I built me one teepee. In the 6 foot circle surrounding the base, I put in 20 or so bean seeds. Most sprouted at the same time, but a few lagged and are sprouting now. Most important is to keep the planting area moist. Rain on the planting area every morning with your watering can. Don't let the birds get your sprouts neither! They like those.

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

I have purchased Clematis from Brushwood Nursery in Ga and they have the best directions I have seen regarding planting. I am not affliated with this company. I top dress my plants with Black Kow Compost in the spring. Make sure the plant is a little below the ground as it has growing buds at the base. If you have a very cold winter, the bud eyes below the ground will re sprout if all the top growth dies back. HTH From Brushwood Nursery: Planting- Since Clematis live up to 50 years or more, you should take the time to plant each one carefully. Water the pot well before planting. This is an important step for any planting. Once you have selected a location, dig a hole at least twice as big as the pot and twice as deep. In areas with poor drainage, consider a larger hole or mounding up from the ground a bit. Mix some of the soil from the hole with a good topsoil and compost if you wish. The exact proportions will vary by your soil conditions. Backfill some of the hole with this mix. Remove the clematis from its pot by first pushing up on the bottom of the pot and then sliding it out sideways into your other hand. Never pull on the vine or its training stake to remove it. If it doesn't slide out easily, you may roll it gently one half turn on the ground while pushing down (be gentle) to loosen the sides. Clematis roots naturally run deep, so you will notice that most of the roots are in the lower half of the pot. You may gently tease some of the roots away from the sides but be gentle. Place the clematis on the backfill and look at the soil line of the plant and the ground. The clematis should be about two inches lower than the ground. This keeps the roots cooler and provides buds below ground if the vine should suffer a disease or infestation and you need to cut it back. Every clematis we sell has buds below the soil line, but we'd like you to plant deeply for extra protection. Fill the rest of the hole and over the top of the pot's soil line with the mix you made earlier. Don't cart the extra away until after you water the plant thoroughly. Sometimes the settling soil can leave the vine exposed. After all filling and watering are done, you should mulch your clematis carefully. This can be done with composted pine bark or other mulches, but you can also use stones. This is important because clematis need ample moisture to grow their best and mulch can help the soil retain moisture. Also, be sure to go back and water new plantings regularly during the first growing season. This will help them get off to a great start!

I went the opposite way. When Deb first got some clematis (4), I planted them in pairs a foot apart. I didn't care how close they were. The things didn't take up as much room and were away from roses. After all... they were just weeds Deb wanted to have. It wasn't like they were important :) I didn't care if they competed for sun and root space. Somewhere along the line.... I became fond of the things. Watched Dr Ruppel strangle Ramona and Jackmanii almost did the same to Ernest Markham. I was amazed at the size of the rootballs when I dug up established clematis. The roots on our 12 year old Dr Ruppel are 2 feet in diameter. Don't know how deep they go on him. I had to move the 12 year old Jackmanii and it was 18 inches in diameter and 2 feet deep. I began to respect them as good plants in their own right. I was also glad I had planted clematis at least 2 feet from the roses. Never expected weed roots to get so large. Hope you realize I am a very strange gardener. I get claustrophobic seeing clematis wrapped around rose canes. I try to keep the clematis on the fence or trellis. I want the plants to have room for their roots to grow. It makes for a strange garden too :) It is a jungle but I like to consider it an organized jungle, lol. Not saying my way is right or that planting clematis a foot apart is wrong. Just trying to explain why I no longer plant them so close together. Have to admit, life was much simpler when I just planted the rascals together out of the way. How can a rose guy justify spending time taking care of weeds.... or, heaven forbid, using precious garden space for a nonrose??? *sigh* OK, I'll shutup :) On preview I realized we do have some new clematis I leave close to other plants. We find volunteer seedlings and leave them where they come up for a few years. A couple of them are huge now and I'm gonna have to transplant them soon. How did a rose guy get so tangled up in weeds??