I have a Clematis Montana which I bought 3 years ago and planted in a pot. It is blooming for the first time this spring but has only about 3 buds. Is there anything I can do to make it bloom more profusely? Here is my clematis montana - picture taken yesterday: Clematis Montana ( photo / image / picture from Tina's Garden )
I am not sure what the problem is, maybe the pot? I don't have a montana but some people around here do, and they say it grows fast and blooms really nicely. I even saw one (someone's garden) in an instance, while I was in a car, and I thought "must get one soon, Calin!" I would say maybe the pot, or location... is it on sunny side but close to the house (this seems wrong for some plants, houses seem to release extra heat). I can say your plant hasn't grown well for 3 years of... care
First of all I would remove all the competition going on in the pot,then after flowering replace the potting mix with a top quality product.Remember potted plants cant find their own food so they must be fed maybe a bigger pot too.Too late for this year but you can plan for next year.
Thanks for your responses! This plant has been in this spot for the last 2 months only. I brought it from my previous house. I was told that there needs to be something to keep the roots of the clematis cool. After the season is over, I think I will plant it to the ground. I hope that will give it some boost.
Hiya Tina. I had wanted to respond to your query earlier in the day, but I had to do some errands as well as look in on the bees out in the country. Well that plant of yours is the type of Clem that ought to be putting out literally bushels of flowers at this time of year. What I saw on the picture is not normal for the C. montana. This type of Clem is not meant to be grown in a container. There are Clematis sorts that are. They are much shorter than the Montana's. A few things about your plant: Type--This Clem of yours belongs to what is known as the "Group 1" in Clematis circles. The group typing has to do with when they bloom and when to prune the Clematis. PRUNING--Be aware that every Group has its own method of being pruned. This is a Group 1-type of Clematis, so the time to prune is immediately after blooming. This Clematis blooms on the preceding year's wood. Thus after pruning it, it will begin to produce stems from what is left after pruning, as well as sending up some new stems from below the soil surface. By pruning you "urge" the plant to produce stems on which buds will form, so you will get more flowers next year. ****How deep to prune the Montana back? This sort Clematis should NOT be aggressively pruned. Prune it back about 1/3rd. FEEDING--In the winter or early spring you can give some well-rotted, and I mean WELL-rotted stall manure or dried cow manure pellets. There is also chemical fertilizer available with reasonable NPK values. Never feed your Clem during the blooming period because it will shorten the blooming time. You can give a very light fertilization after the pruning along with some well-composted compost. When you feed the Clem, just know that Clem's do not require a lot of fertilizer...just a modest amount. ****If you keep your Clem in a container, then shake-off the upper layer of soil and replace that with some soil out of a bag from the garden centre. During the growing period (after pruning) you can give a little feed again in liquid form mixed with water. You can also place it in another, larger pot with fresh potting soil every 2-3 years. So then...transplanting, pruning and feeding are ways to get your Clematis to bloom more. If you ever plant this plant in the ground...there is a specific way to do that. We can talk about this when and if you ever choose to do so. I hope that my take on this will be helpful to you.
That Clematis of yours ought to be bloomed-out by now. How is it doing? Have you taken any steps in improving its blooming capability?
I can't believe I had missed your response earlier. I am so sorry. Since, I hadn't seen your post, I just went ahead and planted the clematis in the ground, same spot. I added some compost to the hole I dug and planted the clematis. Please let me know the correct way of planting and I will do it soon. There are no more blooms on the clematis right now. On a side note, I hadn't pruned the clematis at all since I bought it a couple of years back. I don't plan to prune it yet as I do want it to get larger and cover a part of the wall. Thanks again. I will wait for your response to know how to plant it correctly in the ground.
