Clematis Species, Traveller's Joy, Old Man's Beard

C. vitalba is on the noxious weed lists of Washington and Oregon.

Unlike most clematis, it can smother the trees and shrub...Read Mores it grows on in the garden and in the wild.

In New Hampshire, Tiffit65's clematis is likely to be C. virginiana, which looks similar and is similarly rampant, but is native. According to BONAP, C. vitalba---a native of Europe---has been reported to have naturalized in 7 states and 2 provinces, but not in NH.

It might also possibly be C. terniflora, which has naturalized in NH in a few places.

I believe this is the plant I have spotted growing around my woodland trail, in zone 5. When left alone, it takes over everything, so I ...Read Moreweedwack it every year. I've seen it take a few trees down, so I'm not sure I like it to much. I don't remember seeing the flowers, but the seed heads are huge balls if fluff, that are almost pretty, until you see how much it destroys.

I cannot believe there aren't more negative reviews on plantfiles. Every plant has a use and place - from medicine to biodiesel, im not n...Read Moreegative about this plant I AM negative about growing it in gardens.

Im reluctant to grow this plant but my family grow these in their garden.

Here are my observations... keep in mind im in zone 7A-7B

A small specimen was planted in deep shade where it is was overcrowded by mature honeysuckles , mature hedera, hortensia and some semi-invasive groundcovers. in a matter of a few months it pried between wooden fences and pushes the boards/planks away from eachother destoying the fence beating up honeysuckles, hedera and other clematis species.

In a few months it grew 5 metres ( 17,5 foot ) and it also bloomed and formed seeds. In the front yard a seed germinated in a impossible place under conifers between groundcovers ( in infertile heavy sand soil ) . in a few months it climbed 10.5 foot, out-competed a mature evergreen honeysuckle ( literally completely kicked it out ) bloomed and reseeded.

maybe it got some undicscovered medical potential but right know i give it a big negative.

Don't be fooled by it's flowers ( small though numerous ) lush dense foliage ( not scraggly or woody like other clematis species, it's really dense and casts shade ) I know alot of invasive plants but this one makes the other ones look like a joke. 1 Kudzu, 2 cyperus esculenta, 3 clematis vitalba for sure - houttuynia cordata is a joke compared to this vine.

You can cut it down but it will pop up from the same location over and over no matter how many times you cut it down. It will even produce underground runners so that it will come up in different locations - it even grows between bricks or patio.

Seeds can carry really far, even further than dandelions and they are pretty much viable and germinate in lower temperatures. it seeds sprout everywhere where it touches ground no matter how small the patch is.

This one will be unbelievably invasive in warmer climates, i think its almost as dangerous like kudzu, to this day i have not seen any natural predators, aphids, beetles or any insect attacking this plant.

above all you won't believe this... it's pretty drought tolerant - where most other plants were drying out due to hot summer weather with prolonged dry spells, clematis vitalba, did just fine matter in fact it didn't lost one leaf - keep in mind that this one received full sun all day in dry soil consisting out of sand.

it is not a small vine - it has a habit of smothering other plants with its dense foliage. other clematis just grow their way but this one completely tries to overgrow every stem and tendril of other plants. it even grows through a conifer, one specimen has alot of room to grow but for some reason it grows towards some butterfly bushes and tries to smother them ( there is no reason for this plant to grow towards shade but it still does )

remember we are talking about one year old specimen, one in deep shade smothered by other plants and one sprouted from seed in sand, full sun smothered by groundcovers.

you won't see alot of reports on the internet about this plants which is peculair because it's one of the most invasive climbers i've seen.

It completely raped :

Hedera which is consider invasive by most people
Honeysuckle both decidious and evergreen ones
Other clematis species
Hops, yes it outcompeted humulus lupulus altho i have to Say hops can pretty much survive clematis vitalba smothering.

aside from all that..

What is this thing ? is it a ornamental climber ?.. hell no.. even tho it comes close to being a woodland vine il say it surpasses that by being too invasive. it has dense foliage but the flowers while being numerous are really small and don't bloom very long , its flowering period in summer is really short which kinda sucks because the flowers smell really good, it is a good climber for getting some jasmin like scents through your garden. It's just too big and foliage dense for most gardens. it just pops op on the most ridicilious places far from where you planted it.

Of course i cannot really compare its invasiveness with ground covers and other types of plants since it's a climber but if i need to give it a invasiveness rating i would give it a 9 out of 10. this score is based on its ability to outcompete plants , grow rate, self seeding, growth of runners and offset, ability to control this vine.
If it didn't self seeded or send runners i would give it a 7.0

to give you a sense about my rating, everything above 5.5 is prett much invasive and everything lower than 8.0 can be controlled.

Campsis radicans is a 6 or 6.5 for me.
Hedera is 7.0

If they planted this stuff at every hedge before the hedgerow war in World War 2 france, they would have made the germans miserable. you won't believe how thick the vines will get in one year.

Extremely damaging invasive exotic plant which should never be planted. In the northwest it is just getting started. It kills trees and o...Read Moreverruns native habitat. Please do not plant and do your best to destroy it if you have it on your property. Several years of cutting to the ground or pulling up will eventually do the trick. It is harder to get rid of than ivy.