I've overwintered passion vine in the icy cold garage, but have not tried clematis. Since they have that reputation for not liking "hot feet," I'd be worried about that unless they were in a really big pot, or unless the pot was shaded in some way.

I kept a clematis in a nursery pot inherited at a swap in my garage all winter. Clematis is totally fine this year, but I can't imagine it would have been happy outside.

Well, I have about four or five clematis that I overwintered in pots. I didn't intend to keep them in pots, but then I never intended to keep the other 200 perennials in pots either!

My overwintered clematis were in a range of pot sizes, from a large 12-inch diameter pot to a 2-in pot, and all came through with flying colors, even the 2-incher, surprisingly. I just had an arbor put up yesterday, so two clematis will go in the ground there, and another will go on a recently erected rose obelisk.

I do have one that I transplanted a few weeks ago into a large, approximately 22-inch pot, and I'm debating keeping it in there. I'll have to see how it does. I can always drag the pot into the garage. I just wonder how to move the 6-foot trellis that it will be attached to. Currently, the trellis is just stuck into the pot and leans against the side of the house. Obviously this whole venture was a temporary set-up, lol. I need to check into the pruning requirements of this particular clematis and see if the pot/trellis thing will work for me.

:)
Dee

that's great info except i need to know WHERE those pots were- outside, inside...??!!!and what conditions- mulched, temperature of room, light, disattached from a trellis, still connected to arbor, etc etc!! this is all going to be exactly the info i need and i'm so glad you succeeded. now i just need to learn how you did it so i can follow suit!!
thank you so much,
mindy

Well, they were outside in the spring/summer/fall, and inside in the winter, lol! I guess to be very specific, three of them sat outdoors in the 2-in to 12-in pots in my driveway all last season, which gets half sun, but very hot, afternoon, half sun. They were not mulched, watered when I saw that they were wilting, had no trellises so they were dragging on the ground, and otherwise ignored and neglected. The others I got in fall through mail-order, so they sat in pots for less time outside, in the same situation.

In winter, (late December last year) I brought them in my unheated garage, and piled them up with other pots. I don't have a thermometer in there so I don't know the exact temps, but it is a cold garage - cracked concrete floor, no insulation at all (not even interior walls, just the siding). I have the windows covered with black landscape fabric to keep it dark in winter.

As I said above, as far as trellises, the only potted clematis I have with a trellis is the one in the 22-inch pot, with the trellis leaning against a wall. I planted it a few weeks ago, and I will have to look into the pruning requirements to see it that set-up will work for me, as far as moving it indoors with the trellis attached.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but to be honest, I don't have a lot of time to be overly attentive to my poor plants. They get attention when they are half dead, and if they are lucky they get water before they die of the lack thereof; otherwise they are left to survive as best they can on their own. They're really lucky if they get put in the ground, lol!

:)
Dee

Mindy, I just realized I might not have been too clear on one or two points. I was just thinking of my new arbor that was put up yesterday, and which clematis I would plant there, and then I realized that when I said the two clematis would be going there, and one on a recently-erected rose obelisk, I didn't make clear that these would be going in the ground, not staying in pots.

Secondly, my five clematis were overwintered this past winter in pots, but were new, relatively small plants, with the biggest being about three feet tall. I have not (yet!) overwintered any clematis which have lived in pots for several seasons, or which were planned as being pot plants. Therefore, I've never had to deal with the issue of disconnecting from arbors, trellises, etc. This will be the first season I will have to consider that issue, with that above-mentioned plant I recently potted up.

So in that respect, I'm pretty much at the same point you are, lol, in wondering how to go about it. I wonder if, with the right clematis, right pot, and right siting, the pot may not even have to be brought inside at all...

I did a quick google search on clematis in containers and overwintering clematis in containers, and many links led back to GW. Maybe we could both do with a little reading here in the forums! Here's one of many links I found.

:)
Dee

P.S. Actually, I do have a Rooguchi that has lived in a pot in the above-mentioned conditions for two years. It was dug up from the garden of a friend who was moving, and has lived in a 3-gallon pot with a small (3-ft) trellis. It is doing well, but being neglected, would do much better with some care. I plan on getting it in the ground this season.

