Clematis is a Cape Cod tradition with its showy blue flowers spread over trellis and arbors. In addition to the standard dark blue, there are other unusual flowering varieties that you may not be familiar with. One of the successful growing tips for all Clematis is that they prefer to have their roots cool and their tops warm, so make sure to mulch them well or plant a ground cover at the base and keep the soil evenly moist. Here are a few interesting cultivars of Clematis.
Clematis ‘Crystal Fountains-‘ This exiting new Clematis combines unusual flower form with a long bloomtime to give you 5 months or more of glorious color. The flowers are spectacular- beginning in late spring and continue steadily all summer long, lasting into the fall. Crystal Fountain is a rebloomer but the flowers keep coming steadily so you don’t notice a resting time between blooms. The flowers are blue-lavender and have a frilly pompon-like bloom that looks like it was set on a single flowered Clematis. All we can say is SPECTACULAR!
Clematis ‘Abilene’ – This new Clematis introduced this year is a very compact vine only reaching 4 feet in height. It has ruffled 4” flowers that open rich pink then mature to a lighter pink with a yellow center. This variety can grow in the partial shade and because of its small size is perfect for small gardens or container gardens. It is a repeat bloomer that gets its first wave of bloom in the early summer and blooms again in late summer.
