Cedar wood is highly resistant to rot and you should have no issues growing clematis on a cedar fence. I have a cedar tuteur with clematis on it and it has not been affected by having clematis planted on it.

Bill Bird's recommendation to pot up and grow out your clematis in pots is for smaller clematis you may purchase. Those that are quart sized and have good root systems do not need this treatment.

I would not recommend your purchasing from Spring Hill Nursery. They sell small plants that you will need to pot up and grow out if you want success with your clematis.

There are tons of reputable nurseries out there that have much better plants than Spring Hill including Brushwood Nursery, Chalk Hill Clematis, Silver Star Vinery, and even in your native state there is Klehms Song Sparrow Nursery. You will pay more for a higher quality plant, but you will be better off for it.

Good luck!

I realize I didn't answer your question regarding colors of clematis. Sorry, had an appointment and had to rush out. I will admit upfront that I favor the type III clematis because they hold up better in the heat that I have in the summer so my suggestions will be in that line. For whites, I love Alba Luxurians, Huldine, and campaniflora. For reds, well there are no real true reds except for maybe some texensis and perhaps Gravetye Beauty but besides those I really like Madame Julia Correvon.

I will let others more familiar with the type IIs give you suggestions along those lines.

Hi....I live in Wisconsin too! I have found that I prefer the type 3's as they do well in our winters and they are easy to prune, as basically you prune them down hard. Most of mine are grown among roses on a fence. Other types that require minimal pruning are difficult for me as they grow in the roses. Also the type 3's don't seem to wilt as often as 2's.

I have purchased from various vendors, but will agree that buying the bigger, better established plants is much easier and you get quicker results. I have always planted directly into the garden and have only lost one or two. I am lucky as a local vendor gets in some great ones as well.

I am posting a link to my web site below if you would want to check out some of the shots I have of my clematis.
Marylu

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden web site

Hi Mary Lu - your garden is just beautiful. I love that you are keeping a log of the progress. Did you do the landscaping yourself?

We've done a lot of renovations on the interior of our home, and we have a catalog of the progress. It's nice to look back at the before pictures - knowing that you've made it what you want makes the effort (and spending the funds) all the more worthwhile.

Nckville - thank you for the suggestions. I will look into these and hopefully find some local nurseries that carry them. I think I will stick with the type 3's when choosing a clematis based on what I've read here.

I'm assuming the best time to shop for these is early spring...

Thanks again for the feedback.

Thank you. Yes we did all the work/design ourselves. It was hard work, but the results were well worth it.

If you really want some hardy clematis that do well in our zone, try to find some of the Kivistik ones. They are super hardy and do fantastic for me. I have 6-7 and hope to get more. If you check out the post "Solved the Mystery Clematis" I posted several pictures.
Marylu

I'm in southern Wisconsin, and looking for a nursery nearby to buy Clematis rather than via mail order. Unfortunately, Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery says on their website that they are mail order only, and not open to the public. Do you have any suggestions for nurseries in the southern WI/northern IL area? A few local ones that I have been to last year only had spindly sad Clematis for sale.

I live just north of Chicago and travel to Milwaukee and Madison each year. In WI, I can recommend Minor's in Milwaukee for a good selection of plants, including clematis, and the Flower Factory in Oregon, WI, just south of Madison for perennials galore, including a nice selection of hardy clematis.

I just got my Clematis today from Koi Gardens. I have some questions about building a type of trellis for the vines.

Hubby and I are going back and forth about what is going to look best attached to our fence.

1. We can staple the vinyl green wire rolls of fencing to our wooden fence as a trellis for the vines, or

2. We can use plastic "deer" fencing though this may not be as sturdy,

Q: How sturdy should the trellis be??

3. We can attach lattice boards to the horizontal boards that run across our fenceline.

Q: Are the lattice boards small enough for the vines to cling onto?

Hubby is concerned that the wire fence may not look nice - thoughts on this?

Q: How big will the clems get the first year?

Q: Can I remove the wire fencing over the winter months after I've cut back my Clems, or should I plan on installing a permanent fixture for the vines? I've got all type III's.

My fence:

{{gwi:575491}}

Thanks all

Here is a link that might be useful: Examples of vinyl wire (pics from another forum member)

I'll be planting at least three vines per panel, a total of four panels. FYI

How sturdy should the trellis be? Sturdy enough to be able to pull the old vines off of it each year assuming you are planting type III clematis. I have no clue what plastic deer fencing is or how resilient it is but I would go with the fencing I suggested in your earlier post--wire fencing that is coated with a green vinyl coating.

Lattice made of what type of material? The lattice that is locally available in my area is held together with brads or staples and in my estimation will not stand the test of time. As far as whether clematis will cling to them, sure they will when the side shoots get long enough to wrap themselves around the lattice pieces.

Our thoughts on how the wire fencing may look are immaterial. What matters is what you think! The vast majority of the time during the growing season the fencing will be covered with the vines which will hide it.

No one can tell you with any certainty how large the clematis will get the first year. That will depend on how large the clematis are that you purchase, how well you tend to them, the length of the growing season in your area, and countless of other factors. Clematis are not immediate gratification plants--they take time to get established and get in full growing mode.

I personally think that whatever you use should be a permanent addition to your fence. Putting up and removing any such fixture on your fence is going to put a multitude of holes in your fencing and over time it will look bad.

Thanks for the advice Nckville, and I agree with everything you said (I just needed to hear it from someone else!). :)

If only I could find a trellis like the one you have! I don't think the wire fencing would look bad on my fence once the Clematis grow in, but because it's green and my fence is brown, it's going to stick out like a sore thumb all other months of the year. Maybe I'll have to look online for some rectangular trellis..can't find anything I like in the stores, and something similar to wrought iron I think would look better.

Shannon, I purchased my clems from Koi Garden Club (online) at a steal of a price. Not sure if he is still offering sale prices, but they were VERY reasonable for mail order ($6 per Clem, and I paid $10 for shipping). Send an email to Jerome through the website if you are interested in pursuing the mail order option and see what he can do for you. Good luck.

Kimcoco, glad you took my advice in the manner in which it was given. I tend to be a very direct person and that sometimes gets me in trouble!!

Nckvilledudes - ditto! I can totally relate to being direct and it being taken the wrong way.

I'll start another thread and post pics of what I did along my fence.