Clematis in So. Calif.

I recently got interested in growing Clematis. Prior to this time I had bought into the myth that we couldn't grow Clematis in So. Cal....yet I would see them at nurseries when blooming. I bought two to start with...a Jackmanii and a Will Goodwin. Jackmanii has done very well and is now in it's 3rd year. Will Goodwin was slow to start and I figured it had died...then I began a feeding program and it is doing very well.

I recently looked up The American Clematis Society website...they are in TORRANCE, Ca. !!!
The site offers many varieties that will do well in the Zone 10 and Zone 11 areas. They have members who live in the San Fernando Valley who grow Clematis.

If you are interested in growing them, but you don't think it's possible here, I urge you to try them.
They really are not that difficult to grow. I still am a little confused about the pruning situation, but they appear to be "forgiving" of errors...at least so far...

SOMEBODY is buying Clematis in So. Cal...if you are one of them, please share your experience with us...whether it's good OR bad !!! I think these vines need more "exposure" here in So. Cal. so more people can enjoy them.

Share your stories !

I got 2 clematis plants for my birthday last year, in a small pot, blooming like there was no tomorrow.
After bloom, they looked bad, so I cut them off to about 1 inch, and planted them in 2 containers. After 2 months or so, they already grew so much, they bloomed!
They are the deciduous kind. I cut them back again, and they are starting to resprout right now.
A few days ago I bought an evergreen clematis, and planted it in the ground.
They do well here in San Anselmo!

Christie

They grow just fine in zone 9b. I can't imagine that it's much different in Long Beach if you are somewhere that you get some air movement. There's Long Beach and then Long Beach!

Pruning is easy: Don't prune the first year or two the plants are in the ground.

Type 1 only have flowers in the spring on old wood. This is largely made up of Montanas which have little flowers and are rampant, usually large growers. They only bloom on old wood so you don't trim them except right after blooming and only to keep them in shape.

Type II bloom on new and old wood. I don't prune my type II at all in the spring unless they are too tall. Then after blooming remove the top third of the plant so that they can bloom again.

Type III only bloom on new wood. These should be pruned back to about 12" in the spring unless they are climbing on a tree or something where you want bloom higher. Then trim them back to the place that you want them to start blooming.

If you are growing roses with clematis, type III are obviously the best as they can be pruned with the roses.

The clematis will tell you when to prune once you learn from them. :-)

Hope that this helps. They can take a lot of years here to become established but then they are very long-lived plants.

This is a young 'Niobe' climbing up an Iceberg rose. I can't wait until it reaches it's full glory.

Dorothie...It's because of you and Arlene that I now have the "courage" to grow them! Both of you said the same thing about the palnts letting you know when they need pruning...you were so right. I feel much more confident about growing them now, thanks to all your advice, and Arlene's, as well.

Some time back, you mentioned the Iceberg/Niobe partnership.....since my space is so limited, I took your advice, but "reversed" it....I bought a Burgundy Iceberg and have a white clematis at it's base...(can't remember the name right now...) I already have a white Iceberg standard, bit I loved your idea, so I tweeked it a little...!!! I hope it comes out looking as good as your photo!

Christie: Listen to Doss! She really knows her Clematis! LOL She dispelled many of the myths I believed for far too long !!!

I'll bet that your red roses with the white clematis are going to be stunning! And glad that you ventured out. When you remember the name I'd love to know which white clematis you are growing.

Wow! How absolutely stunning the 'Niobe' is with that Iceberg rose!! How old is the plant? How long did it take to start blooming? Do you feed it often? Do you think it would grow in San Diego?

T-

IN the photo the Iceberg and the Niobe are both three years old. You can see what I mean about clematis taking awhile to get started. The best part about this pairing though is that they bloom at the same time. That's another thing you have to consider when pairing a rose with a clematis. This was a lucky break for me.

