June Clematis of the Month:
C. Etoile Violette
Seattle’s unusually long warm spring propelled all my clematis, as well as most of my other garden plants, into bloom a full month early this year–starting in March and continuing through April and May. And then June was no different! The usual stars in my June garden are early large-flowered clematis like C. Will Baron, C. Fair Rosamond, and C. Guernsey Cream. But this year they had all put on their show in May and were devoid of blooms in June.
Fortunately, though, there was no dearth of clematis in my June garden–the July bloomers came to the rescue! An excellent case in point is Clematis of the Month for June, C. Etoile Violette. This 10-year-old plant, which gracefully drapes itself over and through a dying Italian plum tree in the middle of my garden, had more blooms this year than ever before. I guesstimated over 1,000 blooms all at one time in mid-June. Check out the photos below, taken on June 13, of C. Etoile Violette from all sides.
C. Etiole Violette, South Side
C. Etoile Violette, West Side
C. Etoile Violette, East Side
C. Etoile Violette, North Side
Clematis in Seattle 
Geoff Radnor said,
September 1, 2015 at 5:52 pm
I have one but it is young so with time maybe I will see 1000 blooms in Ottawa Canada
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Helen McCall said,
September 13, 2015 at 7:41 pm
Do you have a wire frame behind (around the tree) the clematis, or some other frame or support?
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clematisinseattle said,
September 16, 2015 at 5:54 pm
Hi, Helen,
The way to encourage a clematis to climb a tree that works for me is to use a brick and some kind of string (my favorite is white cotton clothes line). I tie two long pieces of clothesline, one on either end of the brick, lay the brick down by the crown of the clematis (as an anchor), then run the two pieces of clothesline up into the tree. The clematis climbs the clothesline and moves into the tree. Once in the tree, it has plenty of twigs to hold onto.
Thanks for the question!
Laura
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clematisinseattle said,
April 20, 2017 at 11:53 am
Hi, Cy,
Yes, my Etoile Violette, which has been in the ground thirteen years now, is huge! Etoile Violette tends to be a vigorous plant anyway, but mine seems to be exceptionally happy the last few years. I do cut it back every year, sometimes to the edge of the tree (about 5 or 6 feet) and sometimes to 2-3 feet. This year I cut it to about 3 feet.
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