One of my fences is covered with a bluish-purple, bell-shaped, small-flowered clematis that is just coming into full bloom. This variety is Clematis Hendersonii that I bought from Brushwood Nursery a few years ago. The large-flowered clematis are so flashy that it's easy to overlook the small-flower types, but they are worth hunting down.
A close-up to start. Check out the pollen this little bumble has gathered... time to go home and delivery the bounty little bumble! You've done good work today.
Here's the whole wall. At the bottom you can see a nice light pink clematis that used to mix with these. Need to add some more of those and train them a bit better.
If you're looking for clematis, Brushwood Nursery is a great place to buy clematis but you have to place your order early before they run out of what you want. They also have good information about the types of clematis and how to prune them. Everything I've ever bought from them came in great condition.
For folks new to clematis, it's worth knowing that they come in 3 types based on how they bloom - and you need to prune them accordingly.
Type 1. These are the first to bloom but only bloom on old wood. You can thin them out and clean out the dead wood, but don't prune off too much or you won't get many blooms.
Type 2. These bloom on old and new wood. Prune them lightly. This is easiest to do after they have their buds - so you can just above the nice buds.
Type 3. These only bloom on new wood. Cut them to the ground when they finish for the fall and they will come up again.
If, like me, you find it hard to remember which plants are which, it makes sense to plant similar types together.
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