What Is Needed to Make My Heavenly Blue Climbing Roses Blue Again Instead of Red
They say in that location's no such thing equally the perfect couple. Merely when it comes to companionable, compatible planting, it'due south off-white to say climbing roses and clematis make a near-unbeatable combination. Like butter on toast, salty caramel or strawberries dipped in chocolate, some partnerships are made in sky and these two climbers simply get along famously well.
It helps, of course, that they like similar growing atmospheric condition, flourishing on a tall, vivid, sheltered wall, pergola or fence that offers them shelter from cold, blustery winds. Both also like a fertile, moisture-retentive merely free-draining, weed-gratuitous soil that'due south been generously enriched with well-rotted manure and/or garden compost.
Like all great partnerships, they also complement each other's strengths while mitigating each other's weaknesses. The rose's stiff, thorny stems, for example, provide the perfect vertical scaffold for the clematis to clamber up, elegantly cloaking them every bit information technology does. That aforementioned canopy of thorny branches helps to shade the roots of the clematis from hot sunshine, something all clematis appreciate.
Clematis too offer a palette of colours not seen in roses; true blues and lavenders that combine very well with the pink, chroma, apricot, yellow and cream tones of the latter. Chosen and then that the clematis's flowering period coincides with the rose or follows on from it, it's a happy partnership that can be used to creating eye-poppingly cute displays in flower throughout the summer and autumn months.
Merely therein lies the challenge that some would call the paradox of choice. Similar children in a giant sweetshop, the number of clematis and climbing rose varieties now available to gardeners is so heed-bogglingly vast and the range so tantalising cute that it can be difficult to whittle it downwards to a mere handful of varieties. So how practise nosotros go nigh choosing the most winning combinations in terms of bloom colour, blossom shape, growth habit and flavor of involvement? Let'south first with a few pointers, well-nigh important of which is that of the vast genus of clematis, some are just non suitable for this sort of intimate horticultural tango.
Thuggish sprawlers such equally Clematis montana and Clematis armandii, for example, need plenty of infinite to romp and are but too large and vigorous to pair with a climbing rose. Or smaller spring-flowering clematis with very dissimilar requirements regarding their pruning times that make information technology difficult to prune the climbing roses that they're climbing through without causing damage to new growth. Or those species of clematis that generally don't like to exist pruned at all – an example is the lovely evergreen Clematis 'Avalanche' – which resent the inevitable disturbance caused by rose pruning.
Like shooting fish in a barrel option
Instead, for ease of maintenance, information technology'southward all-time to cull clematis that belong to what's known in gardening parlance as group three, and whose flowering menstruum overlaps with that of climbing roses. Non simply can this group of clematis be pruned at the aforementioned time of twelvemonth as climbing roses (winter/early spring), but critically, they also flower on fresh growth. This means their stems can and should be pruned right back to just above their lowest pair of buds, usually simply 30cm or so above ground level, meaning in that location's no faffing about trying to painstakingly protect their delicate stems while you lot prune a climbing rose's thorny branches. Conveniently for gardeners, this big group also contains some of the loveliest and longest-flowering of all clematis.
Top of that list is the species known as Clematis viticella. Graceful, floriferous, long-flowering (July-September), hardy, drought-tolerant, disease-resistant, robust only not overly vigorous and happy to grow in the light shade of other climbers, it combines beautifully with climbing roses in a fashion that'southward rarely gaudy. Outstanding varieties include the repeat-flowering Clematis 'Etoile Violette' (regal flowers); Clematis 'Polish Spirit' (violet-purple)' Clematis 'Walenburg (overnice two-toned flowers of dark pink and white); Clematis 'Alba Luxurians' (white); Clematis 'Kermesina' (bright cherry); Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' (modest, reddish-imperial double flowers), Clematis 'Betty Corning (lilac blue)' Clematis) and Clematis 'Prince Charles' (pale blueish).
Clematis texensis is some other late-flowering species from group iii that'due south suitable for planting in combination with climbing roses, producing its pocket-sized, elegant, urn-shaped blooms generously from August until October. Varieties include 'Princess Diana' (bright pink); 'Princess Kate' (white/dusty pink-purple); 'Prince William' (deep violet-red) and Clematis 'Etoile Rose'. Varieties of Clematis flammula will also acquaintance well with the more than vigorous varieties of climbing roses. Examples include the gorgeous 'Clematis 'Sweet Summer Dearest'.
