Clematis Montana Grandiflora
The pink forms of Clematis Montana are not at all bad, but for me, the white Clematis Montana Grandiflora is outstanding.
In our garden
This Clematis was growing over a rickety old arch in the front garden when we first arrived here in December of 2013.
Some leaves were still hanging on and I was pretty sure it was a Montana.
Just as it was starting to flower in May of last year, a night of high winds finished off the ageing arch.
We were just about ready to lay new garden paths and we liked the idea of an arch in this position so we replaced the old one, which at one time had no doubt been loved by the previous owner.
I have always said that I have a preference for Clematis which require cutting back hard in early Spring. Montana however does not fall into this category. Nevertheless, I had no choice, so I cut the whole caboodle down to a height of 18inches.
Mid June the new paths and arch were in place. By early Autumn of last year the Clematis had made remarkable growth over the new arch.
Being a Montana and well aware that pruning like this is not what is recommended, I was sure as hell surprised at so many flower buds appearing in April of this year.
Look how good it is now looking in mid May. I will of course just tidy it up this year, perhaps it would take too much out of the plant to cut back like this every year.
Plant description
The pure white flowers with yellow anthers are both numerous and eye catching on this climber.
The leaves die back in Winter and we eagerly await the return of the fresh new green leaves of Montana in early Spring.
Grandiflora is no shrinking violet, it is very robust and ideally would prefer a larger construction than which we have provided for it to clamber over, nevertheless, I am sure I will be able to keep her in check.
As you can see, if it gets out of hand, no harm will be done if you tidy it up after flowering.
Perhaps like me you were under the impression that the origin of this Clematis was in the mountainous regions out west in the USA. Well no, sorry, it is native to the mountainous regions of Asia according to my Wikipedia research. Why am I shrugging in disappointment, no reason to.
Hardiness *** fully hardy
Position *** full sun/partial shade
Height *** vigorous and can grow to a height of 9mtrs
Blooms *** flowers profusely in May/June
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Here we have another Montana growing in the back garden.
I guess I also rescued this one which had all but collapsed with nothing to give it support.
After new fence was fitted last Spring I added some support wires and trained the stems along it.
I am not sure which one it is, I suspect it may be (Clematis Montana Vera)
The foliage is tinted purple in early Spring and the blooms are faintly scented.
You can see it flowered well, pity about the blurry long shot. Close ups of garden plants I am reasonably happy with, long shots no!! yet, if I take pictures of bridges, buildings, rivers etc my camera and I cope pretty well as can be seen in my Aberdeen gallery page.
I am pleased with this pale pink Montana, but to be honest if its pink you want, it simply does not compare with Montana Mayleen.
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Clematis has always been our favourite climbing plant, here below are some which were in our Aberdeen garden and a few are now starting to find their way into our Cheshire garden.
Starting from the left is the Clematis comtesse de bouchaud, Dusky pink blooms, flowering in the first season after planting.
Alpina Jackman flowering in April. This one was also a recent addition. It did take a couple of seasons to settle down, those dark blue flowers were worth waiting for.
Blue Angel, I was forever showing this one off, masses of pale blue flowers for a couple of months from mid Summer.
Clematis Durandii, a fantastic shade of deep blue, this one scrambled over dwarf shrubs and Heathers, blooming from early July until the first frost.
Look at the pale blue of HF Young, Clinging to a Prunus Amanagawa which had given up the ghost.
Clematis Kaiu, in our front garden, the small delicate blooms have to be viewed up close to fully appreciate.
Clematis Perle d Azur, on the reasonably good Summers which we got at times in Aberdeen, she would be outstanding.
Rouge cardinal, was the first Clematis planted in our Aberdeen garden, remained a firm favourite.
Clematis Triternata Rubromarginata, masses of tiny flowers giving a rather good show.
Clematis Viticella Etoile Violette, this one has been a firm favourite of ours for many years, a Viticella which never lets you down.
Finally, Viticella Madame Julia Correvon looked so good scrambling through the trellis fence in our round garden
Join me next time when I will show you the Auriculas in our garden
© 2015 – 2017, Alistair. All rights reserved.
So many beautiful Clematis Alistair. Both my montana are relatively new, both C. montana var rubens Marjorie. This will be the first year they bloom, still full of buds. C. mme Julia Correvon is one of my favourites. You did well with the rescues and the arch looks lovely – the black metal really shows up those white blooms.
Angie, Julia Correvon is a great colour and it flowers well.
Alistair, you have a good collection of clematises! Clematis montana is my favorite! It’s vigorous, beautiful and produces baby plants! Mine is about 10-11 years old. I promise myself to cut it down after blooming, to reinvigorate it, but hesitate (they say it won’t bloom for 2-3 years after it).
Well Tatyana, as you can see, I cut this mature specimen back hard and it flowered well the following year.
A really enjoyable post. I love your white Montana. If it grows as easily as the pink one I have that came from a cutting then I think I will try it. I also love your blue Clematis Perle d Azur.
I have bookmarked your page ready for the next time I am buying a clematis. Do you know if any would grow under mature trees where it is really dry? I am thinking Montana would be the best thing to try? Or maybe I should grow one in a pot so it has some decent soil.
I never had much success with Clematis in pots Annette.We did have Montana Mayleen growing up a Rowan tree quite successfully. I was never sure as to whether it was a good idea or not, sort of spoiled the look of the Rowan.
Hello Alistair, we must be somehow linked, I’m preparing a post about a Clematis Montana “Wilsonii” that I have in the front garden growing into a tree and it’s flowered for the first time this year after a rather turbulent past. It’s a beautiful clematis but it’s going to quickly outgrow the small blossom tree it’s gradually taking over.
Hi Sunil, Montana has the reputation of having the ability to completely smother its host and sometimes killing them off.
I am also a great fan of C.montana Alistair, but I have always taken the pruning recommendation, “if it flowers before June don’t prune” with a pinch of salt. Usually with something as rampant as montana you have to prune to keep it in check and I have cut some really big specimens almost down to the ground before now only for them to come back as vigorous as ever. Although I wouldn’t make a habit of cutting them right back to the ground every year as you would the viticella group for example, I find you can cut them back to a manageable size to keep them within certain boundaries without any ill effects.
Thanks for passing on that useful information Rick.
Wow Alistair you have a fabulous collection…and I remember from your Aberdeen garden that the clematis were stunning there too…I have always loved Clematis Triternata Rubromarginata but was not able to get it to grow in my garden.
Hi Donna, most of these Clematis were those which we had in Aberdeen, the new ones here in Cheshire are developing nicely.
Oh now that makes sense…such wonderful plants to bring to your new garden!