Clematis are commonly known as “the queen of climbers”, being freeflowering plants that are generous in display. They are in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, with about 300 species (mainly from China and Japan), many of which have been bred and rebred to create a mind-boggling array of garden cultivars.
Some (such as the exotic-looking evergreen Clematis armandi and shedconcealing C. montana) are vigorous and rampant climbers, while others (the early C. alpina and winter-flowering C. cirrhosa, for example) are more diminutive in nature.
For those who like showy plants, there are the summer-flowering ones with plate-sized blooms and brightly striped petals, which remind me of beach huts.
Clematis are versatile plants that can be planted to scramble up walls, fences, arbours and pergolas, or
