Very often summer residents who grow this plant on their site can hear admiring: "What flowers!" Clematis are rightfully recognized as one of the most beautiful inhabitants of the garden.
The flower is sometimes called grandfather's curls, prince or clematis. Despite such unpoetic names, it captivates with the appearance of large flowers that are located on climbing vines.
Seeing this plant on someone else's fence or balcony, many flora lovers want to know how to grow clematis flowers on their own. The advantage of this plant is that it is not necessary to grow it from a seedling. With the right approach, you can get a good bush from seeds.
Description
Grandfather's curls - a herbaceous climbing plant, its stems resemble creepers. There are also creeping, upright species. The first representatives of culture appeared in Japan. In the sixteenth century, they began to grow in Europe. Russia was filled with amazing flowering in the eighteenth century. Today, these flowers can be found all over the globe. The only exception would be the polararea.
Description of a clematis flower is highly dependent on its variety. The root system is fibrous and taproot. The stems may be rounded green or multifaceted brown. The leaves are arranged in pairs. They are usually green, but purple hues are also found.
Flowers are painted in a variety of colors - from white to purple. The size of the clematis flower also depends on the species: in small-flowered it ranges from two to five centimeters, in large-flowered - up to twenty centimeters. In plants with simple flowers, there are four to eight petals, in terry ones - up to seventy pieces. The fruit has a spout-shaped outgrowth.
Varieties
The clematis flower belongs to the Ranunculaceae family of the Clematis genus, in which there are more than three hundred species. Breeders do not stop there, so this list is constantly updated.
Popular types of clematis:
- Alexandrite - powerful perennial climbing plants or shrubs. Their height is three meters. The stems or petioles of the leaves cling to the support. The diameter of the flower is up to twenty centimeters. After flowering, pubescent fruits of a rounded shape appear. The leaves are juicy and green. An adult plant with flowers and foliage can weigh more than a hundred kilograms, so it needs a strong, powerful support.
- Zhakman - large vines or shrubs. Plant height - four meters. The root system is distinguished by its strength and branching. Flowers large, odorless. Bloomprolonged. For the winter, the plant is cut short.
- Vititsella - the height of the shoots is three and a half meters. The flowers are wide open and have purple and pink hues. Also require winter pruning.
- Lanuginosa is a liana-like shrub two and a half meters high. Flowering occurs on last year's shoots. A cascade of single flowers unfolds in unison and en masse.
- Patens - lignified vines, the length of the lashes is three and a half meters. Flowers grow up to fifteen centimeters in diameter, can be of various colors. In autumn, shoots are shortened and a reliable shelter for the winter.
- Florida is a vine-shrub, whose height is three meters. Flowers appear only on last year's shoots, their tone is light. After autumn pruning, a low bush should remain, which is securely covered for the period of cold weather.
- Integrifolia is a plant one and a half meters high, which forms many lashes. Flowers with a diameter of twelve centimeters.
Almost all clematis should be prepared for winter. Usually the shoots are shortened greatly, the remaining bush is insulated.
Reproduction
There are several ways to get a clematis flower. The fastest is to purchase seedlings or young shrubs in the nursery. This is how hybrid plants are bred, which were described above. Many of them are almost impossible to grow at home. Plants will turn out weak and sickly, which reduces their decorative value.
Clematis flowers can also be grown from seeds. But only small-flowered species that are more reminiscent of wild plants.
Varieties available from seed:
- Manchurian - grows in a temperate climate, resistant to a drop in air temperature below zero. The plant has a small size, flowers with a discreet color.
- Tangut - growing it from seeds is difficult, but real. The variety tolerates low temperatures well. Blooms for a long time with bright bells. Many gardeners like the plant because it can continue to bloom in the house. To do this, it is enough to transplant it into a pot. Over time, the flower stretches, so it requires reliable support.
- Helios - an adult plant is cold-resistant and attractive, but young shoots should be grown at home.
Certainly, no one will forbid the grower to try to grow clematis on his own. Plants with double flowers, which are distinguished by large inflorescences, can be obtained from seeds. Only without a complex grafting procedure, they will not be as chic as the mother bush. You can also propagate these flowering vines by dividing the bush, shoots, summer cuttings.
The method of dividing the bush is suitable for adult plants that are not older than seven years. The bush is dug up, cut into two or more parts. Each of them must have a root system and shoots with buds. Long shoots are best shortened. So the plant will take root better. Landing is carried out in accordance with the general rules. With the right actionsthe resulting bushes will become full-fledged adult plants. But for this you need to have a suitable mother bush. If it is not there, only the seed option remains.
