By Larry Hodgson
Clematis have the reputation of being capricious … and there’s a lot of truth to that. Sometimes one will grow beautifully while its neighbor, even if it is the same cultivar, languishes and a third out-and-out dies. Yet the conditions are strictly identical! It’s enough to make you want to pull out your hair in frustration!
One way to avoid this problem is to plant varieties of clematis that are known to be easy to grow. The following list (not exhaustive by any means) gives you some suggestions of low-maintenance clematis that really will give good results pretty much every time!
- Clematis alpina and its cultivars (‘Columbine’, ‘Francis Rivis’, ‘Jacqueline du Pré’, ‘Ruby’, etc.) zone 3
- C. ‘Arabella’ zone 5
- C. ‘Betty Corning’ zone 4
- C. ‘Countess of Lovelace’ zone 3
- C. ‘Elsa Spath’ zone 3
- C. ‘Ernest Markham’ zone 4
- C. ‘Gipsy Queen’ zone 4
- C. ‘Guernesy Queen’ zone 4
- C. ‘Hagley Hybrid’ (‘Pink Chiffon’) zone 3
- C. heracleifolia zone 3
- C. ‘Huldine’ zone 3
- C. integrifolia zone 3
- C. ‘Jackmanii’ zone 3
- C. ‘Jackmanii Alba’ zone 3
- C. ‘Jackmanii Superba’ zone 3
- C. ‘Lady Betty Balfour’, zone 3
- C. macropetala and its cultivars (‘Bluebird’, ‘Markham Pink’, ‘Rosy O’Grady’, ‘White Swan’, etc.) zone 4
- C. ‘Madame Baron-Veillard’ zone 3
- C. mandschurica zone 3
- C. ‘Marie Boisselot’ zone 3
- C. montana and its cultivars zone 7
- C. ‘Nelly Moser’, zone 3
- C. ‘P.B. Truax’, zone 4
- C. ‘Perle d’Azur’, zone 3
- C. ‘Ramona’ zone 3
- C. recta zone 4
- C. ‘Rooguchi’ zone 4
- C. tangutica and its cultivars and hybrids (‘Bill Mackenzie’, ‘Kigotia’ Golden Tiara®, ‘Helios’, etc.) zone 2
- C. texensis and its cultivars zone 4
- C. ‘The President’ zone 3
- C. ‘Ville de Lyon’ zone 3
- C. virginiana zone 2
- C. viticella and its cultivars (‘Margot Koster’,‘Polish Spirit’, ‘Purpurea plena elegans’, ‘Royal Velours’, ‘Venosa Violacea’, etc.) zone 4
- C. ‘Vyvyan Pennell’ zone 5
- C. ‘Warszawska Nike’ (‘Warsaw Nike’) zone 3
Based on an article that originally appeared in this blog on May 25, 2015.