My friend Tamie inherited a clematis 3 or 4 years ago. She says it hasn't ever bloomed. It comes back every year and is only about 3 feet tall. What do they like? Could it be planted too deep? I haven't the foggiest idea so I told her I'd ask all of you :-D
Hiyah Sratsmom, I'm willing to put my brain to work but I would like to know what the specific name is of the Clematis in question please. There are basicallty three types of Clematises (based on when they bloom and there are other sorts that are by nature short ones. I am quite sure that it is not planted too deep. In fact being planted deeper than it was in the pot that it was bought in is the correct thing to do because that does two things: it stimulates the plant to produce more stems and it lessens grewatly the possibility that the plant will develop "Clematis wilt". Anyway, if you could tell me which Clematis it is that will be a good place for me to start in attempting to answer your question.
I will ask her if she knows. I'm afraid she won't :'( When her son and daughter-in-law bought their house they dug up a back corner of the yard for a swingset and play ground area. She just seen it and rescued it
Ok, I shall cross my fingers. Do you think that she can recall when it is "supposed" to bloom and what colour the blooms should be? If she can't give us any answere to these questions, I will take a stab at it anyway.
I planted clemetis when we bought our house in the summer of 2006. It took until the summer of 2008, 3 summers to get blooms. It spent the first 2 summers building a root system. I find that Clemetis are slow to grow but fertilize them and they will bloom. I had another one look all wilted and dead and I cut it to the ground and the next summer it came back bigger and healthier then ever. Patience is the key.
Unfortunately she doesn't know a thing about this poor plant I read her all of your notes and think she has agreed that patience is the key :-D
Do you know if your friend has ever given that Clematis any potassium rich fertilizer? Ok then, if she is going to just wait and see that may mean that the thing will bloom later on in the year. If at any point, she wants to try something let me know and we can give it a go. I wish her luck--there's nothing like a Clematis in bloom. They are gorgeous...every one of 'em.
Well, Stratsmom--if she wants to wait and see, I don´t have any further suggestions at this point, if she decides later on to take a different approach then we can discuss other options. It really is difficult knowing what to try without knowing exactly which Clematis it is, isn´t it? Sort of like `pin the tail on the donkey´, if you know what I mean. I am really curious to see what the flower will look like. BTW~-does she have the soil at the base of the plant shielded from the sun?
