I would think that eventually it will be too small for a clematis, and you would want something wider, like one of the other trellis shown on the pages.

No. I posted on the junk forum what I'm growing mine on. If you go have a look, don't read all my diatribe. I have to quit that.

Here is what my Polish Spirit is growing on. It was in a tiny pot, ordered later last year, got it in the ground maybe late June early July, dinky little thing wasn't doing much but did bloom by fall.

Maybe you could rig something up yourself? Like make a rebar teepee, with or w/o chicken wire cylinders for it to climb better, well at least until you can find or make just the right thing.

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The only one that looks stong enough to me at bestnest.com is Gardman Classic Garden Obelisk, 96", maybe a couple others would work. Don't suggest the Gardman Scrollwork Obelisk at bestnest as I thought I could get by with my C. Rooguchi on it until I can get my arbor put back up. Just got done shoring that up with a couple of iron garden hanging basket stakes on either side. Maybe Polish Spirit isn't quite as dense and heavy as C. Rooguchi, don't know yet.

It depends on how much you want to spend.

Here is a link that might be useful: My coatrack trellis thread on Garden Junk forum

This is WAY TO SMALL for Polish Spirit. This clematis will overwhelm it in about 3 years (assuming you are starting with a gallon pot). You will have a tangled mess on your hands. You will definitely need one of the larger, more robust trellis from Smith Hawken.

My mother's Polish Spirit gets about 14' tall on the back of her garage. Climbs up the 6ft fan trellis of 1/2" square stock steel, then on up the netting she had my brother hang from the garage roof. Uses up ALL the length, covers it about 2ft wide at the midpoint, TONS of flowers and leaves. Lovely plant, she loves it, but it NEEDS support and room to grow.

Hers is about 8-9years old, got when they were first available. It gets mid day sun, grows in a sandy soil. I changed out the 4ft trellis of steel wire like shown, that was leaning badly with the stem and leaf load. The fan trellis has two steel posts to hold it upright, manage the weight of the plant. Nice heavy built fan trellis was a good choice here.

I would recommend adding a post for support, stiffen up any of those light trellis' if you choose to use them.

She has a white Pope John-Paul beside the Spirit, which also grows VERY well on it's own, same trellis setup, reaching the garage roof on the netting. Both are spectacular in bloom right now, get her tons of compliments.

I whack them both down early in spring, before any leafing out. Remove old stems, clean off the netting and trellis. I cut both to about 4ft, seems to work just fine because they regrow all the length each summer. Both bloom erratically all summer, after the first huge bloom in June. They are attractive all season.

Those Polish Clematis all seem to be extremely good plants in flower production. I would buy any of them and expect great results. Do give them room to develop, I don't know any small ones. Might take a couple years, but they fill out a lot from those tiny starts!

I've seen a fifteen foot tall and ten foot wide 'Polish Spirit'.

There are Clematis that would do fine on that trellis but it isn't one of them....

All Clematis take several years to reach maturity.

I'm thinking maybe I should just let them ramble down the walls of my sunken patio. I just don't have anywhere to put them where I can let them get to their full potential without attaching it to the house somehow (which, as I mentioned, is O-U-T of the question), and I'm not a DIY-er to rig some sort of contraption up myself.

Could you lean a trellis against the house? That's what I'm doing because I didn't want to mess with spacers and drilling holes. Depending on the color, you can tape the contact points for abrasion, like black trellis, black duct tape, also have white which I got for something else. I can't imagine that my trellises against the house will move and be abrasive; it's cedar shake siding and doesn't matter that much.

My Madame Julia Correzon has topped a 6? foot trellis, so ordered the highest one I can find and will swap out in the spring when you cut them back anyway. She is out of control, I just let her do her thing for now.

I'm wondering if my Polish Spirit will work on my contraption; it's already shot one vine way higher. Can I cut it back and if it gets worse, trim things up to keep them tidy? I'll probably lose blooms, won't I? The soil isn't the best there, and it's shaded more than I would like, so hopefully that will slow it down some.

I have a mammoth Polish Spirit that rambles over a short fieldstone wall.

This is a picture when it was a youngster about 5-6 years ago:

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wendyb, thanks for that great idea!

Do you think that would work on what I jokingly refer to as my son's "Stonehenge"? We were just talking about it tonight. I suggested dichondra but now think maybe it drapes too long. Or some combo of something.

He's been looking for a round or octagonal iron gazebo to put in there, but I kind of like the feeling of openness.

What do people think? I may ask for ideas on a different forum. This is the main section on the west side of the house, and a smaller photo of the other section just to the right of the double doors, kind of forms a semicircle.

