Nyboy
Garden Master
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2010
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My love of clematis started in my early 20s. I was so broke some days I had to choose between gas or food. I was in Caldors one day when in the garden isle a saw boxes with photos of the deepest purple flowers ( purple my favorite color). They where bare rooted Jackmanii clematis vines $2.39. I debated for a while, I really didn't have any spare money to spend on a plant. My love of purple won out, I picked out a vine that was just showing green growth. I had never heard of clematis before, the box said head in the sun feet in shade.I planted against my dog run, picturing in years to come a wall of deep purple flowers. The 1st year my clematis grew very little, I was ok with that thinking it was growing strong root system. I heard with perenial 1st year they sleep, 2nd year they creep, 3rd year they leap. That's what it did, didn't put on any real growth till 3 year. At that time it flowered for the 1st time 2 deep purple flowers on the whole vine. For years after it never flowered again, it live for about 10 years only producing 2 flowers the whole time. A couple of years after planting my jackmanii I read about another clematis in a garden book Sweet Autumn the authors favorite clematis. Buy this time I was in a little better shape with money and went to a good nursery for my vine. Sweet Autumn was a rapid grower from the start, its flowers might be small but the large numbers make up for size. That started a life long love affair with clematis. Do you remember your 1st clematis?