Walton's Plant Library

Description:

Dainty, star-like creamy white flowers are sweetly scented and completely cover this vigorous vine late in the season, makes a fabulous screen; keep the roots cool for best results; can grow up to 20 feet; attractive silver seed heads

Ornamental Features

Sweet Autumn Clematis is smothered in stunning lightly-scented creamy white star-shaped flowers with yellow anthers at the ends of the branches from late summer to late fall. It has green deciduous foliage. The compound leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.

Landscape Attributes

Sweet Autumn Clematis is a multi-stemmed deciduous woody vine with a twining and trailing habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a high maintenance woody vine that will require regular care and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Sweet Autumn Clematis is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sweet Autumn Clematis will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. As a climbing vine, it tends to be leggy near the base and should be underplanted with low-growing facer plants. It should be planted near a fence, trellis or other landscape structure where it can be trained to grow upwards on it, or allowed to trail off a retaining wall or slope. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This woody vine does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This species is not originally from North America.

Sweet Autumn Clematis makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.