Here is a link that might be useful: clematis care

Hi, Mindy!

Several years ago I planted three clematis, each in its own pot, on a friend's deck located on the 3rd floor of a South End condo.

I trained them to grow on bird netting which was attached to the bottom floor of the wooden deck next door, one flight up (with the owner's permission). They survived for three years (that I know of), being left outside year-round and not moved (so as not to mess up the privacy aspects of the climbing clematis stems).

The pots were large, at least a foot-and-a-half deep, and originally filled with potting soil.

My friend moved to Chicago and the clematis were left for the new owners. I really hated to cut them down, even though they were offered to me.

Don't remember the variety of clematis, but I may have it in my notes "somewhere" (LOL)!

Incidentally, for the summers, I planted several seeds of hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab) in each pot for fast-growing vines that also gave privacy from the deck next door. In between, we put in some fibrous rooted begonias.

~ Hilda

WOW!!! Youall have been soooo helpful. Hilda and Dee, your pioneering work is not going unnoticed!! I will proceed and report back. Looks like they'll be going on the screen porch w/ heavy mulch on top next winter. Hoorah GW women!
best,
Mindy

Mindy, here is a couple of words from me.
First, IMO it must be group 3 clematis, so you may cut it back (for moving or storing reason) without any regrets from the trellis or any support it will be twining in a summer,
Second, you'll be facing a watering/cooling the foot all summer and 2-3 times a year feeding challenge,
Third, if you ever transplanted clematis you already know how big its roots system is. Therefore in a 2, maximum 3 years, pot of equivalent of 5G nursery pot will have roots, a lot of roots and nothing but the roots with no soil left. Then uppotting or root trimming will be your only solution.
Now, when you know the consequences, go ahead and do not discriminate yourself in your desires. I'm sure your porch will look even lovlier with this clematis than it was without it :-))

Why is everyone growing them in pots? Are these a more tender variety of clematis than I have?

Phew! Thanks Mindy! After I posted ALL that stuff, I went back and read it and didn't think it was all that helpful, lol. So I'm glad I could be of some help, no matter how little.

Good luck to you. I don't know if you have a particular clematis in mind already, but I think now that if you pick the right group, the right zone hardiness, and the right pot and site, you should succeed. Let us know how you fare!

:)
Dee

There is apparently a FAQ page on clematis.

Here is a link that might be useful: Can I grow Clematis in containers? How?

I have pretty good luck (about 90%) with overwintering them in pots. young or old. big or small. Usually I put all my pots in a protected area on the ground in a circle of bags of leaves next to my compost bin. I give them a good last watering in fall. After a few hard freezes, I dump leaves on top of everything. Its a cool shady damp area surrounded by woods on 3 sides. Definitely on the cold side of 5A. It is the last area to wake up in the spring.

I've also sometimes kept them in the unheated garage, which can get as low as 0. I set them in containers of styrofoam peanuts. Light watering New Years Day, if necessary. Works fine.

George brings up an excellent point about group 2 or 3. I would be curious to know if the few of mine that did not make it, of all the years I've been doing this and all the potted clems I have, were group 2's. I mostly grow group 3's. I might be able to look up some notes.

Another method ... Last year I got 'Viennetta' and it is said to be tender. So I put it in the basement (50-55 degrees) under flourescent lights with other overwintering tropicals. It was happy as could be. It bloomed from January through April when I foolishly left it out on a cold night and the foliage got hit. But its getting ready for another bloom cycle now!

-Clemaholic Wendy

i had no idea you were a clemaholic! your post is very helpful. one question- are any of these on obelisks or trellises? if so, do you cut them away from the trellis when you move them to bed for the winter?
th you,
mindy

Mindy, The ones on trellises I pull away semi-aggressively. whatever breaks breaks. but I don't cut them down. Others are in pot obelisks and they move to storage as is.

I also try to repot in the fall if needed so the roots have more insulation of extra soil. But not too much of course to avoid excess sogginess.

I would guess that each year there are 6 or 7 that don't find an in-the-ground home. Once in a while I lose 1, occasionally 2. I have to think that the individual cultivar is in the mix too as far as success or not. Some are likely tougher than others.