HISTORY OF CLEMATIS IN AMERICA - A TIMELINE

 

? - C. vericolor

? - C. scotti

? - C. eriophoria

1726 - C. crispa*, The Marsh Clematis; native to So. Eastern U.S. 

1730 - C. viorna*, The Leather Flower; native from Pennsylvania to Alabama.  

1767 - C. viginiana*; native to Eastern No. America. 

1797 - C. vericillaris*, Bell Rue of No. America; native to Northern American.

1830 to 1840 - Gardeners in Philadelphia & Boston import new species from England which includes C. viticella & C. vitalba.

1838 - C. florida exhibited in Boston.

1838 - C. 'Sieboldii' exhibited in Massachusetts.

1840 - C. 'Sieboldii', first publicly exhibited by Pennsylvania Horticulture Society.

1841 - C. patens; a double white clematis, is subsequently hybrized. 

1850 - C. texensis*; native to Texas.

1856 - C. lanuginosa; an 8’’ lavender flower is parent to many large cultivars.

1860? -  Froehling & Kohler exhibit a fine collection in Los Angeles, California.

1863 - George Jackman of England introduces C. ‘Jackmanii’.

1866 - Francis Parkman introduces ‘Jackmanii’ to Boston. 

1877 - Elbert Carman of Carman Potatoes imports C. ‘Henryi’.

1877 - Arnold Arboretum receives some seeds of C. paniculata from Russia .

1878 - C. pitcheri* (C. Simsii); native to Colorado & some Western states.  

1880? - C. fremontii*; native to Missouri, Kansas & Nebraska. 

1880 - C. ligusticifolia*; native to the Western states.

1888 - C. ‘Ramona’, often mistakenly thought to be an American clematis is in fact the Dutch clematis C. ‘Hybrida Sieboldii’, hybridized in 1874. 

1889 - C. douglasii is discovered by David Douglas and is native to the Rocky Mountain states.

1900 - E. H. Wilson introduces C. armandii from China.

1903 to 1905 - Luther Burbank of Santa Rosa, California raises 4 clematis.  Their ultimate fate is unknown.

1915 - Fungus Ascochyta Clematidina is discovered.

1927 - Joel E. Spingarn’s passion for clematis begins after visiting England and seeing them first hand.

1927 - After a decline in popularity after World War I there is a resurgence of interest in clematis in America.  This ‘new wave of enthusiasm’ is due to the efforts of Joel E. Spingarn.   

1933 - C. ‘Betty Corning’ is introduced.

1934 - Joel E. Spingarn has a collection of 250 clematis in his garden in Troutbeck, New York. 

1939 - At the age 64, Joel E. Spingarn dies after 12 years of incredible work promoting clematis in America. 

1958/1959 - Arthur H. Steffen Sr. begins propagating clematis.

1965 - Wayside Gardens raised ‘Mrs. P. T James’.

1968 - Arthur ‘Bing’ Steffen Jr. returns to help his father after receiving his degree in Agriculture Economics from Cornell University & serving 6 years in the Army.

1977 (or before) - The Steffen’s raised ‘Prince Philip’.

1979 - Arthur “Bing” Steffen Jr. starts 2,500 seedlings that will eventually be the pool used for breeding resulting eventually in 46 new cultivars.

1980 - The Steffen’s are propagating 1 million plants per year from 330,000 stock plants and selling 185 different cultivars. 

1983 - New York Botanical Garden establishes the largest American Clematis Climbery at the Jane Watson Irwin Garden.  It contains 142 clematis.

1983 - ‘Carnaby’, an American cultivar, is introduced by Treasure’s in England.

1987 - The Steffen’s  introduce their first large cultivar, ‘Perrin’s Pride’.

1988 - The Steffen’s  introduce ‘Sunset’.

1989 - The Steffen’s have the largest commercial collection of more than 300 species & 185 different cultivars. 

1989 - The Steffen’s  introduce ‘The First Lady’.

1990 - The Steffen’s build a brand new state of the art 50,000 ft. greenhouse.  It is one of the largest in the world for growing clematis, about 1,000,000 plants per year.

