Clematis: Clematis chat for spring, 1 by pirl

pirl wrote:
Marie - I'm so glad to be of help in acquiring more clem's. Espoma has 20 pound bags of dehydrated manure and it's so easy to use compared to the heavy 40 pound bags I used in the past that were not Espoma. It's not that I think there's magic in the product but ease of use is so nice at my age. Check the price before you buy it!!!

Jake - we're always happy to have another clem lover with us. Welcome! Six hours of sun is preferred and shade for the feet because they want cool roots. You can plant them in either morning or afternoon sun but the more sun the better for the clem. Nelly Moser (among others) can take more shade, and keeps its color much better, with some shade. Plant them deeply (remove any leaves that would end up under the earth) and remember to use a few inches of mulch. Attached is a photo of Nelly Moser taken in the late afternoon. In the morning the left side gets the sun.

Lee - thought of you several times yesterday as I worked on an odd area that has two clem's on a trellis and now quite a few Duchess of Albany clem's (due to layering) under a Tardiva hydrangea that DoA grows through. I used only Osmocote and a lot of our compost for each one, then water. Those two crowns you saw may end up being more than two. It happened to me last year when moving Proteus. It ended up as being five crowns.

Go for it with your feeding idea, Lee. We'll be waiting to hear the results. The only negative I've heard is the Alfalfa IF you have an existing problem with rabbits. They would be attracted to it. Water it in well and be sure to mulch.

I think Annette's photos are so beautiful that we're all a bit jealous but so happy to see them!