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California Gardening Clematis Roses

Total newbie question on climbing roses and clematis

3 years ago

We bought roses (iceberg) and clematis from a local nursery in 5 gallon pots. They are to be planted against a trellis that is already built and in the ground.

Do we remove the nursery stakes and ties right away and tie the plants to the trellis or only tie as the plants grow outward from the stakes? I know this is the most basic of questions but a lot of googling couldn't find a direct answer.

Featured Answer

flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA

3 years ago

Mary, this is a very good question.

If this is your first clem, I want to caution you about the fragility of the stems. Once bent, they may not recover, so leaving them attached to the nursery stake may help prevent that. Some are super hard to remove. Also, even though the stems at the base may be brown or gray and look dry, they're not dead. There are lots of green stems and leaves attached to the dry, brown stem, farther up. You are no doubt a lot smarter than I am, but I learned that the hard way by cutting out all the parts I thought were dead, only to find I had cut off all the new growth.

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Comments (6)

totoro z7b Md
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
How thick is the trellis? Clematis can only climb somethibgsomething as thicjthick as pencil. Also sometomes it is hard to remove rhethe clem from the store tepee trellis later unless you can cut the store trellis. I sometimes use a bird blocking net or sticks to help a short clematis get onto the trellis. If the clem only has sticks you can just leave them and tie to the trellis as they grow.
toolbelt68
3 years ago
I would very carefully remove the stakes. Cut them out if they are held down by the vines. Then just attach a piece of twine to a rock, place the rock next to the vine and wrap the vine with the twine. Just enough to allow you to keep the vine from falling backwards after you tie it to the trellis. Later on, after the vine reaches the trellis and is locked onto it you can snip the twine for easy removal.

Just continue to wrap the vine around the trellis as it grows. It will end up clinging to itself in places which will further tie it to the trellis.

Simple at that…. have fun… stay safe.
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I wonder if one of the old Albas might work better as a climber for this zone. You'd need one of the taller ones, like 'Alba Maxima' or one of similar habit. If you don't have to pull it down and cover it for Winter, you can keep a Type-2 clematis in there. Here, I notice that the clematis get kinda brittle by the end of Autumn, and moving them around will likely end up in snapping them. By Spring, parts that look dead will surprise me and leaf out, and I don't snip off dead tips until I KNOW they're dead -- by snipping off anything above the highest set of leaves that develop. With the Type-3s, you wouldn't have to worry about snapped stems if you're pulling down the rose to cover it for Winter -- you just snip them down low and let them start all over again. Of course, you don't HAVE to do that, if you want it going up a tree or something. But if you do this to a Type-2, you'll lose the early wave of blooms in Spring, which come on growth that went through Winter. I've ordered many plants from Bluestone Perennials and have yet to be disappointed. As long as you understand that they come small, you'll likely feel the same. But they're bursting out of their pots when they arrive, and really take off well for me. I try to take advantage of their frequent sales, including their 50-50 Fridays through Winter. Another source for perennials I've frequented is Joy Creek Nursery. They don't seem to have sales, but their normal prices are pretty good -- higher than Bluestone's sale prices, but lower than their regular prices. So when I'm shopping for perennials, I usually start with Bluestone sales, then go to Joy Creek for anything else I wanted but didn't get. Brushwood Nursery is my go-to for clematis -- and honeysuckle and passion flowers, whenever I get around to getting some. :-) ~Christopher
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toolbelt68
3 years ago
You should research when to prune them as Clematis require different pruning due to the Group they are in. So before you throw away the papers - if any- that came with it check for the group type and go from there….

Someone here will post the group rules....I lost mine years ago and don't bother anymore....
flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA
3 years ago
Clematis are so forgiving, pruning them 'wrong' won't kill them.

Class or Group A or 1 - don't prune.

Class B - prune down to the best looking new growth.

Class C - prune about a foot from the ground to new growth.

If no tag or it doesn't say, here are some sites that will tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.clematisontheweb.org/new-clemalphasearch.cfm

https://www.hummingbirdfarm.net/index.htm - esp. for cold zones.

Iceberg with a clematis will be absolutely gorgeous. We would love to see photos when they bloom.
Mary Bing
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you! I think I will leave the stakes attached to the Clematis and remove and tie those from the climbing rose. There is a heat wave forecasted for Sacramento, CA next week and we have 3 days of 107f - so hopefully they make it.

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