Also inside this group are some wonderful late, large-flowered hybrid varieties of clematis that blossom from midsummer onwards such as 'Huldine' (white); violet-regal flowered 'Lady Betty Balfour', Clematis 'Perle d'Azure' (heaven-blue) and Clematis 'Jackmanii' (majestic-red). Not so suitable, even so, are other very vigorous species of clematis from group three, which tin easily overwhelm a climbing rose by stifling growth, stealing calorie-free and causing problems with affliction. Examples of the latter include varieties of Clematis tangutica, rehderiana and terniflora.
Rose combination
Last only non least, conduct in mind that when information technology comes to pairing clematis with climbing roses, you're not necessarily limited to merely one diversity of the one-time. And so for instance, you lot could use a combination of a viticella-type forth with i of the larger-flowered hybrids. That said, exist wary of over-egging information technology. If in doubt, go for subtle combinations of colour (I personally retrieve strongly-contrasting combinations can look a little dated) and concentrate on the smaller-flowered varieties, which feel more than contemporary.
As for your option of climbing rose, the selection is vast. But try to concentrate on echo-flowering, floriferous, vigorous, disease-resistant, scented varieties. Examples include the night crimson Rosa 'Etoile de Hollande'; Rosa 'Souvenir du Docteur Jamain' (nighttime cherry-red); Rosa 'Climbing Iceberg' (cream-white); Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' (rose-pinkish); Rosa 'Teasing Georgia' (deep yellow): Rosa 'Graham Thomas' (soft yellow); Rose 'Schoolgirl' (deep apricot); Rosa 'Compassion' (coral-pinkish); Rosa 'Danse de Feu' (vivid red); (ane.5 x 1.5m); Rosa 'Penny Lane' (apricot)'and Rose 'Wollerton One-time Hall' (pale apricot).
April is a good time to establish both container-grown clematis and climbing roses, making sure to select potent, healthy plants gratis of disease or damage. Gear up the soil well in accelerate by digging a generous-sized hole and working in lots of well-rotted manure and/or home-made compost and some slow-release organic fertiliser. Make sure to space the pre-soaked root-brawl of each plant 45cm-60cm apart, matching the finished planting depth to when the establish was growing in its pot and then finishing with a generous watering. Conduct in mind that climbing roses need some form of strong support, whether that's horizontal tiers of garden wire secured to screws or a metal filigree fixed to the wall. It's besides important to water newly planted specimens regularly in dry periods until they establish.
THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN
Sow seed of half-hardy annuals as before long equally possible to guarantee strong, healthy plants, ready for transplanting out into the garden or allotment by the end of May. Half-hardy annuals won't tolerate any caste of frost, then sow the seed under cover and with gentle heat into trays or pots filled with a good quality, damp seed compost. Cover with a transparent lid or plastic pocketbook to seal in heat and humidity. Half-hardy plants suitable for sowing in late April include creation, Rudbeckia hirta, annual phlox, tagetes, courgettes, French beans and pumpkins.
As temperatures rising, slug populations will offset to rapidly increase, quickly causing damage to the soft shoots of perennials and emerging seedlings. To command slug damage organically without resorting to conventional slug pellets, practise good garden hygiene and be vigilant. Go on a conscientious eye out for early signs of damage and search nearby for the offenders (the base of pots and trays are archetype hideouts), using a sharp secateurs to snip any slugs yous detect in half. For the aforementioned reason, continue the grass effectually polytunnels, glasshouses and vulnerable beds strimmed/cut depression. Very vulnerable trays of seedlings and transplants are best kept at a peak on a table or bench.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Saturday, 23rd Apr, (11am-2pm): RHSI Almanac Plant Auction, Pembroke Lodge, Dargle Lane, Bray, Co Wicklow. Please note that this is a correction to last week'south discover of the same event, which gave the incorrect location and time. rhsi.ie
Saturday April 30th (1.30pm-4pm): the Alpine Garden Society'due south Almanac Show, Cabinteely Customs School, Johnstown Road, Cabinteely, Co Dublin. alpinegardensociety.ie
Fri April 29th- May 1st: Garden Show Republic of ireland, with talks and contributions by many well-known gardeners including Diarmuid Gavin, Klaus Laitenberger, Geoff Stebbings and flower farmers Aisling & Andy McCormick of Sow Grateful plus flower arranging displays by members of the Northern Republic of ireland Group of Flower Arrangement Societies, Antrim Castle Gardens, Randalstown Road, Antrim. gardenshowireland.com
Source: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/gardens/a-partnership-made-in-heaven-climbing-roses-and-clematis-1.4855741