Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Favourite Plant of the Week - Clematis armandii

It is evergreen, leafy, undemanding, vigorous, and great for a jungle style garden wherein it can scramble over trellis, pergolas, trees, and over shrubs...

Clematis armandii
Clematis armandii
Drawbacks? It can get too vigorous, and it tends to hang on to its dead leaves that you may have to pick them off manually periodically to keep it looking tidy.

It will need regular pruning if you find it too vigorous and want to keep it within its allocated boundaries. Every few years it may warrant hard pruning, almost starting all over again, and as a bonus you can get much larger leaves on the first year it grows back.

Clematis armandii
Clematis armandii
We used to have several in the garden but only have one now, confined to a portion of the bottom patio pergola alongside a grape vine. Most of the time it just blends away with the other plants in the garden but every spring it rewards us with fragrant blooms that you simply cannot ignore.

Hence it's my favourite plant this week!

We join Loree of Danger Garden in celebrating our favourite plant of the week!

Mark :-)

24 comments :

  1. Thanks for this overview about Clematis armandii. I planted one last year and have been wondering how to care for it. I noticed that it has held onto some very rough-looking leaves, and wondered what to do about them. It is finally showing some signs of putting out new ones, so I figure I'm probably safe now trimming off those ratty old ones. No flowers yet, but maybe it will skip flowering this year in favor of putting on some growth.

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    1. Should be fine to trim off those tatty leaves Alison, they will soon be replaced. It takes awhile to start flowering from small but if it puts strong growth this year it might reward you with flowers next year :)

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  2. Strange you should mention this plant. I have one which you gave me many years ago and it does a good job of covering a drain pipe. Not flowering yet as it is in a rather shady spot.

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    1. Glad to hear that Don! And must sort out that Norfolk trip soon!

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  3. Gorgeous plant. The fragrance is wonderful.

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  4. I like this plant, actually I saw it today in a nursery and was thinking about buying it. Does it stand frosts well?

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    1. It withstands frosts very well Lisa, hardy and sails through our winters with no problems. Should be fine in your location :)

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  5. The flowers remind me of those on Clematis terniflora (Sweet Autumn Clematis), which is one of my favorite plants. I'd been thinking of getting 2 more C. terniflora to replace the twiggy white trumpet vine growing over our front door arbor but C. armandii may be a better choice - and, according to my area garden guide, it'll grow here! Thanks for the idea!

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    1. Pleased to hear that Kris :) be great to see it growing in your garden!

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  6. I've been toying with the idea of growing this on our new fence. I miss the fragrance and those attractive leaves (since getting rid of the plants growing through the hydrangea). I keep telling myself I should come up with something more "exotic" but then there is a reason the standbys are so well loved...

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    1. So true Loree. It's so easy now to bypass these standbys but they remain available for a very good reason, their reliability. The way it dangles on shrubs, pergolas, and fences they look so exotic, and the evergreen leaves are great too, looking lush even in the depths of winter. Well worth seriously considering on your fab new fences!

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  7. A truly reliable and vigorous plant in our area which I've never grown myself but can think of a fence, currently covered in hedera helix, that might need to be covered in this instead!

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    1. I think this climber will do the job very nicely Peter!

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  8. It looks like a very interesting climber. The leaves are not what one typically associate with clematis, are they?

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    1. Indeed Alain, quite atypical of what is traditionally conceived Clematis is :)

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  9. Clematis armandii has done really well this year and is full of blooms. Here in Suffolk I have lost a couple over the years in really bad winters but I always replant it because it is so gorgeous. Lovely photos of it.

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    1. Thank you Chloris! Haven't had problems with even in winter 2010, interesting to hear you lost it in some winters. Well worth planting again as you've said :)

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  10. The front fences of gardens in a nearby street are covered with this plant. I had no idea what it was but it smelled gorgeous, so I cut a bit off (on the street side!) and brought it home to photograph then stuck it up on Instagram - so now I know! I especially love it in pink and it lasts well as a cut flower in a vase. Top value!

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    1. Haven't thought of using it as a cut flower before Caro, now you've given me an idea!

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  11. We have this rambling over our front deck. It will soon be smothered in blossoms, but the leaves are every bit as wonderful as they dangle from the roof and are backlit by the setting sun. The one harsh winter that knocked it back, it came back from the roots. As you said, the leaves were bigger than ever that year.

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    1. Glad to hear you like this climber Ricki. There's something very graceful about the way it dangles off trellis and pergolas, looks so exotic!

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  12. I was going to ask if it had a fragrance, and then saw it does... Mmm I'm sure it's lovely!

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