You may be expert at roses, I don't know, but be sure to wind the canes AROUND the pillar or fan them out if they are on a fence because they will bloom on the horizontal canes. Otherwise you get flowers only at the top of the pillar. That's how I got this rose to bloom all the way to the ground. Can't wait to see how it does this year! It hits peak bloom around the end of May here. Here's a close up in mid-May.

Pat Welsh, in her book "Southern California Gardening", lists the Niobe as one of the Clemetis that grow in So. Cal, so I'm going to go for it! I'm not sure if I have a good place to do what you've done. If I give it some thought, I can probably come up with something. :)

T-

Luckily you only need a small amount of foot space for growing roses this way. Since you can restrain the rose to the pillar you get a lot in a very small space. I guess the height might be a restriction? Oh, and Niobe isn't red although they say it is. It may be maroon but it's fairly on the purple side.

Well Doss, I'm going for it. I got my iceberg this weekend and my Niobe is on order.

I accidentally ran into some other pictures of your yard and it is absolutely stunning! Your use of colors and textures is amazing. I'm a new gardener, but totally obsessed. When I'm not gardening, I'm reading and trying to learn. I hope one day to have a garden half as nice as yours...

Thanks for the tip about winding the canes. Can I ask: I assume your iceberg is now pruned and dormant. How much did you cut it back, that is -- how tall is it today? The Niobe is type 2, right? How much did you cut that back?

Thanks in advance,
T-

Niobe is type II so I try to only take it down about 1/3 in the spring if I can. Then after first flowering bring it down to the same level so it can bloom again. If you can't do anything but get it pretty down because it is entwined in the rose, then don't worry about it. It will bloom on new growth but this may take awhile. I like to leave as much as I can in the spring though.

Thanks for your comments. I've been gardening in this same garden for 30 years now. I've found the real secret is good lay out and hardscape. It's expensive but it pays for itself a thousand times over if you do a good job.

You will have either spiraling canes or crisscrossing canes. Don't prune these until they get too long. Then when you have the canes where you want them prune what is coming off the canes, not the canes themselves. You can continue to wind canes and to cut out ones that are too old as the rose matures. My rose isn't pruned yet. Better get out there!

Edited to say - don't prune your clematis at all if you can help it for the first couple of years.

Doss

This message was edited Jan 28, 2007 9:31 PM

Got it. Thanks for the rose pruning tips. I'll leave the Niobe alone for a few years.

Your hardscaping is beautiful. It really does set the stage. We're putting in steps outside of a room addition as we speak, and plan to attach a patio after that. I don't have nearly as much room as you do. I have a good view, but the yard is like a postage stamp. There is a downward slope in the back where I just prepared an area for some fruit trees. They are down a ways and shouldn't obstruct the view even when grown. Anyway, always lots to do...as I'm sure you know.

Thanks again for your help. Post more pictures when you can.

T-

You can see most of my photos at
http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/m/doss/
I haven't added many for awhile. I'm going to rephotograph every thing in the spring and figure out what needs work. I already have a few places in mind...

Doss - you have such a grand talent and such a wonderful eye for landscaping and hardscaping. The photos and descriptions are wonderful. It's like visiting a fantasy garden!

My biggest fan pirl. It's a mutual admiration society. LOL

I have 'Bee's Jubilee' that is coming up---three shoots are unfurling.
This is the first year that I'm growing a clematis.

Previously, I had a bougainvillea growing in this spot. The bougainvillea was healthy with large, gorgeous green leaves, but no flowers.
I realized that the location kept the bougainvillea's roots cool and also, there wasn't enough heat;
therefore, a clematis would suit perfectly in this location (I hope!).

This Spring and Summer is going to be especially exciting. Hopefully, just not too hot!

