I agree with Kathy, the taller the better. I have some 6 ft obelisks and I quickly realized they are just too small for most roses. The one you are looking at is very pretty! I also made the rebar ones but I used 10 ft rebar, drove it 18 inches into the ground and that still left me a little over 8 ft above ground. It took a very few minutes to make them and they disappear visually once the rose grows. I grow clematis with all of my climbers and it is just a matter of what color combinations you like together. The type III clematis are the easiest because you cut them back hard in the spring when you prune your roses. Carol

Thanks for posting the photos, Daisy. Your garden always looks lovely and the photos are a pleasure to see. I assume that all of your clematis are several years old and already established plants? I am sure that you know that clematis get better with age. Do you ever pinch your vines when they start to grow in the spring? There were some old threads on Gardenweb a few years ago that talked about doing this. If you pinch the vine just above a pair of leaves, the vine will then grow on either side, essentially making two vines. You can repeat this every couple of feet to get lots more vines producing more flowers overall, but it is only feasible to do if the vines are accessible. Also talked about on this forum several years ago was the idea of cutting the vines back after the first flush of flowers, so that the vines would regrow to produce more flowers. Obviously this would only work on those varieties (hard pruned group 3) that flower on new wood, and the longer your growing season, the more times you could do this in a year. It also assumes that you could provide more water (and possibly fertilizer) after the plants are cut back. Cutting back like this also keeps some of the taller growing varieties more compact. I am going to throw some ideas out for consideration, but I really have only been growing lots of clematis for a few years. My climate is also hot, but still quite different from yours. Also, all of my yard is partially shaded, so none of my clematis here grow in full all day sun. My first idea is that perhaps clematis will never grow as luxuriantly in Crete as they do in England, and that maybe you just need to acknowledge and accept that. Secondly, maybe you need to chose clematis with colors that show up better in your brighter light conditions in Crete. Just going on what you have written above, I would say that since you think that Perle d'Azur is showy there, you might want to look at other lighter colored clematis - Emilia Plater, Prince Charles, Little Nell, Betty Corning, Blue Angel,Tentel, Pirko, Maria Cornelia, Huldine, I Am Lady Q, Jolly Good, Madame Baron Veillard. You could also look for varieties with larger flowers such as Huldine, Ville de Lyon, Venosa Violacea, Voluceau, Marcelina (often treated as a pruning group 3), Viola, Perrin's Pride. From what I have read, there are some clematis in the large late flowering group (pruning type 3) that do just as well as the viticella hybrids. I have ordered Voluceau this year because I have read that it does well in Texas, and because in his book "Trouble Free Clematis the Viticellas" John Howells says this about it: "This is a neglected beauty that is worthy of more attention. Blooms are large, red and velvety. It keeps coming with series after series of blooms. One of the best of all red clematis." Maybe you need to consider a different placement in the garden than you used in England. Perhaps you could use obelisks as a support instead of just using other plants as a support - this would "separate" the clematis a little bit and allow the flowers to show up more. Perhaps certain colors would show up better if they were planted closer to where you would be viewing them. Going along with this thought, is also the idea of choosing some smaller growing varieties that could be planted closer to the front of a bed or border instead of in the back. Examples would be Inspiration (this one is one of my longest blooming clematis here), Juuli, Star River, Arabella, Petit Faucon, etc. Another thought, is choosing bicolor clematis, especially those with more white - Venosa Violacea, Walenburg, Little Nell (a great performer here), Minuet, Tango, Foxtrot, Odoriba, I Am A Little Beauty, I Am Happy, I Am Lady J, I Am Lady Q. I think the white on these flowers would allow the other color to stand out more. Have you considered any of the texensis hybrids? I know that the flowers are smaller, but they should also do well in a hotter climate. When I lived in Dallas, TX I grew Duchess of Albany in full blazing hot all day sun - it was on a fence by itself. It took probably about 4 years to really get established (I started with a very small plant), but it did finally get large enough to put on a nice show. I remember that it was quite showy in all that sun, although I would have been looking at it from just a couple of feet away from the vines. I added Mienie Belle here in Houston a couple of years ago, and I really like it as well. Mienie Belle's flowers are a lighter color and they open up wider into a starry shape.

I live in the Dallas Metroplex area and have successfully grown clematis - and am also quite smitten! The first clematis I obtained were the bare root type things you get in a box from Sam's. I planted all 5 of them under one trellis in early spring - probably overcrowded - but all came up - and have flourished over the last 5 years. I will say that the first year - there was very little - and I mean VERY LITTLE growth - and what little growth I saw died back over winter. The following Spring - Spring #2 - the plant took off and nearly covered the trellis - but producted few flowers - and then year three and on - most prolific - fast grower - and quite the showpiece of that area in my garden - I do very little pruning - even though it is one that I could prune - I just clean it up a bit to keep it from getting "leggy". The variety from Sam's was called "Violet Charm". I also have planted teeny tiny little distressed clematis that were on the nearly dead looking clearance rack from Lowes. They were 25 cents each - does that tell you how small and "dead". Every single one of them grew - but again - just about gave up on them 'til the second season and then - POW - they took off. I just stuck them in the grond - watered the spot that they were located and marked it so as not to dig up that area in case they made it. Can't even tell you for sure what the varieties were - because they were not all marked. I do know that I have a Nelly Mosier (sp) and a Jumanjii (sp?) and a very prolific - yet smaller flowered clematis called Sweet Autumn. I use the rule I was told - Cleamtis like their heads in the sun and feet in the shade. For me - the shade is mulch - at least in most cases.... except my first ones (Sam's) - where I have some chartreuse colored coral bells surrounding the base of the trellis. Good luck! and don't give up!

Marilu, thanks for sharing photos of your lovely Marmori and Silmakivi they are absolutely beautiful. I have a few, all but the Blue Bells stressed out during the 2 weeks of heat-wave we had (even with protective plants to keep their feet cool. Bellarosa - I was searching for an enthusiastic grower of a vine for my newly erected arbor when I ran into your Sweet Autumn photos and she won my heart! I chance to find one late in the season and in a very sad state - they gave her to me for next to nothing - to add insult to her sad state, I even accidentally broke the only stem that showed some life - I set her in, at the foot of the arbor anyway and true to her nature, as read from the SA thread, climb she did, & branched out too!!! A few days after, another local nursery just got a new shipment of very young ones - not knowing if my first one would bounce from the accident, I brought home one of them and after a week in the ground buds started showing and very soon, the most delightful blossoms opened with beautiful & gentle, jasmine like scent!!! Again thanks for sharing your photos and thoughts. She is my favorite!