Collecting seeds
In different varieties of clematis, seeds are not collected at the same time. Some in summer, others in autumn. Each variety has its own seed size. Even from the same shrub, they can be collected in different diameters. For further use, it is better to choose large and medium seeds. Many gardeners do not waste time on small grains and immediately throw them away. Special training follows.
It starts with stratification. This is the name of the creation of natural processes for the artificial awakening of seeds. The cooling procedure in a humid environment triggers fetal sleep. After it, the grain falls into warm soil and germinates. If this is not done, it may simply rot in the ground. Clematis seeds can lie in the ground for more than a year before sprouts appear. Large grains, 5-12 millimeters in size, do not open for the longest time. Small ones can germinate in 3-12 weeks. Their size does not exceed three millimeters. How is stratification carried out for clematis seeds?
Growing from seeds
Cultivation of clematis flower begins with soaking. Seeds are kept in water for five days. It is regularly changed to fresh. After that, the swollen seeds are ready for sowing in the soil. It should consist of soil, sand, peat. Large seeds are placed at a depth of twenty millimeters, medium - tenmillimeters. If there is a desire to plant small grains, then the depth should not exceed eight millimeters.
A container with soil after sowing should stand for about ten days in a warm place with an air temperature in the range of 18-22 degrees Celsius. After the future seedlings in containers are placed on the bottom of the refrigerator or in the garden under the snow. There they must stay ninety days. This stratification will allow the seeds to sprout twenty days after the onset of spring.
There is another option. Seeds are sown in moist fertile soil at the beginning of winter. You can use a mixture of humus, sand, earth, ash. Boxes with them are placed on a glass loggia or in a greenhouse without heating. In the spring, the boxes are brought into a warm, lit room. Regular watering should be carried out. After twenty days, sprouts will appear. Sometimes you have to wait a little longer, so do not part with the crops ahead of time. Some seeds may "sleep" until next spring.
Some gardeners recommend pouring clean river sand over the main soil. Thanks to him, the seeds will germinate faster.
How are clematis flowers planted?
Landing
Because young seedlings do not tolerate cold well, clematis flowers should be planted after all frosts.
The following points should influence the choice of location:
- Many varieties prefer to grow in excellent light conditions. Their root system should be in the shade.
- Because plants are related tocurly, it is important to take care of the support in advance. A dry trunk, a decorative mesh on a blank wall, an arbor, an arch can play its role (a good example of a support is shown by the above photo of a flower).
- Clematis should be planted in a sheltered area from the wind, as the plant does not tolerate drafts.
If it so happened that the seedlings appeared in the fall, it is advisable to leave them for the winter in the same boxes. They can stay indoors until spring. However, subject to the creation of a good shelter, flowers can be transplanted into the ground in the fall. Then by spring they can already bloom. Straw or film is suitable as a shelter.
Planting flowers in a square-shaped pit. The width of each side and the depth should be sixty centimeters. It is necessary to remove the soil and prepare the mixture. It includes two buckets of humus, one bucket of peat, one bucket of sand, one hundred grams of double superphosphate, four hundred grams of ash, two hundred grams of chalk.
The plant is placed in a pit, slightly covered with a mixture. The roots straighten and pour out the remaining soil. It is important not to close the root collar. After the plant is watered.
Vaccination
Some amateur gardeners strive to immediately get a semi-shrub with large double flowers. It has already been written that if you grow a crop from seeds, this is quite difficult to achieve. It is much easier to purchase a ready-made sprout or adult bush.
But for those who want to achieve stunning results on their own, it will be interesting to know how to deal with capricious varieties. They need to be vaccinatedsustainable types. By grafting is meant the splicing of two plants with vegetative parts. How to do it?
The procedure is carried out in a pot. A bank is suitable as a hiding place. After the cuttings grow together, it can be removed. You can plant a grafted flower only next spring. The method of vaccination is chosen at your discretion. The main thing is that everything is done quickly. Otherwise, the cut will dry out.
Popular vaccination methods:
- Cuttings - the procedure is carried out in the spring. The stalk should contain several buds, it must be prepared in the winter and stored until spring in a cold place.
- Split - the top is cut off, a longitudinal cut is made in it. A stalk five centimeters long is inserted into it.
- Coping - ideal when both branches are the same diameter. They make oblique cuts. In the middle of each cut, a longitudinal incision can be made. Then the mount will be better.
- Budding is a method for which one eye (kidney) is enough. A kidney is placed with an adjacent area at the root neck. A T-shaped incision is made in the cortex at the selected site. A kidney is inserted into it.
The vaccination site is coated with garden pitch and wrapped with a cloth. Cuts should not be touched.
