Clematis ‘Andromeda’
Clematis ‘Miniseelik’
Clematis ‘Reiman’
So, you order a pretty, mail-order clematis and you anxiously await for it to bloom. Lo and behold, Mother Nature bestows her kindness upon you with her first floral gift. Occasionally, however, after witnessing her initial offering, you might say to yourself, “Oh no, the coloring of my new baby doesn’t look anything like the picture!” Your reaction at that point may be to think you were sent the wrong clematis. The reality is that there is a possibility that it could be a misnamed clematis and unfortunately, as with any other plant, this type of mix up can occur.
Not to worry though, because several years ago, when I was still new to growing mail-order clematis, I too can remember being disenchanted with a few of my newly acquired clematis because they didn’t live up to their original photographic images and I even wondered if I’d been sent the wrong plant. Luckily for me these early experiences taught me an important lesson when it comes to the coloring of clematis, which is to “be patient”. This is especially true when purchasing smaller clematis because their bloom(s) may not be a true representation of the color of the flowers they will produce when they are more mature and have had a chance to establish themselves. This maturation rule also holds true for the potential size of the flower’s diameter. As you can see from the three pictures of the first flowers shown above and then from their later flowers, by allowing these clematis more time to mature, it ultimately made a difference to the final coloring.
So, I think it’s safe to say that giving your new clematis at least a year to “show its true colors” is a prudent thing to do before making a rash decision such as shovel pruning.