Of Jackman's Clematises the English Gardener has the following: "They are magnificent; and more than this, they do give us some of the grandest things in the way of creepers the horticultural world has ever seen, making glorious ornaments either for walls, verandas, or rustic poles or pillars, varying in color from deep rich violet hue to dark velvety maroon, and in the newer seedlings, forms beautiful shades of pale bright blue."
Mr. Vick says of the Clematis: "Having a rather unsightly pile of stones in the back part of our grounds, we had them thrown together more in the form of a stone-heap, perhaps, than of anything worthy of the name of rockery, and planted Jackmanii and other fine sorts in the crevices, and for three summers this stone-heap has been covered most gorgeously. Thousands of flowers, in fact a mound of flowers, every day for months, has been the delight of visitors, causing one to exclaim, 'Nothing since Paradise has been more beautiful.'"
These fine hybrids will endure our Northern winters if somewhat protected. A gentleman in Rochester, N. Y., had a Jackmanii which bore full exposure without protection and came out in the spring uninjured to the height of nine feet. The extremities of the shoots for about two feet were winter-killed.
Clematis Sieboldii is a native of Japan, whence it was introduced by Mr. Low in 1837. It is of a slender free-growing habit. "The flowers which are produced from July to September are composed of six ovate sepals of a creamy white color, which form a fine background for the large rosette of purple stamens which occupy the center and render the flowers particularly attractive."
Clematis graveolins is a native of the mountains of Thibet. It is of comparative recent introduction. The flowers are produced on long stalks at the axils of the leaves, and are of a light yellow—an unusual color in this genus. It grows to the height of from ten to fifteen feet, and blooms freely during the entire season.
A lady writes to Vick's Magazine that she has a Clematis graveolins which is a wonderful sight. It grew from a feeble plant planted out in spring, two inches in height, into a column twelve feet high and three feet broad by August, and was a mass of yellow blossoms, and then, of the most exquisite, long-haired, silvery seed pods until hard frost. It lived through the winter, to its extreme tips, and then grew so rapidly, shading such an important part of her garden, that she had to remove it in the autumn, cutting it back severely. The seedlings from it grow, she adds, to eight or ten feet in a season.
Clematis crispa is of Southern origin; the flowers are one and a half inches long, produced singly on long stalks, and delightfully fragrant, a rapid grower, and perfectly hardy. Clematis coccinea is of recent introduction from Texas, the flowers are bell-shaped, of a most brilliant scarlet, and are produced in great abundance. This rare variety is offered only by Woolson & Co., Passaic Falls, N. J., who make a specialty of hardy herbaceous plants. Vesta, a Jackman, is large and of fine form; dead white, with a creamy tinge over the center bar, delicate primrose fragrance, an early bloomer. Mrs. James Bateman, pale lavender, and Thomas Moore, violet, superb, are Jackman seedlings, which flower in the summer and autumn, successionally, in masses, on summer shoots. These are all high priced. Many fine sorts can be purchased at prices ranging from thirty cents to one dollar.
The Clematis requires only ordinary garden soil. Where there are severe winters it is best to give the young plants at least some protection. They can be propagated by layering, which is rather a slow method, or rapidly by seed.