I promise this will be my last post on Clematis for a while (until I get some more pictures of them). Just following up with some pictures of various Clematis I have encountered in my travels and ending with a cool double Clematis in my old garden.
click images to enlarge
Clematis montana var. rubens at The Royal Botanic Garden, Kew.
Clematis 'Jackmanii' obscuring a white picket fence in Mendocino, California.
Clematis 'Henryi' at Winterthur.
Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon' at Tintenhull.
I thought this Clematis in the rock garden at Kew was C. hirsutissima but now I'm not sure. It doesn't look like any pictures I have found of C. hirsutissima. Whatever the identity I think it is pretty cool.
Clematis montana and Budleia alternifolia at Wakehurst Place.
Another mystery Clematis this one was in the alpine house at Cambridge Botanic Garden. Possibly C. ochroleuca or C. coactilis.
Clematis integrifolia 'Alba' in the white garden at Sissinghurst.
Several Clematis recta growing up against a fence at White Flower Farm in Litchfield Connecticut.
The last set of pictures is of the really cool Clematis ‘Multi Blue’ I have in my garden one of the easier of the large double Clematis to grow. I like it because the flowers are really variable. They can be fully double, partially double or even single. The flowers can change from season to season or at times can even have different types of flowers on the plant at the same time. The double effect is created by the stamens becoming full and petal like (petaloid staminodes) rather than the normal anther and filament. This mutation is not always stable on double Clematis so you can get a lot of variability.
Here is Clematis 'Multi Blue' fully double.
This is Clematis 'Multi Blue' with semi-double flowers which I prefer.
A closer look. They are often compared to passion flowers.
Going in for a closer look you can see that the inner "petals" are actually modified stamens. They have become infertile petaloid staminodes. Instead of the normal thin filament capped with a pollen producing anther they have mutated and resemble petals.
Their infertility means they bloom longer and even when the outer sepals fall off the staminodes still provide interest.
In most literature Clematis are said to have tepals rather than petals. This is not technically correct since tepal is the term to describe sepals and petals that are indistinguishable from each other. This is the case with tulips and lilies where the calyx and corolla share the same color rather than the sepals being leaf like and green. In Clematis the petals are simply absent so the perianth is simply made up of colorful sepals. But the Clematis community seem to rather love the term tepal so you probably wouldn’t be able to pry it from their cold dead hands.
Garden Propaganda 
I was so happy to come across your clematis pic’s & comments! I live on a large rural property (a 200 A Douglas Tree Farm) in SW Wa & most of my planting areas only get 4-5 hrs of sun a day when ever the sun decides to shine. plus we have a lot of deer & rabbits so have had to be careful what I plant, but have fallen in love with irises & clematis & trying other things too like poppies & lillies. Standbys are heather & daffodils, rhodies & azalias. plus many trees thruout my couple of acres. At the present time I have around 200 irises in the sunniiest plots & have recently ordered several clematis, (7), Jackmani, Multiblue, Nellie Moser, Henryi, Crystal Fountain, Josephine, & Markham (forgot the first name). I also want to get a pink Montana reubens & possible the Integrifolia (blue) you have pictured. Don’t know as if I’ve ever seen that type, but want one. so your article caught my eye just in time & will keep searching for more planting ideas. My main drawback is getting such a late start in life (I’m 84) but hoping for another decade or two to immerse myself in the flowers I love as long as possible.. One of my most favorite garden visits is to Schreiner’s Iris Gardens near Salem, Oregon, the iris mecca of the northwest. which is about 5 or 6 hundred elevation lower than our 800′ elevation. Their 10 A garden is something to behold each yr during May to June. I also check out Napa ‘s irises in Ca online which has great prices.& selections. So far, the best clematis gardens have been Donahue’s in Co & Joy Creek – in Oregon – which I plan to visit this year, They have a very extensive lineup compared to other places, but Donahue has the best prices. I hope someday to visit Annie’s garden, but most likely will have to content my self to online visiting. I admire your early discovery of finding your love of horticulture & following that path.
I may have to follow my dream in my “next life” since I now realize what I should have done yrs ago to set the best foundation for my garden pursuits. Never the less it’s a wonderful hobby that keeps me excited & happy even when hunting down slugs to exterminate & my Australian Shepherd, Ozzie does a good job of keeping the deer from eating everything. Rabbits are another story, They ate all my newly planted lupines down to the ground last yr. So far they are they are putting out new growth. Maybe I can find something to spray that will protect them.. I will try following your posts for your great pictures & comments!
Wow glad you found my blog! Welcome. Joy Creek is definitely a wonderful place to visit. Be sure to add the Clematis ‘Rooguchi’ to your list. It is one they introduced to the US and is one of my favorites. In fact maybe I need to place a Joy Creek order. But not until I finish planting all the plants I already have!
I don’t think it is ever too late to plant a garden. I hope you have many happy years in yours.
Thanks! Do you have any more Clematis pic’s in your archives or any from a Joy Creek visit? I really love checking out pictures of them & how they are used in landscaping, such as those I
found in your posts today..
I’m afraid most of my Clematis pictures are from before I had a good digital camera so they are old fashioned photos in shoeboxes at my fathers house back east. Same goes for my Joy Creek photos as I only visited there back in 2003. Actually it was a heatwave (105 degrees) when I was there so I didn’t get any nice pictures. Have you checked out the clematis forum at gardenweb.com? I haven’t been there for a while but it used to be quite active with people sharing lots of photos and information. I met many nice Clematis growers back when I was a regular at that forum.
What a lovely page of pix 🙂 I believe I recognise mine as simple Clematis montana var. rubens, which was a sea of Blossoms this march here in Germany. The exotic examples are enticing but probably need more care. I’m a spur of the moment gardener,when I have time, I walk about and see what calls me. Mostly I let Nature grow itself and I’m surprised how many people love my garden! Cos I don’t have much knowledge really, unfortunately. Except that the simple white vitalba is a Bach Flower Remedy plant!! (my area of work) Leaving a pic of my Clematis from the facebook website & hoping it works. My website homepages are all in German -don’t think anyone will be interested. Many Thanks – will investigate your Blog more – brilliant 🙂
Hi again, Since I last wrote to you I discovered http://www.silverstarvinery.com which turns out to be a unique clematis nursery almost in my back yard – 5 miles approximately from where I live! What a nice surprise so you may already know of it, but if not you might like to check it out. The owner is very nice & they have many vines growing into trees, over stumps & trellaces to create a very rustic beautiful garden so am hoping to learn a lot about growing them in the future. So far I am only an admirer, not a grower since I have over 200 irises to take care of & have been adding oriental lilies in various places. Rabbits have been the biggest problem with some things I’ve tried to establish so stick pretty much with things that don’t temp them.
I always enjoy hearing & seeing what other gardeners are up to so your email caught my eye. Your climate is just about the opposite of mine, but if the warming trend continues we may be like Ca at some future point in time!