Clematis are a little fussy about their environment; they won't thrive just anywhere.

There is an old saying that clematis are happiest "with their heads in the sun and their feet in the shade" -- which is why you often see them planted by mailboxes.

The roots need to be kept cool and moist (but not wet!), but they (or their heads, lol) need at least 6 hours of sun to prosper.

Here is more:

Here is a link that might be useful: clematis

I grew them for a long time and they did great. They were on the east side of the house and got full sun until around noon. And it gets pretty hot here too.

Also, clematis won't climb up the wall by themselves - you'll need to give them a trellis or wire framework to climb.

And yes, I would definitely try to put them somewhere where the roots will be cool and shady - maybe where one of your bigger potted plants can block the sun from the roots?

I would like to see it planted near your porch/patio and you could wrap some chickenwire around one of the columns for it to climb on. That's a Jackmanii and once it gets going, it will then build on itself. It will fill out around the bottom as well as climbing up. I love, love, love that clematis and have 4 of them. Purple is such a great color for the garden, just neutralizes all the colors to make them blend. In order to keep its roots cool, plant it deeper than you want it. I plant them about 6 inches below ground. That little thing will make its way up. I plant mine in a pot to keep them safe from squirrels and voles until they get big enough to fend for themselves. The roots will go through the hole in the bottom of the pot and by the time the pot deteriorates, the clematis will be huge. Mulch it well with pinestraw to keep it cool in summer. I have about 40 and they do extremely well with that recipe for survival. Don't overwater. I know it's hard to in the desert but just make sure you water well twice per week after it is established. More frequently before that. I have clematis everywhere, so it's hard for me to say where to put it. You could actually plant it in a very large decorative pot and put a mini trellis in the pot. Clematis need something no larger than a #2 pencil on which to climb so you can make a trellis of chickenwire or hogwire, whichever, as both will work but you sort of have to encourage them to go up the support when they are in their first 2-3 years. After that, they have figured it out and are like 5-year-old boys climbing everywhere.

Yes, I could see you putting in a metal frame type trellis against your wall. Clematis will cover it so completly you won't be able to see the trellis....so don't spend a lot on the trellis....Here we built an oge arch trellis. Planted an Eden climber rose(pale pink) to entertwine with the Jackmani. The grafted rose died and the root stock came back. Dr Huey is now about 7' tall. ADD A ROSE!!!!
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Mclarke is right. Clematis need several hours of fun a day and they like their roots shaded. But you can accomplish that by mulching them good. I honestly think the sun part is more important than the shaded roots part as I see them all over our area that are out in full, hot sun (I'm in TN). They do very well here. I have noticed from the ones I have that they take 2-3 years to get established before blooming good. A lady down from me has one that they transplanted from Indiana that is huge (thick) and blooms like crazy, and they've lived here over 30 years!

I have 3 currently. Two are out in full sun one a good part of the day and the other one all day. The third one grows up an arbor that is shaded with wisteria, so I'm wondering if it's getting too much shade as it hasn't bloomed yet. But, it's also my newest one, so that could be it too. I prune mine down good after they quit blooming and usually will get a second blooming that way although not as many blooms second time around.

tina

Nicole, if you want another Eden rose (I had one who became Dr Huey also but it rarely bloomed anyway), but I got a fantastic one from www.rosesunlimitedownroot.com on its own root and it was up to 6 feet by season's end and has bloomed so prolifically. I have a clematis Blue Angel, growing with it also. I love Eden and I had to have one that I would be guaranteed would not be virused and would not lose its graft and I got a GREAT one.

I agree tinam61 - they take time to establish. I have two - one trained around the mailbox (photo below), and one at the lamppost. They both get full sun most of the day, and I'm in Virginia where we usually get plenty of rain. I also agree with Patricia that it would look nice climbing your patio column if it's in the sun. Hope wherever you decide to plant that it will bring you lots of blooming beauty!

Thank you. I remember hearing the landlord saying that he plans to place these patio support columns some day. The middle column is rotting from the bottom. I am not helping the situation by keeping that potted palm there which I water every day.

On the front of the house which faces south between the bedroom windows is a blank space where nothing is planted. I bet that dirt is very super hard, like rock. The palms near the mailbox have filled out since this picture was taken and now engulf the mailbox. To the left of the garage is a kind of useless space. It is shady most of the time and there is no way to access it directly from the house. I moved the garbage and recycle bins close to door of garage so I don't have to drag them so far. I actually have to place my bins across the street for pickup since this is a one block road with no space for the garbage truck to turn around. So the driver backs up the street and then empties the bins along his truck's right side.

Would this vine survive the intense heat on the front of the house?