Loulou

Keep us posted LouLou on how your Clematis do.

hiya JD,

I've been growing Clematis 'Reutel' for a few years and it does great in the spring and then fries, goes dormant in the summer and rests for the winter to return in the spring. It should be in bloom when you are here next. I also tried to grow a native Clematis provided to us by Lali (begoniacrazii) and it kind of stayed in place all summer. If it returns this spring I'm hoping to actually have a Clematis vine as Reutel is a very small plant that only gets about a 5ft reach. If anyone knows of a Clematis that can survive in Hades, please let me know as that is where we live from July through September.....lol.

best,
don

Don...based on what I know about Clematis...which is very little...ahem...I tend to think any of them will end up frying in the summer heat you get...a friend of mine in Woodland Hills can't keep hers through the summer either...and you know how hot it gets there...

Indeed I do.....about half as hot as it gets here.....lol.

JasperDale,
I will let you know how it goes.....

Loulou

Loulou...please do...more people need to know that we CAN grow Clematis here !

I just picked up a native clematis at TOL today. We don't get as hot as Temecula, drdon, but we have no shade - all southern exposure and no trees except pines on the edge of the property. I do have a wee clematis that survived from last year - Betty Corning - it bloomed but didn't grow much. Lovely little thing, though.

Kathleen

Kathleen, do you mean clematis virginiana? Virgin's bower? I have seed for that one that I'm going to sow this week. I just read that the seed grown are not as vigorous though...we'll see.
Sherry

I know that it doesn't get as hot here but I do grow my clematis in a lot more shade than they are supposed to want. One that I've had really good luck with against a south facing wall here is Negritianka.

Sherry,

I won't know which one it is until it grows some. The nursery was having the SDCNPS sale (% of proceeds going to) and mostly you had to label your own plants. I didn't catch that one. I found three listed on Las Pilitas: c. lasiantha, c. ligusticifolia. and c. pauciflora

Ah, I just found the plant list for the sale and it was either Clematis lasiantha (Pipestem, Chaparral Clematis) or Clematis ligusticifolia (Virgin's Bower)! I'll find some pictures and see if I can tell by the foliage.

The Orange County chapter has their sale at TOL on March 31 - it's a nice drive if you'd like to go!

Kathleen

Kathleen, do tell please what TOL means. I'm looking for some clematis myself.
Thanks,
Donna

Donna, Tree of Life nursery....Ortega Highway
Sherry

Donna, the one I have as clematis virginica or virgiana (have seen it both ways) is supposedly Virgin's Bower also. I haven't checked yet on the one Kathleen has. I don't think it looks like the large flowered clematis you're probably thinking of, but I'm going to try sowing some seed and if it's one that you want and they grow.....I'll bring you one.
Sherry

Sherry, I thank you for wanting to share that clematis with me, but I don't have enough room for one that large. I just want a regular one that will grow on a small trellis.

Thanks anyway,
Donna

Sorry 'bout the TOL thing. I get lazy sometimes. The nursery is on Ortega Highway as Sherry said - in San Juan Capistrano for those who don't recognize the road. They have interesting talks on native plants, too, and I bought a wicked looking weeder to add to my collection.

Native clematis are not as pretty as the hybrids, but they have their charm and best of all, they shouldn't croak when we get hit with Santa Ana winds, etc.

Kathleen

Clematis texensis? Has anyone had experience with clematis texensis varieties e.g 'Dutchess of Albany', 'Gravetye Beauty' or 'Princess Diana'? They are supposed to be drought tolerant and long flowering, although the flowers are more bell shaped. Thought they would be more likely to take the summer heat. I am thinking about trying one to grow up through a huge bush of Madame Alfred Carriere rose.

Hey Mike, are those MY irises!?!?!? A bud I see on one. Now I really gotta come see your yard! It looks awesome.

Louise...that's Doss" garden...not mine!!! Mine should look so good!!!
But, the ones I got from you should be blooming next month!!!

Woops, my bad, ok Doss I have to come see your yard! And Mike, I'll be there soon to see yours.
How did I not see that was Doss's post?!?!?!?!?!!? Aye, aye, aye, screwy louie here!

This message was edited Mar 15, 2007 8:56 PM

B-L-O-N-D-E !!!!!