As you can see in the photos presented in the article, clematis is a flower that will not leave anyone indifferent. Of course, if you take good care of it. We will talk about this further.
Care
Clematis flowers require good constant care. Its most importantcomponent is timely pruning. It must be done correctly. Then powerful shoots will delight with abundant flowering.
There are varieties of clematis that should be pruned with extreme care. The fact is that the flower buds of such plants are formed on last year's matured shoots. If the shrub is too dense, its shoots can be thinned out after flowering.
Varieties with large flowers are usually pruned when the plant is one year old. It is allowed to shorten the shoot by no more than thirty centimeters. Biennial shoots can be shortened by one to one and a half meters.
Shrubs that bloom in late summer, such as Viticella, are cut low to the ground. A small bush is left 20-50 centimeters high. Before the pruning procedure, it is extremely important to find out which variety a particular bush belongs to.
During the growing season, it is enough to loosen the ground, weed weeds, feed the soil. You can also mulch to prevent drying of the root system. To do this, you can fill the ground under the bush with sawdust. On hot days, it is important to water it regularly and abundantly.
If you follow all the rules, it will be possible to grow delightful and charming flowers on your site, as in numerous photos taken by professionals. Planting clematis and caring for them are not too complicated procedures, but you need to know certain nuances. Then the appearance of the bushes will delight the owners both in the garden and in the photographs.
Feeding
Clematis flower can be fed aftergreen mass will grow. Nitrogen fertilizers are used. They are necessary to stimulate growth. Apply fertilizer during irrigation.
The second time feeding is carried out during the budding period. Potash and phosphate fertilizers are ideal for this.
Plants during the growing season are fertilized with microelements twice a month. It is important not to forget about autumn fertilizer. In September, princes need phosphorus. In this case, you should be aware of the danger of overdose. If the plant has an excess of phosphorus, it will age prematurely. Chlorosis may develop. This disease is manifested by yellowing of the leaves. The veins remain green. It is associated with a violation of the formation of chlorophyll.
If you follow all the rules for care, photos of clematis flowers will always give only positive emotions. But what other problems might a clematis owner face?
Diseases and pests
With proper care, the clematis flower is not very susceptible to disease, but not a single horticultural crop is immune from pest attacks.
Foliage and shoots are eaten by slugs and snails. Plants may be of interest to slugs because their root system is in the shade, and for normal growth, the flower is watered abundantly. Dampness and shade create good conditions for the reproduction of these pests. It is important to inspect the soil around the planting for the presence of slugs or their sticky traces. Pests can be collected by hand, repelled with herbs and garlic, set traps, destroyed with chemicals.
The root system may be damagedbears and moles. Aphids, scale insects and other pests known to gardeners can settle on the leaves.
Special tools that can be purchased in stores will help to destroy parasites.
The following diseases should be feared:
- Powdery mildew - a white coating appears on all parts of the plant, the leaves curl and wither. For treatment use "Karatan". The most contaminated areas are cut off and burned.
- Wilting - until recently, green clematis can begin to fade quickly. The fungus is to blame. Treatment consists in treating the semi-shrub with "Fundazol" or another solution that effectively fights fungi.
- Rust - the leaves are covered with a rusty coating, the growth of shoots slows down. If the disease is not stopped, the flower will remain without leaves. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture can help.
- Yellow mosaic - the leaves turn yellow en masse. This is due to a viral disease. Unfortunately, the only thing that can be done is to destroy the affected plant. There is no effective cure.
What most often spoils the appearance of clematis flowers? Planting and care that is not carried out properly. He althy adult clematis rarely get sick.
Combination with plants
As you can see in the photo, clematis are self-sufficient flowers, they look great in single plantings. But the combination with other plants is welcome. What kind of "neighbors" to choose for semi-shrub vines?
List of suitable crops:
- curlyroses;
- barberry;
- forsythia;
- mock orange;
- conifers.
Much depends on the chosen support. If the flower will curl on the wall of the house, it does not need neighbors. If it grows in a flower bed, additional flowers will create an amazing picture.
Application in landscape design
It is not surprising that clematis bushes are widely used in landscape design. The priority is varieties that do not require shelter for the winter and cardinal pruning.
Landscape designers realize a wide variety of fantasies using these blooming vines in gardens. They look especially interesting with beaten supports. For example, a flower can be planted in a hanging pot. Shoots will begin to grow, climbing the ropes for which the flowerpot is suspended. It will give the impression that the green vines themselves keep themselves in the air. Arches and gazebos, shrouded in blooming clematis, look amazing. This decoration is perfect for solemn ceremonies.