I don't know if he would want or it would work to grow one on the shorter section because of the downspout and drainpipe, plus his landscaping style is um professional like people have. I was telling him I'm going for the cottage garden look. Well, he says he'd like to go more in that direction, too, probably in a limited manner.

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Oh cr*p that stone wall is BEAUTIFUL!!!

So is the rambling P.S. pic - thanks for posting, that's kind of what I was thinking of doing, only mine would ramble and tumble down the walls of my sunken patio.

I saw some 9' trellis on Bestnest.com, I'm going to ponder those.

Still thinking, still thinking....

I think a Polish Spirit would look great draping on the wall with the drainpipe. It would even conceal the drainpipe in time. However, you will have to be careful on exact placement with the water from the downspout. Clematis do like water but don't want to overwhelm it either. Does the downspout bury into the ground or does it drain on the surface?

The other wall with the evergreens could use some softening with a vine, but its hard to see if there's any place for the roots to fit with the competition from the evergreens. The clematis might want to climb up the evergreens. You might need to guide it down the wall.

My polish spirit on the fieldstone wall (wow that was 8 years ago based on datestamp on pic..time flies) try to grow upwards into the air, until it gets too long, then it is forced to fall downwards.

I've got four of those 9' trellises but they are still sitting in their boxes. They probably need to be assembled outside, shouldn't be too hard when I get around to it.

I have to get them going by next spring. I got a box of 5 of those black steel lattice ones (6'?); some are too short for what I have climbing them. Seeing how that one clem of mine is doing, even 9' may not be tall enough! I saw a post on here where a person put two of those side by side to grow a large climbing rose against the brick exterior of her house and wondered if I could ever find any of those. Luckily I finally did.

I can tell you clems will grab onto the lattice on those. They won't with regular lattice I don't think unless somebody knows something I don't. You could tie them onto it, and then the later shoots climb the earlier ones. They have a mind of their own! I'd probably tie chicken wire on it; it barely shows.

Yes, I love my son's stone wall; it was probably terribly expensive, IIRC he had the stone brought down from a supplier in Dubuque, IA (80 mi). He put in a retaining wall for me years ago with different stone, not so huge as those. We can get some of it locally, I haven't gotten an actual price for something I want to do but put on the back burner for now.

Somebody here made the pvc pipe and lattice trellis; I thought it was gorgeous, glad I found the instructions again and have not been able to find that double lattice anywhere. I think I could manage that myself and am not all that handy. I think clems would cling to that lattice.

If you google lattice pvc pipe trellis, the first hit is a free standing one. You could do that. My hardware store will cut pvc pipe for me to size at no extra charge, I can cut it myself but badly, the rest doesn't look that hard.

Here is a link that might be useful: Unusual lattice and pvc pipe trellis

aliska12000, I LOVE what your Polish Spirit is growing on! What is it exactly and where did you get it? It is a gazing globe with copper - but what is in between? The stone wall looks great - I could well picture an iron gazebo or maybe just a stately statue to preserve the open feeling, the curvature makes a nice backdrop.

I have free standing cedar lattice trellises for some of my Clematis and they do not wrap themselves around the wood lattice like I would like them too. It is too wide. I have to tuck them back in almost daily and many of the vines break off.

I've seen them on wire lattice and they climb it by themselves just fine. Local Clematis society display garden uses wire livestock fence stapled to wood frames and that is what I'd do if I could do over.

Love that stone wall!

I think it would look glorious on the stone wall. But you may want to consider an obelisk like this one. They're made in Mexico(there are many other similar designs, all made from rustable iron wire). I have bought them at Homegoods and garden antiques and accessories stores.$45-75 usually.
best,
mindy

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First, I didn't mean to hijack the OP's thread. One thing leads to another with me, I really get into some threads, don't say anything on most.

I surmise some of the questions are directed at me. I don't know how that drainpipe drains, will find out. Agreed about the evergreens, hadn't been out there for some time, only about 4+ miles, and don't know how far back they are set; he lost the first ones; the soil is bad. I haven't inspected that part of the yard yet. I've suggested trying to amend the soil in places. I hope my son does not put a gazebo there, emailed him today it would ruin the look of the stone and the feeling of openness. He'd be pleased so many of you like it, has good ideas, but our tastes differ, especially about gazebos, pergolas. He wants some expensive European one with clunky feet. I like that obelisk, hadn't thought of something like that, and it would not detract from the wall, thanks for posting the pic. To sum up on that for now, I love the idea of a clem on the smaller wall if the water drains well. Had him look at some dichondra for the big one but think it might ruin the look, too, and could be troublesome to grow, says an annual at Swallowtail seeds.

