Clematis 'Kathleen Wheeler'
Virgin's bower
- Height × spread
- 2.2m × 2m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Flowers
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
A distinctive large single flower that is coloured a slightly blue shade of mauve, with both paler and darker lines down the middle section of each petal. The good-sized stamens are apricot cream. It flowers twice yearly with a good show during May and June and a further flowering, sometimes with slightly smaller blooms, in August and September. It needs a sheltered position as is readily damaged. The flowers have a refined, slightly old-fashioned air that means it has been recommended in the company of the old shrub roses, although its main season of bloom does not coincide with theirs. Choose roses with warm pink shades as companions. Experts also recommend it with dense foliaged shrubs such as big escallonias or rhododendrons, as their foliage protects the blooms and provides stability for its fragile stems. Group 2 pruning.
- Flower colour
- Purple
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Fan
- Height
- 2.2m
- Spread
- 2m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
- Flowers in
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Cottage garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun, tolerates part shade, tolerates light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Wall cover, Deer resistant, Rabbit resistant, Bee attraction
- Walls
- East, South, West facing
- Deer
- May be damaged by deer so some protection when small
- Hazards
- Yes, potentially harmful; Humans: Skin irritant
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early · Planting
Prune Clematis Group 2 - prune to a framework
Early to mid-season Clematis (Group 2) tie onto supports, shorten long shoots, pinch out tips and tie in. Remove dead, diseased, damaged growth. When mature (after 2 years) take out any weak growth to the ground and cut shoots back by a third to buds.
Summer
Summer-Autumn · Planting
Support young plants
Provide support for young plants, and tie in any growth to the support to keep it tidy.
Winter
Winter - late · Outdoors
Apply an organic mulch
Apply an organic mulch to the plant taking care not to bury its stem or cover any young growth that emerges from its centre.
A mulch is a covering that can: protect the soil surface from rain, heat and cold; deter weeds; provide nutrients. Organic indicates that material has vegetative origin e.g. manure, compost. Synthetics i.e. plastics, or stones are often called mulches.
Found in
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