PlantFiles: Clematis
Clematis 'Niobe'

Blooms mid June to early July in my garden.

Love the burgandy, velvety flowers of this clematis! Try planting on a white picket fence for an outstanding display. It flourishes about 18" away from my air conditioning / gas heating unit. The warmth given off by the exhaust in the winter keeps it green most of the winter and the plant growth and bloom seems to take off earlier in the spring.

I purchased my Niobe at a Farmers Association in spring of 2007. As normal for me it did not get planted until this spring. Terrible right? Well, even after wintering in it's original nursery pot, once planted it took off.

I grew this plant in Grand Forks, ND with no special protection or care. It's rated at zone 5 for hardiness but let me tell you it did fine in my zone 3b garden, in fact you might say it was thriving.

Okay. So my wife and I bought a start up of this beautiful plant in February and had it growing indoors until Spring. Come Spring time we planted it outside with some nice mushroom compost where there was sun for the plant and shade for the roots.

Soon after planting, my wife accidentally clipped (don't ask how) the top of the vine off. Since then, and it's early September now, the palnt hasn't done ANYTHING. It's not dead from what I can tell, but there has been NO growth.

Has anybody had a similar experience? Can anyone tell me if the plant is done for, or if it's putting all of it's energy in it's roots? Maybe it will blast off next spring.

Any insight is much appreciated.

This is one of my strongest and longest bloomers. I love the color and size. It is usually covered with flowers!

It is a great color, and gets lots of good comments from garden visitors. In zone 4a, it dies back mostly to the ground with no winter protection, but grows very fast to cover my split rail fence once growing season starts.

Large red flowers in abundance. Blooms through Fall.

This is probably my favorite red clematis because of its rich velvety color and texture. It is a good growing plant with tons of blooms. Its main bloom time here is late spring/early summer with repeat blooms into late summer. I also like the foliage, however, it's had to see through the masses of flowers. (Introduced by Noll 1970)

I planted this last fall in zone9b. I know clematis aren't supposed to do much in their first year, but mine bloomed about a week ago. I have this one growing next to "Miss Bateman" (which also bloomed oddly enough) and I love how the flowers are similar but the colors contrast. Definitely easy to grow, I just made sure the roots are sheltered by my gardenia, and the tops are steadily making their way up the fence!

This plant was already "at home" when we bought our house. It is planted at the base of an arbor over a step to our deck. Roots are shaded, arbor side faces southeast. The plant has not climbed more than halfway up the side of the arbor, but it has bloomed profusely beginning about May 20, and continues as of June 15.

A very reliable bloomer for a month or more. The flowers look like they are made of burgundy velvet. I only wish the vine grew larger.

This clematis flowers from June to July and can grow to a width of 3'. It received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

The tops of Clematis prefer full sun while their roots prefer a cool, shady area. It is best to heavily mulch the base of the plant, or as other gardeners have done, plant groundcovers nearby.

I've had this for four years; like my other clematis, it was weak the first two years, better each year since.

Interesting to see this one is rated part shade. I hear they do not like to be moved, but since mine in full sun looks burnt out by early summer, I'll try planting it's seeds in some shade.

Niobe was sold in catalogs as "Red", but mine is burgundy like the pictures here.

This is my strongest, longest blooming clematis - now that it is well established. Doesn't get too big, either.

Again, like the jackmani, this plant has thrived since I added ground cover (sedum and forget-me-nots) to keep the roots cool.

An excellent and very hardy Clematis!

I love the melding of Clematis, Ferns, and chartruse foliage. It's a lovely combo.

This is a Jackmanii-type Clematis.