1990 - Tragedy strikes the Steffen’s after using a defective fungicide.  Estimated $15 million in losses.

1990 - The Steffen’s  are able to save only 12 of the 46 possibly new viable clematis.

1991 - The Steffen’s  introduce ‘Cotton Candy’.

1992 - The Steffen’s  introduce ‘Juliette’.

1995 - The Steffen’s leave the business.

1996 - April, the Southern California Clematis Society is founded.  It is the first clematis society in the United States. It ends the year with 38 members.

1996 - August 23rd, the Southern California Clematis Society becomes the first clematis society in the world available online via the Internet's World Wide Web.

1997 - April 26th,  we plant the first installation of clematis in the International Rosarium at Descanso Gardens.

1997 - The first SCCS Top Ten Clematis List is unveiled. 

1997 - November, Horticulture Magazine publishes SCCS Top Ten List.

1997 - We file the necessary data enabling us to be featured in the distinguished Encyclopedia of Associations for 1998.  This is an outstanding reference guide to associations, societies, and other nonprofit organizations that is available at your local library.

1998 - February, we submit our request to the Internal Revenue Service to officially change the name of our society. Since there has been such an increased interest in our organization, we are now known as the American Clematis Society. 

1998 - March 26 - 29, we participate in the San Francisco Garden Show hosting an educational booth as well as a garden vignette spotlighting clematis.  An estimated 46,000 people turn out for the show.

1998 - August 1st, we plant our second installation of clematis in the International Rosarium at Descanso Gardens.

1998 - October, our www.clematis.org Website undergoes a major transformation to reflect the changes in our society’s status as the American Clematis Society (formerly known as the Southern California Clematis Society).

1999 - March, the first American clematis book, American Clematis Society’s Guide to Growing Clematis in the United States is published.

1999 - March 6th, we plant our third installation of clematis in the International Rosarium at Descanso Gardens bringing the collection there to 83 clematis.

1999 - April 18 thru 20, we participate in the 10th Annual Southern California Garden Show. We host a sales and educational booth and present a clematis garden vignette, Gateway to Clematis Heaven.

1999 - ‘Pink Cameo’, an American cultivar, was introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2000 - January – we introduce the first Buyer’s Guide for mail order clematis.  It gives gardeners in the U.S. a comprehensive list of clematis mail order nurseries as well as information provided by the nurseries concerning their selection, price, guaranty, etc. 

2000 - April 13 thru 16 - we participate in the 11th Annual Southern California Garden Show.  We host a sales and educational booth.

2001 - March, Our www.clematis.org Website undergoes a third major transformation to reflect the most current changes in our society’s status. 

2001 - ‘Carnival’, an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2001 - ‘Brewster’, an American cultivar, is introduced by Pacific Northwest Clematis Society.

2001 - ‘Sprinkles’, an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2001 - ‘Fairydust’, an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2003 - January - The format of The Clematis Chronicle is changed from a newsletter to a journal.

2003 - March - Seminar is taught at California State University, Northridge.

2004 – The Donahue Clematis Specialty Nursery introduces their first American cultivar, 'Killian Donahue'.

2004 - August - We publish the second American clematis book, Simply Clematis - Clematis Made Simple.

2005 – February – We introduce the first online clematis buyer’s guide via our site.

2005 - 'Tie Dye', an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2005 - 'American Beauty', an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2005 - 'Blue Mist', an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2005 - 'Riviera', an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2005 - 'Suzanne', an American cultivar, is introduced by J. P. Van Laeken.

2006 – June 2-4, We celebrate our 10th Anniversary. To commemorate this special occasion we host a clematis and gardening convention.

2006 - Our www.clematis.org Website undergoes a forth major transformation to reflect the most current changes in our society’s status.

*First documentation

This is all the current information the ACS has at this time. As we collect new information, we will update this timeline. Please, if you have any documented corrections and/or information, submit it to:

American Clematis Society
P. O. Box 17085
Irvine, CA 92623-7085