788 



CLEMATIS 



CLEMATIS 



garden in summer are rarely successful. The grafts, in 

 pots or trays, are grown in a moist coolhouse, over gen- 

 tle bottom heat. Another method of propagation, 

 involving less labor but usually successful, is to take 

 cuttings of nearly ripe wood, grown under glass, and 

 treat them as the cions first above mentioned, without 

 the roots. The latter method is practised preferably 

 in summer in gentle hotbeds; shading, spraying, and 

 later on airing, must be strictly attended to. Layering 

 is practised when large old stools are at hand. The 

 knife is not used in the operation, but a twist of the 

 stem will split the inner bark lengthwise. Every other 

 joint is thus treated, pegged down, and covered with 

 soil. It is best to leave the layers undisturbed until 

 the following spring. 

 Many of the species are 

 often propagated by 

 seed, and many new 

 varieties have thus been 

 secured. The number of 

 hybrids is almost count- 

 less; in this ac- 

 count are care- 

 fully recorded 

 those in the 

 American 

 trade which 

 are traceable 

 to their origin. 

 The clematis 

 is subject to a 

 very serious 

 disease, due to 

 the depreda- 

 tions of a ne- 

 matode worm 

 in the roots. This trouble 

 is most serious under 

 glass and alongside 

 buildings where the 

 ground does not freeze 

 deep. The parasite is 

 probably distributed in 

 the soil adhering to pot-grown plants. It is probable 

 that hard freezing kills the parasite. There is no 

 remedy, so far as known, for affected plants. Using 

 only soil which has been frozen is to be recommended 

 to the propagator. 



The kinds of clematis. (Jackson & Perkins Co.) 



The hybrid varieties of Clematis, commonly known 

 as the large-flowering sorts, are, when successfully 

 grown, among the most beautiful of hardy climbing 

 plants. The commercial propagation and growing of 

 most of the large-flowering varieties, however, is 

 attended with so many difficulties and disappoint- 

 ments that it has never been very generally attempted 

 by nurserymen or florists in this country. At the pres- 

 ent time there are scarcely half a dozen houses on this 

 continent who attempt the propagation of clematis to 

 any considerable extent, and it is only within the past 

 thirty years that clematises have been commercially 

 grown even by this limited number. Prior to that, prac- 

 tically all of the large-flowering clematises planted in 

 this country were imported from Europe, the major 

 part being supplied by Holland, whose moist atmos- 

 phere and black soil produces large, vigorous plants, 

 but whose climatic conditions are so entirely different 

 from those usually found in this country that the 

 plants often failed to adapt themselves to their new 

 surroundings, and did not thrive to the extent that 

 their good size and vigorous condition seemed to give 

 promise. 



The propagation of clematis throughout Europe is 

 usually effected by grafting pieces of well-ripened, 

 year-old wood upon roots of almost any of the more 



981. Clematis 

 Fremontii. 

 (XH) 



vigorous-growing species, Clematis Flammula being 

 most commonly used. In this country, on the contrary, 

 the method commonly pursued is by means of cuttings 

 from young wood, stuck in sand, with gentle bottom 

 heat, usually during May or June. So far as concerns 

 the comparative vigor and desirability of plants pro- 

 duced by these two methods, there is small choice 

 between them. Propagation by cuttings is, in this 

 country, the more rapid and economical way, and 

 further, it removes the possibility, sometimes realized 

 in grafted plants, of sprouts being thrown up from 

 the roots, and, if in the hands of an uninformed ama- 

 teur, entirely "running out" the variety grafted in; 

 thus considerable annoyance is avoided. 



Clematises hybridize so readily that the number of 

 varieties resultant from various crosses forms a long 

 list. But while so many have been dignified with 

 names and places in the catalogues of nurserymen, 

 yet the varieties of large-flowering clematis that have 

 proved so valuable as to secure permanent places for 

 themselves in popular demand can almost be counted 

 upon one's fingers. There are many varieties possess- 

 ing most beautiful shades and variations of coloring 

 that fail to attain popularity, chiefly on account of 

 deficiency in two essential characteristics vigorous 

 habit of growth and abundance of bloom. Clematis 

 Jackmanii, purple, originated in 1862, by Mr. George 

 Jackman, was one of the first hybrid clematises intro- 

 duced, and still stands as the most popular, and, of its 

 color, the most valuable variety yet known. The vari- 

 ety, Madame Edouard Andre, a deep rich crimson, is 

 distinct and novel, being at this tune about the best 

 large-flowering sort of a truly crimson shade. It is not 

 quite so vigorous habit as the Jackmanii, but its flowers 

 are similarly massed, though not produced in quite such 

 profusion. Clematis Madame Baron Veillard is a dis- 

 tinct variety. It is of exceedingly vigorous habit, and 

 the flowers are quite freely produced, though, being 

 more dispersed over the plant, they do not make so 

 much of a show as do varieties whose flowers are 

 closely massed. The flowers are of very large size and 

 of a light rose-color, shaded with lilac. Of white varie- 

 ties, Henryi, Mrs. George Jackman and Lanuginosa 

 Candida, all of them introduced long ago, still remain 

 about the most desirable ones known. Ramona, deep 

 sky-blue, is a variety which originated some twenty- 

 five years ago. It is of extra-large size, often 9 to 

 10 inches across, of very vigorous habit and free- 

 flowering. 



Of double-flowered varieties, Duchess of Edinburgh, 

 white, is the best known in this country, and about the 

 most desirable. John Gould Veitch is a double sort 

 with flowers of lavender-blue, but has seemed a shy 

 bloomer and of weak habit. Mme. Grange (purplish 

 violet), Star of India (purple), Velutina Purpurea (pur- 

 ple), and Viticella Venosa (reddish purple), are all 

 desirable varieties. 



Although they are in reality slightly less hardy than 

 the Florida and Patens types, varieties of the Lanugi- 

 nosa, Viticella and Jackmanii types,which produce their 

 flowers from young growing wood, are recommended 

 for northern localities. Plants of these types, even if 

 frozen back to the ground, will still produce a good 

 show of flowers, since, as stated, they bloom from the 

 recent vigorous wood, even if the old tops are killed. 

 Indeed, they need to be pruned back considerably 

 anyway to induce a free growth of young vigorous 

 blooming wood. With plants of the Patens and Florida 

 types, however, which blossom from year-old wood, a 

 severe freezing back of the plants would destroy the 

 crop of flowers for the year. 



Of the small-flowering varieties, Clematis paniculata 

 (white), introduced from Japan, has proved to be a 

 wonderfully valuable acquisition in this country, and 

 has become exceedingly popular. It is of remarkably 

 vigorous habit, often making a growth of 20 to 25 



