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I'm basically anti-vines. But I'm thinking -- just thinking -- about planting some.
A lecture at the Philly flower Show on clematis, has me thinking about them. (I'm in MD zone 7, my mom's place is in Philly, also Zone 7)
I was also thinking of Bougainvillea, but wikipedia says they have thorns so that's out. Love the flowers, But thorns makes them an absolute non-starter.
Also like the flower of Mandevilla, but I read they attract insects like mealy bugs and scales. So they're out.
So that leaves Clematis.
Any "cons" to clematis?
1) Would you plant this vine AMONG ivy? I have thick English Ivy on a steep hillside. But the ivy doesn't flower. Could I plant the clematis among the ivy to get a 'flowering hillside."
2) At my mom's place I MIGHT plant it under a rose bush.
The lecturer said clematis is a great vine to have grow up and into big shrubs and trees.
I'm anti-vine because of the English Ivy I have on my hillside. I know clematis isn't anything like that (I guess). Also I'm not after anything I have to KEEP trimming like I do my ivy 2 - 3- times a season.
So do you think Clematis is for me? Or given all I've said should I stick with my anti-vine position?
English Ivy is notorious for being invasive and not a typical "good" garden vine. Standard clematis are all beautiful vines that prefer support to grow upright (a trellis or arbor are typical backdrops when you see pictures). There are several types of clematis that can be as invasive as the English Ivy, so if you decide to get a clematis avoid those types. Their common names are Autumn Clemtis and Old Man's Beard or Traveler's Joy. (If you want the latin names: Clematis terniflora, Clematis vitalba and Clematis ligusticifolia).
It sounds like you were swayed by an enthusiastic lecturer. There are some beautiful clematis out there. If you want something as a ground cover and it is hot and sunny you may like a Scarlet Clematis or Leatherflower. It's a Texas native that survives up to zone 4 so it should e fine in 7 and there are several cultivars with names like "Princess Diana". Scarlet Leatherflower: Clematis Texensis: Organic Gardening
I live in Pasadena, Md. I have a few clematis and they are wonderful. I also have confederate jasmine which is an evergreen and must be planted in a "hotspot" as it is zone 8. Where do you live in Md. Selhars?
Won't a clematis climbing in a rose bush kill it? The growth gets pretty thick, and could cut off oxygen.
No. I'm not sure about the oxygen (?) part but no they won't kill each other. You can grow two or three different clematis together and you can grow clematis through open shrubs like roses without either suffering.
Any suggestions as to what I can plant down in the English Ivy, all over my hillsides, in order to get flowers on the slope?
Is that even doable? The ivy is thick and 6 or more inches deep all over the hillside?
Will anything be able to take hold? or will ivy choke other stuff out?
The hillside is about 75 feet long and 6 feet high, with a 55 degree slope.
With so much area to cover I like to be able to throw some seeds down into it because that would be cheaper. BUT if I had to I would be willing to buy plants -- and plant them spaced out in the ivy.
Right now various parts of the hillside are covered in English Ivy, Virginia creeper, periwinkle (that doesn't really flower) -- and even some cat briar. (ouch!)
Clematis is not invasive, and in a contest between other more robust vines, it will lose. Put it somewhere where it will have a fighting chance and see how it does.
My old house came with several established Clematis vines -- they lasted for 15+ years! One grew up through a shrub to a trellis on the side of my porch. (They like "cool feet and warm heads"). Another grew along with a climbing rose in full sun up an arbor in my back yard, and yet another along a fence. They were very easy to grow and pretty impossible to kill (I admit to accidentally weed-whacking one or two -- they just come back).
[quote=selhars;28569411]Any suggestions as to what I can plant down in the English Ivy, all over my hillsides, in order to get flowers on the slope?
Is that even doable? The ivy is thick and 6 or more inches deep all over the hillside?
Will anything be able to take hold? or will ivy choke other stuff out?
The hillside is about 75 feet long and 6 feet high, with a 55 degree slope.
With so much area to cover I like to be able to throw some seeds down into it because that would be cheaper. BUT if I had to I would be willing to buy plants -- and plant them spaced out in the ivy.
Right now various parts of the hillside are covered in English Ivy, Virginia creeper, periwinkle[/color] (that doesn't really flower) -- and even some cat briar. (ouch!)
That's a virtual who's who of invasive and tough vines!! It will take a lot of work to keep them at bay long enough for anything else to make an attempt to survive. If you really want to get rid of them or try to carve out spots for other plants it would help to know about the sun exposure the slope gets and if it is along a road where it might get a lot of salt in winter time. To be honest it is not a job I would want and if it were my steep slope I'd leave it and weed whack it back every so often, and make a garden elsewhere.
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