Clematis ‘Gravetye Beauty’
* Common name: Clematis ‘Gravetye Beauty’
Clematis ‘Gravetye Beauty’ in bloom.
* Botanical name: Clematis texensis/viticella hybrid
* What it is: Clematis is a woody-stemmed, twining vine that produces bell-shaped flowers. ‘Gravetye Beauty’ is a time-tested, durable, and heavy-blooming variety that has flowers that are red on the inside and striped pale-pink on the outside. It blooms from July through September and resists the clematis wilt disease that browns the foliage of many varieties in summer.
* Size: With support, vines climb eight to 10 feet. Space four to five feet apart if you’re planting more than one on a large trellis.
* Where to use: Grow up trellises along a patio for privacy and color both. Also nice grown up an obelisk as a garden centerpiece, up a trellis between house windows, or on lattice along a property line. Plant in full sun to part shade for best flowering, and ideally, with roots in a cool spot or shaded by nearby plants.
* Care: Scatter a balanced, organic granular fertilizer around the base of vines in March. Cut vines to about eight inches in late March or early April to just above live buds.
Keep damp the first season, then water needed only in very dry spells. Maintain two- to three-inch mulch layer over the roots.
* Great partners: Underplant with low yellow-blooming perennials, such as coreopsis, dwarf black-eyed susans, or daylilies. Or plant golden or yellow annuals around the base, such as marigolds, dwarf zinnias, bidens, or petunias.