Everything Else About Clematis

The Radio Debut of 'Frankie' Play By Play Tips for Planting Read a Profile of an Enchanted April Vine

Clematis adore the Pacific Northwest, and not surprisingly, the region's attracted some of the hottest clematis experts in the country. I'm thinking of one in particular, Maurice Horn of Joy Creek Nursery, who slowly, quietly, has been changing the face of clematis in America by bringing over dozens and dozens of clematis species from Estonia, Poland, Sweden and Japan -- unsung hotbeds for the vine.

Just about everything I know about growing clematis I've learned from Maurice, who has kindly consented to answer your most compelling clematis-growing questions. I wouldn't waste the easy ones on him -- listed below are books and Web sites to answer those -- but for the gardeners among you who have loved and lost and are ready to love again, Ask Maurice.

Indispensable Books

An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Clematis
by Mary Toomey & Everett Leeds
Timber Press, 2002

The Gardener's Guide to Growing Clematis
by Raymond J. Evison

A Comprehensive Guide to Clematis
by Barry Fretwell
HarperCollins, 1999

Hand-Picked Web Pages

Oregon clematis maven Brewster Rogerson takes you step by step from pot to perfect spot at the International Clematis Society Web site.

If you don't have any books handy, you can peruse pictures of clematis at the Wood Cottage Nursery Web site. Sorry, it's a walk-in nursery only -- in Maidstone, England!

The disease most feared by clematis lovers is clematis wilt, explained here in useful, layman's terms by Washington State extension agent Mary Robson.

Are you an amateur with an advanced interest in propagating clematis? Then you'll delight in the company of Dutch gardener Jan van Acquoij.

Finally, for the utterly possessed, no pix and no perks, visit the wholesale-to-the-U.K.-only nursery of Malcolm Oviatt-Ham, one of the world's leading clematis experts. Encyclopedic!

Nurseries with Unusual Clematis

Joy Creek Nursery, Scappoose, OR. -- Over 150 flavors!

Completely Clematis, Ipswitch, MA. -- Good doggie pix, too.

Collector's Nursery, Battle Ground, WA. -- Lots of interesting species clematis.

Heronswood Nursery, Kingston, WA. -- Odd species, old favorites, the works.

Brushwood Nursery, outside Philadelphia, PA. -- A good list, though I have no first-hand experience with them.

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