Clematis x 'Blue Ravine'

Description

Lilac-blue flowers are suffused with pinkish-mauve and feature contrasting red anthers; late summer flowers are smaller and more star-like in appearance. Large 7 to 8 inch wide flowers with overlapping tepals appear in abundance in the early summer and the fall. Top of the plant prefers full sun, with the roots and base in shade and a fertile, humus rich, well-drained soil.

Application/Use

Border, Espalier, Woodland Garden. These blue flowers demand a high profile position even though they are large enough to be seen at a distance. Plant at important high traffic locations such as entries and in front of pivotal windows. Gorgeous trained onto a picket fence with painted or weathered rails. Excellent viewed on a sideyard board fence from adjacent windows. Train up posts of overhead structures such as porch cover, shade arbor and gateways. Espalier directly onto house or garage wall, or on to decorative flat treillage attached to siding. Train into an old dead tree or overgrown shrub or allow to sprawl freely on the ground for a more naturalistic woodland look. Companion Plants Combine this beauty with other bold bloomers such as Pink Ridge Creeping Phlox, (Phlox stolonifera 'Pink Ridge') and Stellar Pink Dogwood, (Cornus x 'Rutgan'). Augment its summer blooms with spring flowering Foxy Foxglove, (Digitalis purpurea 'Foxy'), Magic Dark Blue Larkspur, (Delphinium elatum 'Magic Dark Blue'). For late season color use Farmington New York Aster, (Aster novi-belgii 'Baldco') and Luxury Lace Daylily, (Hemerocallis x 'Luxury Lace'

Care/Maintenance

Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep extensive root system. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer. Provide the support of a trellis or arbor. Roots prefer a cool, shaded area, tops in the sun.