis in our St. Petersburg climate can only be grown in greenhouses. (The same opinion was also about tree-like peonies, which for the first time remained to winter in the ground in the fall of 1941, when there was simply no one to transfer them to the greenhouse).

From this it follows that clematis are thermophilic, photophilous, do not tolerate wetting and severe frosts, alternating with large thaws. Particularly vulnerable is the upper underground part of plants, where regeneration buds are formed. And, nevertheless, our northern gardens are increasingly adorned with openwork supports with garlands of bright flowers on cascades of clematis greenery.

Types of clematis

Clematis Fargeziodes and maiden grapes

At the beginning of the 19th century, there was a period of introduction of wild species into botanical gardens and amateur collections: Clematis erecta, Clematis integrifolia, Clematis virginiana, Clematis vitalba, Clematis viticella and many others. All of these species grow successfully in our climate. They are distinguished by medium-sized, but very graceful, often star-shaped flowers and carved leaves. In gardens, species clematis are the most stable and unpretentious, at the same time, very decorative.

They grow at supports even in the shade, bloom small, up to 5 cm in diameter, flowers of white, cream, lilac, yellow. They are propagated by seeds, layering, dividing bushes. One of the most decorative varieties, close to the species forms, is Clematis Fargeziodes, which develops powerful shoots up to 3 m high, which covers the wall and roof of the garden house.

At the same time, the green mass of openwork greenery is literally strewn with creamy white star-shaped flowers. The spectacle is unforgettable, and it lasts for 10-15 years in one place. But for insurance, it is necessary from time to time to lay layering, green cuttings in July, in order to have young plants near arches, arbors, terraces, and other supports in the form of openwork steles, pyramids. Unfortunately, this cultivar hardly sets seeds. It has been known for a long time, but is not widely used.

Of the species clematis with rather large flowers, we can grow clematis violet (Clematis viticella) with purple, blue, pink-purple four-petal flowers with a diameter of about 5 cm. There are garden forms and varieties with white, pink and double flowers.

Whole-leaf clematis (C. integrifolia)

I must say that the regularity of the correspondence between the sophistication of the flower and its exactingness to the growing conditions is best expressed in this culture, especially in large-flowered hybrid varieties. Large-flowered varietal clematis needs a specially protected, sunny place, nutritious soil with excess water drainage; no weeds and light shading of the soil in the root zone.

But it is the large-flowered hybrids and varieties that attract the most attention of gardeners with the unusual flowers, the diameter of which reaches 20 cm, and the color can be white, pink, blue-violet, blue, lilac, purple. Terry flowers are stunningly beautiful, but they are not so large. It is even more surprising that in fact these are not flowers, but huge colored sepals (or bracts, number 4-8, with the exception of terry varieties), they often have a pleasant smell.

There may be no petals at all, or they are very small, but there are many brightly colored stamens and pistils, and this especially decorates the plant. Bracts are located on the lateral axes of the first order, most often forming a double or triple brush. Fruits are single-seeded nuts, which are collected in seed fruits - multi-nuts.

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Landing site of clematis

As a rule, it is chosen near the house, but it is extremely important not to bring the plants closer than 50 cm to the walls, and most importantly, to prevent drops from the roof to clematis, because waterlogging is a direct path to the death of these magnificent vines. At the same time, they need sufficient moisture, nutrition and do not tolerate weed competition. An important feature of this "tamed" forest liana is the need to shade the foot of the plants with good lighting in the upper part of the bushes. Usually, some kind of ground cover or low-growing plants are planted in the root zone.

The filamentous roots of clematis go down to 1 m, so the standing of the groundwater must be very low, or the plants are planted on a hill. Drainage in the case of clematis has its literal meaning - "drainage". It is necessary to find places for plants from which water will certainly leave, and not just pour broken brick and crushed stone into the planting pit. There is information from collectors that in relatively dry years, clematis "on bricks" die, because their roots are in the air voids between the stones.

Soil for clematis

Clematis Fargezioides and panicle hydrangea

It should be permeable, loose and light, or of medium density, fertile, slightly alkaline or neutral. If the soils of your site are very different from the recommended ones, you need to prepare the desired mixture of humus, coarse sand, peat and garden soil with the addition of 1 tbsp. l. granules of complex fertilizer long-acting AVA. When planting in spring, a rather large planting hole with a depth of about 80 cm is filled with it, in which the roots of clematis are straightened on a cone of earth.

When planting container seedlings, the clod of earth is not disturbed, only the tips of the roots are carefully straightened. The combination of organic and AVA will provide plants with nutrition for the next 2-3 years without additional feeding, which is very important for ease of labor and cost savings. One of the secrets of this culture is a somewhat recessed planting, since new roots and renewal shoots are formed from the lower part of the stems, covered by the ground.

When planting young 1-2-year-old seedlings in spring, the root collar is buried by 1-2 cm. As the stems grow and are strong, by autumn they are spudded by 5-7 cm with a mixture of sand and peat, which warm up faster in spring, which is important for germinating young shoots … At the same time, as is known from other crops, on peatlands, sandy loam and sandy soils

Preparing clematis for winter

Hilling for the winter with heavy loam can lead to damping of the stems in the winter and oxygen starvation in the spring. Therefore, before winter, it is recommended to pour about a bucket of sand with ash (250 g per bucket) on the clematis bush. This "powder" will provide protection from frost and excess moisture in the autumn-winter period. With the onset of stable frosts, an inverted flower pot of large diameter or a box is placed upside down on top of this cone, covered with a film or roofing material, securing them so that the ends of the shelter are ventilated during the thaw.

Closer to spring, the deep dormancy of plants ends, their frost resistance decreases. Therefore, with the onset of warm weather, winter shelters are removed gradually: first, the film or roofing material, then the hilling layer is reduced, leaving 5-6 cm of peat above the tillering node, as well as spruce branches. The padded foot protects the kidneys from sunburn. It is known that frosts stronger than -5 ° C damage young shoots, therefore, if there is a threat of frost, it is better to again cover the bushes with lutrasil, a film.

Read the next part. Reproduction, vaccination and care of clematis →