Be inspired by these clematis collections
Be inspired by the clematis collections at these RHS Partner Gardens, and take away clever ideas for making the most of these showy climbers in your own garden.
Longstock Park Nursery and Gardens in Hampshire (pictured above) is an excellent place to see a wide range of Clematis viticella cultivars. The garden holds a National Plant Collection of 30 cultivars, attractively displayed on an archway alongside a range of trained fruit specimens. The archway is at its most picturesque from July to late August, when the clematis blooms are complemented by underplantings of Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead’. To walk through the archway is to be surrounded by clematis – stroll its 90m (295ft) length to enjoy and compare cultivars such as sweetly-scented C. ‘Betty Corning’, velvety C. ‘Royal Velours’ and large-flowered C. ‘Venosa Violacea’.
Clematis are used generously and creatively at Inwood Garden in East Lothian, where they help draw the eye up into the tree canopy. There are some 25 cultivars scrambling up trees, trained over fences and posts, and twined through host plants. ‘I find the Viticella Group combine well with roses and shrubs,’ says the garden’s creator, Lindsay Morrison. ‘The cultivar ‘Betty Corning’ works very well with Rosa ‘New Dawn’. I call the shrubs clematis coathangers’. In July the clematis arch is at a peak but other highlights include chocolate-scented C. montana var. wilsonii and deep-purple C. x durandii, trained up a 2m (7 ft) pole.