THE HARDY WILD CLEMATIS 
growing Clematis is never better seen 
than when the starry flowers look down 
from natural arches in the woodland, or 
gather in fleecy billows upon the hedge- 
side. The wild-garden, the woodland, 
the skirt of the orchard with its hoary 
standards, the hedge-side with its warm 
banks and moist ditches, all, with a 
C[,EI\rATlS Orientalis 
touch ofthatinsightwhichmakes Nature 
ours, may be transformed into a "virgin's 
bower," by the use of these graceful 
climbers. 
They come from all parts of the world 
and are specially abundant in the north- 
ern hemisphere, while so many kinds 
are from the far East that over 70 new 
species have been described within the 
past few months, and, while many of 
these are of botanical interest only, 
others promise to be plants of garden 
value. The variety in form and char- 
acter of the wild Clematis is remark- 
able, ranging from herbs of a foot high 
i to stout climbers of 50 feet or more 
and reaching to the top of lof- 
ty trees. The form of flower 
is now that of starry clusters, 
now drooping bells ; those of 
the far East with massive flat 
flowers, those of the far West 
with urn or pitcher- shaped 
blooms ; others tubular or in- 
flated, others in which the 
flower consists of little save a 
bunch of feathery stamens, 
while in t\\QAtrage7je section 
these stamens are converted 
into narrow petals with the ef- 
fect of a double flower. And 
these are the only petals seen 
in the flowers of the Clematis, 
for the wide outer segments 
four to eight in number, are 
not petals but gaily coloured 
sepals which fulfil the same 
function. 
Culture. — Though little 
skill is needed to grow many 
of these hardy wild kinds, a 
few such as alpiiia and coccinea need 
greater care, and all will thrive in 
proportion as their needs are known. 
Light rich soil which is fairly moist 
is best suited to the Clematis, and 
poor dry soils should be improved by 
adding cow-manure,and stiff" soils light- 
ened with leaf-mould, sand, and lime- 
