Clematis and Other Climbers by Jeff Bates

For our November meeting we welcomed Jeff Bates who gave a very interesting presentation.  Jeff talked about the various types of Clematis and other climbing plants.  Jeff has been a full time horticultural lecturer for over 20 years and is a self employed horticulturalist and garden designer.

Clematis are an extremely ancient variety of plant, there are at least a thousand various types, they belong to the buttercup family and are poisonous.

Jeff discussed the three groups of Clematis with group one being the early flowering types (Alpina) the smaller flowering types.  These should be cut back in February but never hard pruned during flowering or they will die.

The second group are the large flowering hybrids which flower mid April to June.  As these flower off last years wood we were advised to cut loose parts off in February for fewer but bigger and better quality flowers.

The final group flower at the end of June through to the end of November.  These should be pruned back to 6 or 8 inches above ground level in January.

Jeff went on to present several other climbing plants including hydrangeas, chocolate vine, wisteria, honeysuckle, rambling and climbing roses.

Thank you very much to Jeff for a super presentation with some beautiful photography.