April  3,  1302. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
293 
The  Clematis :  Its  Culture  aud  Uses. 
To  the  ordinary  gardening  amateur,  looking  tlirougli  the 
'Clematis  section  of  a  floinst’s  catalogue  is  a  source  of  perplexity. 
It  is  not  only  that  there  are  so  many  species  and  hybrids,  one 
.catalogue  enumerating  at  least  eighty,  but  these  are  divided  into 
various  sections,  the  principal  object  of  which  division  appears  to 
be,  so  far  as  the  ordinary  gardener  is  concerned,  to  keeiJ  those 
together  which  need  similar  treatment  in  pruning.  It  is  cpiite  as 
important,  Avhen  .selecting  plants,  to  know  those  which  are 
vigorous  and  rapid  climbers  and  those  which  grow  only  a  fcAv 
feet;  and  yet  a  catalogue,  which  is  vei-y  careful  in  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  its  sections,  simply  describes  Clematis  flammula  as 
“small  white,  very  sweet,”  and  C.  integrifolia  as  “bluish  violet,” 
Avhile  the  important  fact  that  the  former  is  a  vigorous  grower 
and'  rapid  climber,  while 
the  latter  only  grows  2ft 
or  3ft  high,  is  quite 
ignored.  To  cleal  with  all 
the  species  even,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  hybrids  de¬ 
rived  from  these  species, 
would  be  impossible  in  an 
article  of  such  necessarily 
limited  length  as  this,  and 
the  aim  here  is  simply  to 
give  some  guidance  to  the 
amateur  as  to  the  cidture 
of  the  Clematis,  some  of 
the  best  of  the  hardy  sorts, 
and  the  different  uses  to 
which  they  can  be  put. 
The  culture  of  the  more 
vigorous  and  hardy  sorts  is, 
on  most  soils,  fairly  simple, 
but  attention  to  certain 
wants  is  necessary-  to  get 
the  be.st  results.  To-  start 
with,  the  ground  should  be 
deeply- trenched  and  heavily 
manured,  a  good  dressing 
of  basic  slag  at  the  rate  of 
101b  to  the  twenty  square 
.yards  being  well  mixed  with 
the  lower  soil.  The  Cle¬ 
matis  is  a  very  gross 
feeder,  and  the  richer  the 
soil  the  better  it  likes  it,  in 
fact  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  make  it  too  rich.  There 
must  be  a  sufficiency  of 
chalk  in  the  soil  to  get  the 
Clematis  to  perfection,  and 
if  the  soil  is  poor  in  this 
respect  it  will  be  advisable, 
in  addition  to  the  basic 
slag,  to  dig  in  some  lime  or 
chalk.  In  whatever  soil 
tills  climber  grows,  after  a 
few  years  it  tends  to  ex¬ 
haust  the  soil  in  its  im¬ 
mediate  vicinity  of  its 
original  store  of  this  foo<l, 
and  it  will  then  be  greatly 
benefited  by  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  a  dressing  of  it,  in 
the  form  of  lime  or  chalk 
if  it  can  be  easily  got,  or 
in  the  form  of  basic  slag, 
which  latter  is  very  helpful  in  any  case,  as  the  soil  gets  poor  in 
phosphates  as  well  as  in  lime.  A  good  coating  of  rotted  manure 
and  leaf  mould  round  the  roots  eve^  autumn  will  add  to  its 
luxurious  growth,  and  lessen  the  risk  of  destruction  by  an 
exceptionally  severe  Avinter. 
As  a  rule  a  fairly  open  situation  is  necessary  for  success,  the 
leaves  often  being  spoilt  by  inildeAV  in  the  late  summer  in  a  shady 
position,  while  the  Avinter  is  the  more  likely  to  do  damage.  As 
an  additional  precaution,  besides  the  manure  and  leaf  mould 
round  the  roots  some  bracken  or  garden  cuttings  might  be  tied 
round  the  lower  part  of  the  stem  in  Avinter,  not  only  to  protect 
the  stem  itself  from  frost,  but  to  save  some  of  the  early  shoots, 
Avhich  appear  as  eaidy  as  February  in  a  mild  Avinter.  The 
Cleiuatis  repays  liberal  treatment  as  Avell  as  anything  in  the 
garden,  both  in  the  vigour  and  rapidity  of  its  climbing  and  in  the 
size  and  abundance  of  its  flowers. 
