Plant Name

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Clematis Climber Site Map

Clematis 'Alba Luxurians'

Viticella Group

Grow in a Pot

Grow on Trellis, but not in a pot.

Soil

Humus-rich Sand with Chalk

Sun Aspect

Full Sun with Any Aspect

Soil Moisture

Moist

Plant Type

Deciduous Climber

Height x Spread in feet

8-10 x 3-6

Foliage

Grey-Green

Flower Colour in Month(s). Fruit

"White flowers with green-tipped tepals and a pale green bar on the reverse. The amount of green depends on the amount of sunlight the flowers get - a lot of sun will result in less green colouring. Very deep purple anthers. July-September" from Clematis on the Web.

For amount of green colouring see Clematis of the Month for October 2002.

Comment

"Vigorous and free-flowering. The variety has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit." from Clematis on the Web

Normally the foliage should be in the Sun while the roots are kept cool in the shade and moist.

"All Clematis need a deep rich loam and they like lime. On thin soils, calcareous types included, they are a failure. Heavy clay is excellent if it is broken up and mixed with weathered ashes and leafmould. Dig the soil deeply and add plenty of old, well-rotted cow manure. The best time for planting is September and October, the preparation of the soil being done in the spring. The following March cut them back drastically to a bud witin 6 inches (15cm) of the base. This initial treatment of all types of Clematis encourages strong, healthy growth. Similarly, pinching out the tips of too vigorous shoots encourages them to branch and flower, but it should not be done later than June." from Climbing Plants and Some Wall Shrubs by Douglas Bartrum (Published by The Garden Book Club in 1968).

Plant the top of the rootball about 3" below the soil surface to reduce risk of clematis wilt, and water well.

Climbing Cultivation Group:-

Group 3 Late Season, large-flowered Clematis. This group includes cultivars that bear large flowers from summer to early autumn, cultivars that bear small flowers from summer to late autumn, and herbaceous midsummer to late autumn-blooming species and cultivars. Hard Prune - Cut back all the previous year's stems to a pair of strong buds, 0.5 feet above soil level before growth begins in early spring. Flowers from Summer to early Autumn. Grow to clothe a wall, arbour, trellis or pergola.

Available from Hawthornes Nursery and Roseland House Garden & Nursery.
Photographs by Roseland House Garden & Nursery and Hawthornes Nursery.

Climber Associations

White flowers on Clematis need a dark contrasting background to show off their flowers well; and nothing could be better than a closely-clipped, black-green Yew hedge. Train this climber on strong bamboo canes which are bent elliptically (each end fixed firmly into the soil) to form a 'wave' effect along the ground. Several rows can be used. A clematis trained in this way needs far more attention than it would do if it were grown on a chain-link fence panel against a wall. In this position it needs little pruning, but 'shaping' it over this elaborate support entails plenty of work. It will be advisable to have 2 plants of the same variety, one set at each end of a single row of bamboos. By keeping the main stem shorter (each plant will only to travel half the length of the framework) the Clematis will bloom more freely, the lower part of the stem being covered in flowers as well as the extreme end.