On to my "thing". Somebody gave me that idea over on the garden junk forum when I came home with a $2 coat rack from a yard sale, never thought of turning it upside down. Turned out easy, unlike my lovely old Victorian screen door on sawhorses in the basement that I don't quite have the expertise to make free standing and all the rest of that mess, worked my tail off on it. The coat thing is hollow and set on a 5' stake of rebar, used my level so it would be plumb. The gazing ball was $40+ at bestnest.com, and it's not copper but stainless steel. The clem does not want to cling to those curvy pieces at the top, so more cylinders of chicken wire tied on today. I fear it will not last very long because it looks like it was cheap to begin with, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Some rose is destined to be growing in front of it, but it only gets about 5 hours of sun a day there, had one but dug it out and gave it away.

Here's what I started with, it's all on a thread on the garden junk forum but don't want to send you over there because I go off rambling just like I've done again.

My house has been painted blue since, son had it done for me, neighbors were shocked at the difference some paint can make. I had it done that brown years ago from green but got tired of it. Then I didn't care about any of it for a long time, flowers have given me a new direction in my life and make me want to have it better around here. Got those pots and planter free when a neighbor moved, love them, wouldn't spend what it takes for those bigger pieces.

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I must have the wimp of all Polish Spirits.4 years ago I planted Polish Spirit, Prince Charles, and Venosa Violeca on an 8 ft wide trellis. I have had all of 3 or 4 flowers on Polish Spirit. The other 2 have covered the trellis and are blooming profusely right now in spite of being hailed on twice. So far no sign of a bud on Polish Spirit. It grows well and is a good looking GREEN plant, just no flowers. Who knows why? It is treated just like all the rest. All are vitacellas and are cut down every spring, fertilized the same, just NO flowers. Can anyone explain this?

I don't know if it is the same for clematis as for roses, but there are blind stems (may ultimately produce flowers but can't be sure if you root them). But I wouldn't expect that of clematis. IOW maybe when it was rooted it for some obscure reason wasn't a flower producer, just a guess. I think the other stems that come up from the roots are clones of the mother plant, so would behave the same way.

After 4 years I'd replace it. Your others must be getting what they need. As you can see, mine isn't as nice as the one on the stone wall which is much more established to be sure; mine is in a lot more shade, still blooms. Was a little dinky thing when I planted it last year, didn't do a whole lot, but a couple blooms late in the summer, growth wasn't the best.

I had trouble finding one, so bought mine from a greenhouse/retailer that sells on amazon, arrived healthy enough and I like them in smaller pots because they are easier to plant. I forgot to plant mine the recommended 2 inches deeper (soil level in pot compared to ground). I wouldn't think that would be an issue for you now as plants do adapt.

In more sun, I think mine would do a lot better plus I don't think it's real thrilled about that coat rack.

I read you can feed them with tomato food so gave my 2 Rooguchi some this year because they're not in the best soil and may have depleted in 3 years whatever nutrients are in it. But those are too big and dense for where they are and get a lot more sun, bloom like crazy. Maybe there is something better for fertilizer. I'm not an expert on clems.

Maybe you could ask on the clematis forum. There should be some experts on there.

All 3 of these clems came from Song Sparrow(or Klehms) I fertilize with rose food early in spring, then mulch with compost. If it hadn't had a few flowers already, I would almost think it isn't Polish Spirit. This is maddening. I hate to dig up a clematis, but if no blooms this year, it gets shovel pruned.

Are the other two shading it out so that it doesn't get enough sun?

Polish Spirit should be big enough to swamp the other two which are smaller growers. Was it a tiny pot when it started? I've got some clems from gallons still not doing much after five years. They haven't read the three year mantra of sleep, creep and leap.

I planted Rouge Cardinal with my Venosa violacea and Prince Charles on a 9' wide x 9' tall lattice trellis and it isn't big enough. They are all flopping all over each other in every direction in this, their third year from gallon pots.

These 3 came in the same size pot from Song Sparrow. Polish Spirit would get the least morning sun. This trellis is on the north side of my garden shed, which is slanted slightly east to west, and Polish Spirit is on the east side. I think I will dig it this fall and move to a sunnier spot. However Betty Corning is planted on the west of a fence close by that doesn't get morning sun until noon and she is growing and blooming well. So are Perle de Azur, Kermisina, and Huldine. They all get as much sun as Polish Spirit.