clematis for coastal garden

Can anyone recommend a clematis suitable for an exposed coastal location?

 

er... not exactly a clematis, but honeysuckle do quite well
the blue clematis nelly moser are worth a try

 

Most clematis are more or less salt tollerant but you could try Clematis 'Ville De Lyon', very pretty water melon pink flowers. 'Warsaw Nike' is another, has very dark maroon purple flowers

As with all clems, head in the sun feet in the shade. Let them have a sunny trellis or wall to scramble over but cover the roots with rocks or broken slab to retain moisture and keep the roots cool. Soak the ground weekly in hot weather to encourage deeper rooting especially if you are on sandy soil. Shallow watering will just encourage poor roots.

Couple of online UK suppliers taken at random (not tried them so you will have to do your own checks)

Garden Action : Clematis

Roseland House: Clematis

 

Just as a thought, I would go for the viticllea and texensis group of clem. They are pruned about now down to about a foot (or even less if you feel brave) above the ground so any salt damage is removed. If you have any problems with dryness, do as we have had to do and put a length (a foot to 18 inches) of plastic downspout in when you plant the clem. You then keep the pipe filled wit water and it goes straight to the roots. Also do remember to plant any clematis at least 2 inches deeper than it is in the pot.

 

thanks for the suggestions. I already have a honeysuckle which grew really well last year, the only problem was powdery mildew which I managed to get under control.

 

Hi barneyb, going off topic here, how did you control the powdery mildew? I have variegated honeysuckle which invariably gets this each year, although other varieties are OK. I'm accumulating lines of attack!

 

do you have a Notcutts book? It's great for finding ideas for specific problems or situations. It's about �£6 I think. If you want more details e-mail me. There's also the little RHS book "Plants for Places"

 

Liz,I had to remove the affected leaves and then sprayed, and kept on spraying , with a solution of bicarbonate of soda and water. I also collected seaweed from the beach and spread around the base of the plants- I think I read somewhere that the iodine in it helps and for the rest of the summer made sure that they got plenty of water. Anyway it seemed to work and I'll be doing the same this year on the assumption that it won't do any harm

 

Thanks, barneyb, I haven't heard of those, will add to list! I'm not near the sea :( but I expect I can find a seaweed derivative somewhere!

 

Strangely enough powdery mildew on plants is often as a result of dryness at the roots, so watering the honeysuckle and heavily mulching may help. Some people recommend spraying with diluted milk, but I have never tried that, so cannot comment.

 

Thanks Palustris, it might well be that it's dry. I had one before in a very dry bed and that suffered the same problem. I will try your tip about a watering pipe, when the garden is dry enough!

 

The RHS book on pests and diseases says you should remove all infected leaves and spray with a fungicide - carbendazim, mancozeb, or myclobutanil, keep the plants watered but avoid overhead watering - and ideally, grow resistant varieties!! Good for the RHS!

 

Nimrod T, was amazing at getting rid of powdery mildew, you could spray it or water the plant.
Dont think its available now though. :(

 

nimrod t - see http://www.aitkens.co.uk/fungic.html

 

I had powdery mildew all over my honey suckle that was doing so well....Then I got really X and cut the miserable lot down to a few inches,Wow you should have seen those plants get thier act together they grew new stong shoots out in all directions. Just seen my pink Crocuses up bit disappointing not much in the way of greenery about them. :D