Here is some background. My plant came from my grandmother over 10 years ago and she did not know the variety or type. This poor plant has moved with me 5 times. So it has not had a chance to thrive or for me to see it bloom. Well it bloomed last summer big beautiful purple blooms. A picture from clematisnursery of my variety -
I have not trimmed it all these years because it has never gotten over 3 feet. My last move was 3 blocks two summers ago, when I got married, so I dug it up with a big soil ball, put it in the wheelbarrow, walked it up the street and planted in immediately. And it bloomed the first year in a new spot. Yeah! Now it is time to prune, it is falling over the support. I found out after visiting two wonderful sites – homeofclematis.net and clematisnursery.com – that I have a Jackmanii variety. More specifically, I have a 'Purpurea Superba' with dark, velvety purple flowers. Here is a photo of the clematis before pruning -
Another photo I can not resist putting in of Bubble.
Now here is all the other wonderful information I found. Clematis can live up to 50 years and its trellis or support should be adequate for its final height. (Mine is not so it is time to think of something new.) ‘Clematis X jackmanii was the first of the large-flowered clematis hybrids, and it and its subsequent selections and hybrids are still the most popular varieties. Members of the Jackman group of clematis produce flowers on the current season's growth, and therefore bloom later in the season than do clematis cultivars that produce their flowers on the previous season's growth. The Jackman cultivars climb with twining stems and cling with leaf stalks that twist and clasp. With good support, vines can reach a length of 10 ft (3 m) in a single growing season. The vines are semi woody and the deciduous leaves are trifoliate or simple, opposite, and 2-4 in (5-10 cm) long. The spectacular flowers are abundant and large, to 7 in (17.8 cm) across, with 4-6 petal-like sepals, each about 2 in (5 cm) long. Produced from midsummer until first frost, flowers of the various cultivars may be single or double and come in a rainbow of colors. They are saucer shaped and face up and outward, proud of their singular beauty. The fruit is a very distinctive achene (dry, 1-seeded capsule) with a 2 in (5 cm) long silver gray wispy "tail" covered with long silky hairs. They are packed in long lasting fluffy clusters…
…Since Jackman clematis produces flowers on the current season's growth, they should be pruned to the ground in late winter or early spring before new growth begins.’ This all comes from Steve Christman, http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/clem_xja.cfm. I'm thinking again, I need a new pillar or a tall trellis. What will it be? I quick picture of the girls watching me prune - the grass isn't greening up but it is a great day. (A note about the girls they are adopted retired greyhounds. They love to run for short periods of time and then they rest for longer periods of time. They are such great company in the garden.)
Some of the rest good information I found was wonderful pruning diagrams from clematisnursery.com. So I pruned out the dead wood and broken vines. Here is a picture of it completed - no hanging vines.
Afterwards I sat down with a friend, a glass of tea and enjoyed the sun. The tea was a new recipe of green tea with frozen blueberries and strawberries, it need a zip maybe next time a bit of mint or sugar. I’ll keep you up to date on the recipe. Let’s go enjoy the sun again today.
Remember today is April Fool's Day in the USA. I am not a good person for thinking up pranks but I do enjoy hearing about them. So today let's remember 1998 and the USA Today newspaper story of Burger King's Left-Handed Whopper. So when is the Right-Handed Whopper coming out?
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