328 



CLEMATIS 



CLEMATIS 



gentle hotbeds ; shading, spraying, and later on airing, 

 must be strictly attended to. Layering is practiced 

 where 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 formed. The number of 

 hybrids is almost countless ; in this account are care- 

 fully recorded all those in the American trade which are 

 traceable to their origin. 



The Clematis is subject to a very serious disease, due 

 to the depredations of a nematode 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. j^ Q_ DAVIS. 



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 disappointments that it has never 

 been very generally attempted by nurserymen or florists 

 in this country. At the present 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 fifteen years that Clematises 

 have been commercially grown even by this limited 

 number. Prior to that, practically all of the large-flower- 

 ing Clematis planted in this country were imported from 

 Europe, the major part being supplied by Holland, 

 whose moist atmosphere 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 ex- 

 tent 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 vigorous 

 growing species, Clematis Flammula being most com- 

 monly used. In this country, on the contrary, the method 

 commonly pursued is by means of cuttings from young 

 wood, struck in sand, with gentle bottom heat, usually 

 during May or June. So far as concerns the comparative 

 vigor and desirability of 

 plants produced by these two 

 methods, there is small choice 

 between them. It has been 

 our experience that propaga- 

 tion 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 un- 

 informed amateur, entirely 

 "running out" the variety 

 grafted in. 



Clematises hybridize so 

 readily that the number of 

 varieties resultant from va- 

 rious 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 possessing most beautiful 

 shades and variations of coloring that fail to attain 

 popularity, chiefly on account of deficiency in two es- 



sential characteristics, vigorous habit of growth and 

 abundance of bloom. Clematis Jackmani, purple, 

 originated in 1862, by Mr. George Jackman, was one of 

 the first hybrid Clematises introduced, and still stands 

 as the most popular, and, of its color, the most valuable 

 variety yet known. The new variety, Madame Edouard 

 Andre, a deep, rich crimson, is distinct and novel, being 

 at this time the only large-flowering sort of a truly 

 crimson shade. It is of fully as vigorous habit as the 

 Jackmani, and its flowers are similarly massed, though 

 not produced in quite such profusion. Clematis Madame 

 Baron Veillard is another new and distinct variety that 

 promises to prove a valuable acquisition. It is of ex- 

 ceedingly vigorous habit, and the flowers are quite 

 freely produced, though, being more dispersed over the 

 plant, they do not malie so much of a show as do varie- 

 ties whose flowers are closely massed. The flowers are 

 of very large size and of a light rose color, shaded with 

 lilac. Of white varieties, Henryi, Mrs. George Jack- 

 man and Lanuginosa Candida, all of them introduced 

 long ago, still remain about the most desirable ones 

 known. Bamona, deep sky-blue, is a variety which 

 originated on our grounds some ten 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, though a new double white variety, called 

 "Snowdrift, "originated by the famous Luther Burbank, 

 and now being propagated by us, promises to excel it 

 in both floriferousness and vigor of growth. John Gould 

 Veitch is a double sort with flowers of lavender-blue, 

 but, with us at least, has seemed a shy bloomer and of 

 weak habit. Mme. Grange (purplish violet), Star of 

 India (purple), Velutine Purpurea (purple), and Viti- 

 cella Venosa (reddish purple), are all desirable varieties. 



Although they are in reality slightly less hardy than 

 the Florida and Patens types, we would recommend for 

 northern localities varieties of the Lanuginosa, Viticella 

 and Jackmani types, which produce their flowers from 

 young growing wood. 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 young 

 growing wood. Indeed, they need to be pruned back 

 considerably anyway to induce a free growth of young 

 wood. With plants of the Patens and Florida types, 

 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 a wonderfully 



485. Spray of Clematis paniculata. 



valuable acquisition in this country, and has already 

 become exceedingly popular. It is of remarkably 

 vigorous habit, often making a growth of 20 to 25 feet 

 in a season. It seems thus far to be entirely free from 



