An old gardeners' trick is to plant clematis in a small tree or shrub. Well, not actually in the tree, but at the base of a tree or shrub. Clematis is an ideal vine to plant in this manner since it is a fairly light vine as compared to vines like wisteria and trumpet vines. I would not recommend planting a Sweet Autumn clematis in a tree though, stick with the lighter types like Jackmanii or Nelly Moser, please use common sense when choosing a vine to plant in a tree.
I chose an few varieties that have slowly begun to come into their own. The clematis blooms are a nice surprise to find 'growing' in a tree. The crabapple pictured above has a purple clematis growing in and amongst its leaves. This tree will have these 'purple blooms' off and on all summer as the clematis blooms off and on. I have several trees planted in this way, but this clematis is the only one blooming right now so I can't post the other pictures, maybe later.
Planting clematis in this way is a win/win situation in my book. The clematis gets a good support, and the tree gets some extra blooms. There is one drawback though, since the clematis vines are somewhat shaded by the tree, the blooms do tend to be smaller and it takes longer to get the clematis growing enough to make a big impact. But that's okay with me, I have nothing but time and plants and at some point they will all be mature...
in the garden...
