Will these four clemmies have enough room and get along?

17 years ago

IÂm going to try to describe the physical layout of the space IÂm developing. The idea is to plant four clematises under an arbor, two on either side of a wall water fountain. The planting bed is 3' deep & 5' wide for each group of two clematises. In addition, there's nothing to stop the roots from expanding sideways under the wall fountain since it's just a resin/concrete thing sitting on top of the ground, which would increase the 5' width. They will climb a net-lined trellis and then can (and hopefully some will) move horizontally across the top of the arbor.

One of the clematises Â etoile violette Â is already in place. I inherited it when I bought the house last fall. It looks quite mature and was still blooming a bit last August. I own a Duchess of Albany that IÂve been nurturing in a pot (and expected to plant at the old house). My primary question about my tentative scheme is: will the plants have enough room together. Will the smaller ones be able to duke it out with EV and DofA? Here are my "draft" combos:

Left side: etoile violette and Prince Charles

Right side: Duchess of Albany and either Pagoda or Little Nell

As long as the sizes work, IÂm very comfortable with the left-hand combo. IÂm a little concerned about the right-hand one because I canÂt tell from monitor images whether Pagoda or Little Nell is a good color companion for DofA. Has anyone grown either of those combinations -- or even seen them together somewhere?

Ideas, expertise, bald prejudices welcome!

Pat

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Comments (4)

nckvilledudes
16 years ago
Pat, I have all of the clematis you mention. In my experience, Duchess of Albany and Etoile Violette can become monsters. Pagoda in my garden has been an absolute wimp--it arrived with mildew from the nursery I purchased it from and it has been a weak grower since. It has a tendency to get mildew in my garden every year. However, I have seen it in other gardens and it has been a vigorous grower.

Little Nell and Pagoda are similar in that they are both paler colored clematis compared to D of A. I think either one would look okay with D of A since it appears you are going for a dark and lighter version of similar colors on either side of your trellis.

I am also a crammer when it comes to planting clematis. I pack them in so tight that other people would cringe (this is not the case with my wimpy Pagoda however). I also think you are wise when you realize that clematis are not confined by their planting areas if the roots can run in multiple directions.

My best advice is that you can analyze it to death, but that the only real info you can gather is to try what you like and see what happens and change things if it doesn't work out.
butterclem
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for your input, nckvilledudes. It was reassuring in terms of space. Of course, I know you're a pro and have more clematises than I have paper clips! So your cramming is no doubt more skillfully done. Nevertheless, I'll try it.

You cause me to have second thoughts about Pagoda, though. And I remember someone on the forum who has great pix and great content (but I don't remember whom) said that their Pagoda finally seem to settle in this year after several unimpressive years. Sounds a little temperamental.

Pat
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buyorsell888
16 years ago
I have two Clematis together in areas that are smaller than those you described in a dozen places or more around my yard. No problems. My whole yard is crammed. Otherwise I could not grow nearly as many plants.
nckvilledudes
16 years ago
Pat, don't let me dissuade you about Pagoda. I too have seen great specimens of the plant in pictures and it could be that mine was a dud from the get go. You might have much better luck with it than me but my plant has been in the ground for about 4 years. It was planted at the same time and purchased from the same nursery as Duchess of Albany and the D of A has become huge and Pagoda remains a wimp.

Will these four clemmies have enough room and get along?

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nckvilledudes

butterclem
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Will these four clemmies have enough room and get along?

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nckvilledudes

butterclemOriginal Author

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