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Clematis montana 'rubens' over the deer-gate entry into Angel's garden. Anno 10 May 2018 Shaw Island, WA. |
In 1987, the well-known Seattle-based gardening columnist, Ann Lovejoy, came to Shaw Island for those keen to hear about her new book The Year in Bloom; Sasquatch Books, spring 1987. A book of instruction for gardeners of all abilities to celebrate one of the most ideal growing climates on earth (zone 8b for most of this wonderful rock.)
One reviewer stated, "This is the book that inspired me to create a real garden. This is the best book that Lovejoy has written [out of c. 18] to actually communicate the fun of gardening and to help with plant selections if you live in the northwest."
One gardener in the Shaw Island community just told me it was the words of Ann that inspired her to plant Clematis montana––the essay from the month of March pages 41-44, with thanks to Ann, is included below:
"The Clematis (KLEM-a-tis is preferred) family album is a fat one with over 200 species and many hybrids represented in dazzling array, dominated by the florid summer-blooming beauties with enormous blossoms and a relatively short but spectacular season. They are all lovely, if perhaps a bit obvious, but I have a preference for some of the less insistent members of the clan. One of the really rewarding ones is Clematis montana, a strong and splendid deciduous vine that deserves a place of prominence. Nursery people tell me that it is not a good seller because gardeners want the larger-flowered kinds. I feel sure that once seen, this early bloomer would be in demand. It is perfectly true that the flowers are not showboats, but C. montana and several other seldom-seen species Clematis have charms and strengths which make them as good or better choices for most gardens than the big, flashy hybrids that hog the limelight.
My vine is now in full bloom, a great glory of pale blossoms. It has built up to this performance over the past month and will continue well into May with a light spangling of flowers all summer [?] Just now one can hardly see the leaves for the closely packed flowers. These look a bit like dogwood with their four rounded petals. This is a flower to savor and appreciate at close hand, a few floating in a flat bowl or tucked with a sprig of leaves into a bud vase for inspiration.
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Clematis montana May Day on the boatshop, Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA. |
The leaves are a definite point in its favor, a good strong green with a matte finish rippled and veined giving an interesting light-catching texture, faintly hairy, which gives a silvery glimmer to the edges and undersides as they move in the wind.
A beauty of this vine is that of the seedheads left by the passing flowers. As petals fall, long strands of silky floss emerge, furry beards which function like dandelion fuzz, parachutes to transport the tiny seeds. These persist a long time and can make a striking winter feature on vines grown in a sheltered corner out of the wind.
If potted up, these Chineses natives are very strong growers and will throw their arms in happy flowering trails over an arbor, a fence or a trellis. Since they bloom on old wood, any pruning or shaping should be done just after the spring show is past. They will stand being cut back quite heavily but like to have a full summer to recover. All Clematis like to have a cool root-run but want to grow into the sun.
Give new Clematis a deeply dug bed, adding compost, lots of peat moss, and some sand or gravel to the soil to make a rich but fast-draining medium for the roots. Where the soil is acid, as it generally is throughout the maritime Northwest, add a good handful of lime, incorporating it well so it can be taken up by the roots. Plant deeply so the roots are several inches below the surface, but not so deeply that you bury the crown. Water well, and keep it adequately supplied with water for its first season, and you will probably not have to think much about this plant again, except to admire its billowing blossoms next spring.
Above all, this species Clematis is healthy, sturdy, and easy to please. They seem resistant to the dreaded Clematis wilt that loves to cut the lusher beauties down overnight. A Clematis for practically every season, for sheer ease, abundance, and beauty, nothing can top the spring beauty of the Clematis montana."
Lovejoy, Ann. The Year in Bloom, Gardening for all Seasons in the PNW. Seattle. Sasquatch. 1987. Author signed copy from the Gatehouse collection.
According to Christopher Lloyd who wrote a monograph on the genus, titled Clematis, "the montana group is easily recognized. It stands apart from the rest in appearances, and its members are all so vigorous that they may be set the popular task of climbing into and draping quite large trees.
Clematis montana is white. You don't have to call it montana alba or anything of that sort: it is white by definition. the gardening public is often unaware of this and think that, if they order a C. montana, it will be pink..."
