Clematis in Seattle

C. alpina ‘Markham’s Pink’

Events both at home and at work have conspired to give me little time in the past three weeks for contemplating clematis, let alone doing anything with them or writing about them.  Things have let up a bit now, thank goodness.

I did manage to get three of my clematis planted between raindrops, only seven more to go.   (For tips on planting a clematis, click on the Buying and Planting Clematis category on the left.) To learn how to plant a clematis, see my earlier post.)  The first to go in the ground was C. alpina ‘Markham’s Pink.’   It is snugged up to an Azara, a narrow evergreen shrub or small tree with tiny dark green leaves.  I think the two will look stunning together when ‘Markham’s Pink’ blooms in April. 

This clem was hybridized by Ernest Markham, a British clematis enthusiast for more than 35 years in the early half of the twentieth century.  He and his employer and friend, William Robinson, took on many clematis from a prolific French hybridizer, Fransique Morel, when Morel lost interest in clematis.  As a result, we can grow many of Morel’s beautiful clematis today.  Here’s a list of the beautiful Morel clematis I grow–I am sure you will be seeing them in future posts, and perhaps you grow some of them yourself:  ‘Abundance’, ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’, ‘Etoile Violette’, ‘Gravetye Beauty’, ‘Huldine’, ‘Little Nell’, ‘Madame Julia Correvon’, ‘Minuet’, ‘Perle d’Azur’, ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’, and ‘Ville de Lyon’. 

C. ‘Louise Rowe’

Next I tucked a specimen of C. ‘Louise Rowe’ into the ground near both Rosa ‘Jude the Obscure’, a soft yellow David Austin climber, and a Choisea ternata, or Mexican Orange, which is an evergreen shrub with fragrant white flowers in early summer. 

This beautiful clematis sports pale mauve satiny double flowers in spring (May/June), then semi-double and single flowers later.   All three types of blooms can be on the vine at one time.  I’ve hankered for this clematis for some time and can’t wait to see it bloom with the round cabbage form of the yellow rose.  It will also look gorgeous draped over the Choisea.  I’ll be sure to post photos.

C. ‘I Am Lady Q’

Seems that I was in a pink-mauve mood when I recently planted clematis.   C. ‘I Am Lady Q’  is a lovely and prolific bloomer with nodding bi-color flowers in white and lavendar that blooms in high summer (July/August).  It was hybridized by Wim Snoeijer of Van Zoest nursery in The Netherlands.  I have the privilege of knowing Wim, who is a prolific producer of great clematis.   I chose to give ‘I Am Lady Q’ a home in a perennial bed in front of my deck where it can frolic with C. ‘Princess Diana’ (pink) and C. ‘Blekitny Aniol’, or ‘Blue Angel’ (light blue).

The weather looks fairly decent this afternoon, so I’d better get out there and dig some holes for all the poor clems still in pots!