To  make  a  selection  of  sorts  is  a  difficult  task,  and  the 
■catalogues  tempt  one  to  court  failure  by  their  alluring  descrip¬ 
tions.  One  fact  should  ahvays  be  borne  in  mind,  and  that  is, 
that  many,  if  not  most,  of  the  hybrids  are  grafted,  principally 
on  Clematis  viticella,  and  it  is  little  exaggeration  to  .say  that  the 
plants  of  these,  in  many  soils,  die  off  like  flies.  It  is  often  the 
more  disappointing,  as  they  groAV'  so  Avell  for  one  season,  or 
perhaps  tivo,  and  so  raise  false  hopes,  and  then,  after  the  second 
or  third  season,  Ai  hen  Ave  feel  that  they  are  getting  Avell  estab¬ 
lished,  they  fail  to  sIioav  any  sign  of  life  in  the  spring.  For 
this  reason,  only  those  sorts  Avill  be  noticed  Avhich  can  be  fairly 
Avell  depended  upon. 
The  old  purple  Jackmanni  (J.  purpurea)  has  given  its  name  to 
the  most  useful  section  of  Clematis  as  regards  the  ordinary 
amateur.  Jackmanni  superba  is  an  improvement  upon  the  typo 
in  many  respects,  being  larger  floAvered  and  of_  a  deeper  colour. 
Jackmanni  alba,  as  hardy  and  as  reliable  as  the  old-fashioned 
purple,  is  often  bought  for  a  Avhite  one,  and  disappointment 
results,  as  it  is  tinted  Aiith  purple,  though  becoming  ivliiter  as  it 
gets  older.  It  has  the  peculiarity,  Avhen  it  groAvs  very  vigorously, 
of  producing  some  early 
blooms  in  May  of  enormous 
size  and  very  double,  a 
multiplication  of  the  petals 
taking  place  at  the  expense 
of  the  stamens,  and,  ap¬ 
parently,  of  the  absorption 
of  the  Avhole  of  the  energy 
of  the  shoots  which  bear 
them,  as  a  shoot  Avhich  pro¬ 
duces  one  of  these  groAvs  no 
more  during  the  season  and 
sends  out  no  lateral  shoots. 
This  is  an  excellent  A-ariety 
Avhere  vigorous  groAvth  is 
AA-anted,  as  it  will  grow 
20ft  or  more  in  a  season — ■ 
but  it  is  not  a  AA’hite  one. 
A  very  fine  Clematis  of  this 
same  section  is  Madame 
Edouard  Andre,  Avhich  is 
bright  velvety  red,  a  very 
rapid  grower,  hardy,  and  a 
free  bloomer.  There  seems 
to  be  little  difficulty  in 
groAving  it,  and  the  Avonder 
is  that  it  is  not  moi'c 
general.  The  method  of 
floAvering  is  similar  to  the 
purple  Jackmanni. 
There  is  also  Jackmanni 
nivea,  a  snoAA'-Avhite  Jack¬ 
manni,  Avhich  is  excellent 
in  some  places,  producing 
a  profusion  of  pure  Avhite 
blossoms.  All  the  varieties 
of  this  section  Ave  have 
been  considering  may  be 
cut  back  to  2ft  or  3ft  of  the 
ground  in  the  early  spring, 
though  some  recommend 
doing  this  after  the  floAver- 
ing  season  is  over.  Spring 
pruning  has  the  same  to  be 
said  in  favour  of  it  as  the 
spring  pruning  of  Roses. 
The  early  young  shoots 
Avhich  the  Clematis  pushes 
forth  are  generally  upon 
the  upper  part  of  the 
groAvth  Avhich  has  suiwived 
the  Avinter,  and  if  these  get 
cut  off  by  some  severe 
March  frosts,  as  not  infre¬ 
quently  happens,  it  is  of  no  consequence,  as  the  Avood  Avhich  has 
produced  them  Avill  itself  be  cut  off  by  pruning  at  the  beginning 
of  April.  The  strong  shoots  Avhich  will  be  Avanted  for  the  summer 
groAvth  are  thus  kept  back  till  they  can  Avith  safety  be  pushed 
forth.  In  this  section  all  the  floAvers  are  produced  on  the  groAvth 
of  the  current  season,  and  the  stronger  this  groAvth  is  the  better 
and  more  abundant  ai'e  the  blossoms.  Some  even  cut  the  plants 
doAA'n  to  AA'ithin  a  foot  of  the  ground,  AA’hich  treatment  though  too 
drastic  for  many  is  not  unattended  AA’ith  success. 
Another  Clematis  Avhieh  is  sometimes  included  in  the  section 
AA’e  have  been  considering  is  the  C.  flammula  refeired  to  above,  a 
vigorous  and  handsome  groAver,  with  fine  dark  green  leaves  AA-hich 
keep  green  AA-ell  into  the  winter.  Though  the  floAAers  aie  small 
yet,  as  they  are  creamy  AA-hite,  they  are  shoAvy,  ^.^3  fll^y 
the  recommendation  of  being  very  fragrant,  Avliich  gives  the 
plant  its  poetic  name — Fragrant  Virgin’s  BoAver  par  excellence, 
though  the  name  AA’ithout  the  qualification  properly  belongs  to 
the  AA'hole  genus. — X.  Petts. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Fritillaria  askabadensi.s. 
(See  page  292  ) 
