Clematis Species, Devil's Darning Needles, Virgin's Bower

On Apr 16, 2015, Chillybean from (Zone 5a) wrote:

What I have are indeed Clematis virginiana, purchased at a reputable native plant nursery.

Currently, I have eight of these planted as dormant roots. Some are growing more vigorously than others. These plants are either male or female, so you need both for a plant to produce seed. It is the seed heads that I am really interested in. A side benefit is it is poisonous to mammals, so I do not need to prison (chicken wire) the plants to protect them from rabbits that adore the alien clematis.

I like native plants, especially easily spreading ones to benefit the wildlife/bugs we have. If nothing gains food from it, I replace it with something that does.

If I have anything negative to say about this, it's the above common names. I prefer wh... read moreat I saw in the catalogue for this plant, "Prairie Smoke on a Rope". My bearded husband does not like "Old Man's Beard" it is sometimes called. :) Another common name I just found: Traveller's Joy. I really like that one.

On Jun 3, 2013, esanita from Tyaskin, MD (Zone 7a) wrote:

Please read! If you have an aggressive clematis 'virginiana', it's probably not our native clematis virginiana but the invasive, aggressive non-native clematis terniflora. They look very much alike, but our native virginiana has trifoliate, toothed leaves. The invasive terniflora has mostly rounded and untoothed leaves. So check the leaves on your clematis. If they are rounded and not toothed, then you don't have clematis virginiana. You have terniflora -- get rid of it! Please check out this website; it's short with a very clear description of the two clematis', with pictures:

http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2008/05/tale-of-two-clematis-...
... read more

On Jul 17, 2011, DracusBiology from Portage, MI wrote:

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute... assuming you live in the Eastern United States and Canada this is a completely native plant. Yes it still has quite a potential to be 'weedy' but if you are looking for a native plant/pollinator garden this is a decent choice. Although it might take a little extra work to keep it in check the hummingbirds are supposed to go nuts with this stuff and it has a pretty long flowering season. There is some of this growing in a park nearby to my home and although I haven't seen any hummingbirds I have seen tons of butterflies at the flowers.

All parts of all species of clematis are toxic and most other native and non-native varieties will cause some minor skin irritation if you really get into it because of the toxin anemonin (for that matter many ot... read moreher common garden plants like foxglove are extremely toxic). If you aren't into the native gardening thing then this may not be for you but it certainly doesn't deserve a bad rap, at least not here were it is native.

On Aug 12, 2010, frecklez from Rochester, VT wrote:

I'm dealing with the wild variety of virgin's bower (clematis virginiana) and although I couldn't find the comments on your site about its invasiveness, I'll say, WATCH OUT! Normally I take the whole invasive-species thing with a large grain of salt, but now it's war!
I had 2 little swamp willows sprout at the same time by my deck. Swamp willows grow in abundance up back along the old road so I welcomed them as a native species making themselves at home. I call them The Twins. They have been identical size and all, until just this year. I noticed one of them has been doing poorly, shrinking down, losing not just leaves but leaf stems, resulting in completely bare stems. I thought they were competing--until I noticed this really pretty vine, ivy-shaped leaves, lovely fairy-like... read more white blossoms, sprawling all over the little willow. On a walk up the road, I then start connecting the dots. An entire row of wild swamp willows had been stripped last year and are dying. What should I notice now that I'm looking? Virgin's bower, clambering all over the place.
I feel like I'm in a horror movie featuring a predatory plant. Because the v.b. is indeed consuming my swamp willow, and has reached out a long tentacle to the other Twin.
Today I spent some time ripping out as much of the v.b. as I could, but I think it's spreading underground. It's also harboring in the overgrown brambles on the rocky bank by the willows, so I'm sure it will be back.
Any advice for demolishing this total pest??? Is it a native species?
Thanks,
Julia P.
P.S. I live in Central Vermont. The invasion of the v.b. almost seems like a recent phenomenon. Is it a byproduct of a noticeably milder climate up our way?

On Jun 14, 2009, desmarc from New York, NY wrote:

We've had this plant growing in wood containers on our Manhattan terrace for more than 3 years, and every late summer it gives great pleasure to us and all our neighboring condo dwellers: beautiful clouds of white flowers all along our railings. Of course dies back every winter but comes back strong each spring. Granted, there's no danger of it escaping the containers and eating Manhattan, but it's a great note of nature in the city.

On Feb 13, 2006, raisedbedbob from Walkerton, VA (Zone 7a) wrote:

Toxic. Reportedly irritating to skin and mucous membranes. Ingestion may cause bloody vomiting severe diarrhea and convulsions.

On Jun 24, 2005, JaxFlaGardener from Jacksonville, FL (Zone 8b) wrote:

I had posted before in my naivete, thinking that I had the native Clematis virginiana, when actually I had the invasive Japanese Sweet Autumn Clematis, C. terniflora. I still would like to see a photo of the two plants' leaves and flowers side-by-side to get a better idea of the differences. It is my current understanding that C. virginiana has a more serrate edge to the leaf, whereas C. ternifolia has a smooth leaf margin.

I don't think any native plant, like Clematis virginiana, can be considered "invasive." You might call them "prolific spreaders," but they were here before Europeans began to disturb the soil for their own whims, so consider for a moment whom the actual "invader" may be.

Jeremy

On Jun 7, 2004, LamarB from Huntsville, AL wrote:

This plant has beautiful tiny white flowers which bloom and cascade over in the fall, thence it's name. The downside is hundreds of plants it generates all over your lawn. They are impossible to pull up, and very difficult to kill, even with Roundup.