As I mentioned in my last post, one of the best things about growing clematis is how from year to year you can use them  make the garden more dynamic and interesting. Unlike,for example a peony, or a hydrangea, a clematis vine is pliable and trainable. If you are willing (and home enough to tie them in as they grow as after they twine together it is too late)  , you can do lots of fun things  to change the garden up a bit without re-planting.

Here are a few more ideas to help you if you want to give them  a go!

This clematis ‘Betty Corning’ is one I have planted a number of times here, It is a long bloomer and pretty much problem free. It can reach 12 ft easily so I usually  train it up onto the porch, sometimes up the posts , sometimes times  along the railings . The one on the back side of the house( seen below)  I often train  year after year on the railings as it blooms right next to a comfy couch and feels like an old friend joining me for morning coffee.

This spring , right behind Betty,  , a beloved Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick  up and died. It never looked sickly, just died what I call  Daphne Death, sudden and without warning.

I can’t bear to part with it just yet so this year I trained good ole Betty into  it and honestly Harry  looks pretty fantastic as a trellis. I don’t know how many years I will get before it all breaks but whether it is this clematis or another vine, something will grown on Harry  until he can take no more.

Out front is another clematis that is a tried and true long blooming variety called ‘Comtesse de Bouchard’ . (The color is a little purply in this photo , it is actually quite pink)

It sits next to a section of post and rail fence which is has been trained to cover in some years, while others I sub in another structure like  this funky thing

On the fence it grows more toward the front of the garden

comtesse de bouchaud

On the vertical supports it stands out like pretty pink flag above the rest of the plantings. This year it is on yet another structure, sort of an iron tripod  .

Last example for today  is a newer variety for me called ‘Pink Mink’. I had it on  green trellis  for two years  , training it near,but not  into ,an adjacent  birch tree, This year I am trying it into the tree sans trellis , and boy oh boy do I like the look. 

Exfoliating bark, lichen and clematis;one of the most  winning combinations in the garden there ever was

Stay tuned for more …… with 130 of the darn things here , my options seem pretty limitless lol