That is excellent. I only wish they also included approximate number of weeks in bloom. I'm going to save the chart for reference.

LOL. They only gave 'Rosemoor' 2 Stars. It is the best Clematis I've ever seen. They are in Chicago so their results probably are not applicable to my zone. Most people give that plant their highest recommendations.

It's true. We need to repeat this for a wider variety of geographies. Who do you think will buy us all 100 different clematii (and enough yard space to grow them all) so that we can repeat this experiment?

They also couldn't plant that many Clematis in a good location. I save special spots for my favorites.

Honestly, their results were not the same as mine. I have over 60...with 20 that are on their list and I don't agree with their results. Daniel Deronda is my best large flowered hybrid and they rate it fair for flower coverage.

Does this look fair? Look at all those buds still coming on...

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888, i would love to hear more of your specific results that differ from theirs; so much to learn! also, do remember they don't give any extra care.
mindy

thx for the great pic. excellent placement btw!

Boy, are you ever on MY wave length, Mindy,. With my major shift to
trees and shrubs over the past few years, the available space in my garden
has been been quickly diminished. Heard a great presentation at New York
Botonical Garden a few years back by Dan Long, of Brushwood Nursery, and
he really opened up my eyes to the possibilities of using vertical space.
While I only have eleven different clematis so far, there are current plans
for three more this season; as soon as the 16' tower is finished this summer,
there will be room for more. So far, the clematis are all free-standing - but a
happy accident this Spring when the deep purple Polish Spirit tumbled off it's
post and landed in a golden-leaved Spirea 'Ogon', has opened up endless
possibilities of using existing shrubs and trees as "supports" for more
clematis. This article has just added fuel to my fire! Thanks!

Carl

hi carl. pleasure to hear from you. best shrub/clem combo i've ever seen is in Monique's Ct garden- blue clem growing up thru cornus alba elegantissima! wowee gee Mr Bill!! while i am growing viticellas willy nilly up conifers, i did have BAD experience a few yrs ago when a non-viticella really hurt the abies koreana aurea i had it going up. blocked sun too much. so be careful!
best,
mindy

I'm curious about how you do this, have the clematis grow up though a shrub or other plant, without the result just looking messy, like it fell down. I have a double white that I am trying to grow up the boston ivy that covers my house. I wrapped a few tendrils onto the ivy then didn't get back to it. When it started blooming, I saw that apart from what I attached, the clematis just attached itself to itself, so making a tangled lump I couldn't unravel.

I also have a Polish Spirit I was trying to grow up a drainpipe, by tucking it here and there between the drainpipe and the brick wall. But most of it fell down, and is blooming now sprawled over everything planted in front of it, which does not look like a happy accident.

I've been addidng a lot of clematises over the past few years and experimenting with growing them into/through things. This is the combination I've been most pleased with so far:
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The clematis (not sure what it is - Nelly Moser looks like the best bet) grows through a mockorange across from a dwarf Korean lilac which, as you can see, blooms at the same time as the clematis.

linnea - one 'trick' I read about is to plant the clematis on the north side of the shrub or tree. That is supposed to encourage the clematis to spread through the shrub or tree as it seeks more sun. Your downspout clematis needs something to climb on - that's why it fell down! You can get wire cage-like things to put around a downspout to help vines climb them. Check out Lee Valley Tools - they have them.

The CBG rated Henryi fairly low since it didn't have the sheets of flowers that seemed to be the main criteria for a high rating. A sheet of flowers isn't necessarily desirable, depending on how you're intending to use them. I have Henryi growing into my Chinese wisteria tree to provide some flowers after the wisteria finishes its spring bloom and before it starts its secondary summer bloom. I don't want an overwhelming clematis bloom, just a sprinkling of white flowers through the tree. It seems to be working out nicely for that. This spring we ripped a too-vigorous honeysuckle off the iron arbour in the front garden and planted Emerald Gaiety euonymus and Henryi clematis to weave through the arbour together so the clematis will make it look like the euonymus blossoms. Mindy, that idea came to me from a picture you (I think it was you...) once posted of a white clematis with a variegated dogwood.

For the downspout you can go to Home Depot and get the rusty wire panels that are to reinforce concrete. They are cheap and you can bend around the downspout. Yes, you can buy commercial trellises for this but the DIY way is less than half the cost.

Clematis are not the best vines at gripping their supports. I have them flop down or out all the time especially since Portland is so rainy and windy. They don't tuck in well either because they break off. They climb thin wires better than thicker lattice/trellises. They do climb rebar really well too. I've seen towers made of rebar that they do great on.

888 and woodyoak, so glad you are still posting- how helpful you always are! 888, how does that rusty stuff compare w/ what we have been using- panels of hardware cloth w/ 2" openings- nailed to our wooden fence? is it denser or does it have larger openings?

w oak, def will use that north side idea. i have a new blue clem i'll grow through a philadelphus aurea; great!
i think your point about sheets of flowers is a good one.

linnea, plse look at this and tell me if it looks like your polish spirit!

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0615475621365.html

thx to all of you,
mindy