Did you know that our mild Pacific Northwest climate allows for at least one clematis to be blooming in every month of the year? Here’s a taste of what I mean. In my October garden, I have two late-blooming clematis at their peak of bloom, Sweet Autumn Clematis (C. terniflora) and C. ‘Madame Baron Veillard’.
Sweet Autumn Clematis in October
Sweet Autumn Clematis is a big plant (20-30 feet) with a multitude of small white wonderfully fragrant flowers. In our climate this plant blooms in October, though in my Boston garden it bloomed for me in August and September. To be successful in the Pacific Northwest, this clematis needs to be sited in a warm spot. That’s because the flowers require serious heat to set buds and shortening days to trigger them to open. We don’t have any trouble providing the shortening days, but heat units can be a problem here. Mine seems to love growing eight feet u
p a lattice onto a west-facing deck.
Clematis ‘Madame Baron Veillard’ is a lovely mauve flowered clematis that waits til September to even think about blooming in my garden. It was named over 100 years ago for a French baroness who loved to garden.
As you can see, it has a lovely bloom that warms the heart just as the days seem to be getting shorter and gloomier.
Several other clematis are blooming in my garden now, including three that are especially showy. The one on the right is Clematis ‘Sizaia Ptitsa’ — that’ll twist your tongue, huh? A friend of mine just calls it Slice of Pizza, which is not too far off the Russian pronunciation. This clematis has been blooming for over three months and is just beginning to show signs of winding down.
Below is Clematis viorna, a species from the southeastern US with a sweet bell-shaped cream-and-lavendar bloom and wonderful seed heads. It, too, has been blooming for months and is showing off here with the lavendar berries of a beauty berry. Last, but definitely not least, is Clematis florida ‘Sieboldii’ (also below) – what a gorgeous flower!
C. viorna (species clematis)
Clematis in Seattle 
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