I’ve noticed in a lot of gardener’s yards, a cloud of white flowers on fences, trellises, and even sheds. Maybe you are seeing it too.
What we are looking at is the very popular fall blooming clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’. This is a very vigorous yet non-invasive climbing vine that puts on quite a show this time of year.
It is readily available at most garden centers and nurseries and is relatively easy to grow. It’s not unusual for this vine to grow up to 20′ the first year.
We have ours planted amongst the climbing roses. This gives us some visual interest on the trellis during a time of the year when the roses look pretty tired.
Since they are fall blooming clematis, they are best pruned in the late spring by cutting the vines down to about a foot tall. This sounds drastic, but stand back because the vines will come roaring back and have your trellis covered with new growth by mid-season.
As an added bonus, the flowers have a sweet, but not over-powering fragrance.
What more can you ask for in a plant?
Bob
Yes, I love those beautiful flowers. My neighbor has them on her fence. What do I do to get me some? Pull some up? Cut some and stick them in the ground? What?
Comment by victoria mcintyre — October 12, 2007 @ 4:26 pm