Plant of the Month

Clematis cirrhosa

by Brewster Rogerson

Clematis cirrhosa © Jan Lindmark, Sweden

Of all the clematis one can think of, this is the choice for wintertime. When nearly everything else in the genus is asleep in our North Temperate zones, this Mediterranean evergreen can be in full leaf and full flower, bearing lax clusters of nodding, half-open bells, their creamy or pale yellow interiors often lightly dotted with flecks of red or light purple. A member of the section of Clematis known as Cheiropsis, its nearest relatives (aside from the exotic C. napaulensis) are the montanas, which share its energetic climbing habit and its luxuriance in full bloom, but not the trait for which it is best known--a remarkably long flowering season.

Clematis cirrhosa var. balearica © Ian Lang, Clematis on the Web

In its native habitat, which if we count its variant forms stretches from Spain and Morocco eastward as far as Syria, it can start into bloom in October or thereabouts and churn out those soft-textured blossoms all the way through into Spring with barely a pause - a six-month stint unmatched by any other clematis. The several variants, like var. balearica and var. purpurascens, naturally bloom on different schedules in their native habitats; var. balearica, for example, usually starts later and may rest for a while in mid-season. But all are capable of long bloom. One recent cultivar of var. purpurascens entered the trade with the confident label 'Jingle Bells,' because it was all but certain to be in flower for the holidays, and far beyond.

The species has long been appreciated for this virtue, but that has not sufficed to make it as popular as it deserves to be. Why? Because it and all its forms have traditionally (and correctly) been described as having a limited resistance to cold; for gardens north of their native terrain they are known to be somewhat tender. Tender!

O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a gardener's ear.

It is true, as Magnus Johnson reported in The Genus Clematis, that they cannot be grown outdoors in Sweden, and the same is true of other comparably northern latitudes. But it is also true that gardeners farther south may have over-estimated the danger. We are gradually finding out in one case after another that with a reasonable amount of protection from cold, the cirrhosas are more adaptable than they used to be thought. No exact figures are available, but the legend "Zone 7-9" is capable of some modest expansion if good shelter is part of the equation. And of course, any of these plants can be grown in a conservatory.

Large though they may grow in the wild - up to 10m tall (30 feet) or more - they are often listed for gardeners as Group A or Group 1 clematis, meaning that they do not require annual pruning. Possibly not, but it is unlikely that anyone who has a healthy specimen in captivity will long escape the need to cut some of it back. This is a vine that grows strongly, spreading at the base as well as at the top. Its lower reaches may grow bare of foliage and ask for a chance to start over. So it is prudent, one year or another, to trim the branches, or at least some of them, when flowering has gone by in the Spring. This incidentally will lessen one mild disappointment with the plant, which in cool climates may see its old leaves die before the new ones are ready to appear. For most of us it is not quite evergreen.

C. cirrhosa var. purpurascens 'Freckles' © Ken Woolfenden

To come now to some details of the most prominent cirrhosas we have available at present. The flowers of the species proper and of var. balearica and the major cultivars are all basically alike, varying somewhat in size, shape, and colour, though quite often changes in the long-range weather may cause such variations on their own. The norm is a 4-sepalled bell about 2.5 - 4 cm deep (1-1.5 in ), slightly reflexed at the tips, with a prominent brush of stamens tipped with yellow or grayish anthers. The speckling inside varies unpredictably with any of the named forms or cultivars, but still there are some that are differentiated primarily by that feature. The variety known as purpurascens has the reputation of being the most bespeckled of the lot, and Raymond Evison's 'Freckles,' derived from it, is so heavily marked inside that the red gradually bleeds through to the exterior of the blossom. Alister Keay's 'Lansdowne Gem' can be even redder at its best, the interior often solidly maroon. 'Wisley Cream,' on the other hand, made news from the first by having no freckles at all. (It can sometimes have a few.) Given that all these blossoms nod, it probably goes without saying that the cirrhosas really do not come into their own as garden plants until they are tall enough for viewers to look up into the flowers. And incidentally smell them, for to most nostrils, most of the time, cirrhosa flowers are scented.

Clematis cirrhosa 'Wisley Cream' © Ton Hannink, Clematis on the Web	C. cirrhosa var. purpurascens 'Lansdowne Gem' © Ian Lang, Clematis on the Web

There are various differences also as to foliage. To speak only of the most conspicuous ones, the type plant (C. cirrhosa var. cirrhosa) has dark, wiry stems and curling, glossy leaves, usually single or with leaflets in 3s. The balearica variant, named for its native Balearic Islands, has greener stems that gradually turn brown, and very finely-cut leaves and leaflets that give the whole plant an attractive ferny appearance - so much so that it has often been popularly identified as the "Fern-leaf Clematis." The leaves turn bronzy before they depart in the Spring. Recently it has been easier to find C. balearica in the trade than var. cirrhosa. There seem, by the way, to be two forms of it circulating, one with bells that curve at the tips, and the other relatively straight-sided.

All the cirrhosas like moisture but can be greatly harmed by poor drainage. Also, being relatively warm-blooded, they love sun, and need much of it to mature their wood for blooming season. Otherwise they require nothing in the way of special care. Given these advantages, and the thought of a winter full of bloom, it is really time for more gardeners with space for one more vine to take courage and give one of these a try.

C. cirrhosa 'Ourika Valley' © Ton Hannink, Clematis on the Web

Species and select forms known to be offered at present in some sector of the trade: C. cirrhosa var. cirrhosa 'Wisley Cream' C. cirrhosa var. balearica C. cirrhosa var. purpurascens 'Freckles' (R. Evison) 'Jingle Bells' (intro. Robin Savill) 'Lansdowne Gem' (intro. Alister Keay) C. cirrhosa var. semitriloba C. cirrhosa 'Ourika Valley' (intro. Blackthorne) C. 'Hie' (cirrhosa × ?) (intro. K. Ozawa)

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