Someone gave me an unnamed clematis from a supermarket as a 'thank you' present a few years ago. Although the plant was pretty with lovely small flowers, it also wasn't very robust. In fact, it was quite spindly. I think it's a Passion Flower clematis. Anyway, it obviously wasn't happy in its little pot so the first year I had it I planted it against the fence on my sunny border with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun but it never really took off. It remained spindly and not even flowering in the following year or two, if I remember rightly. Last year — or was it the year before? — I pronounced it dead when all that was left was a short twig, and I went about planting other clematis climbers and jasmine. This year, the cheeky little survivor has sprung to life and clambered up the Jasmine officinale and other clematis and produced flowers. It's still spindly but it is clearly very determined not to be written off. Below are photos of the interesting stages of the flowers.
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| Passion Flower clematis in full bloom with its cream petals and deep mauve centre |
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| Passion Flower clematis - petals fading while mauve centre unfolds |
Below the cream petals have disappeared but these two flowers have been at this stage for more than a couple of weeks. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.
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| Passion Flower clematis when cream petals have faded |
