Is it strange that I try to think of new places to build garden walls and fences just so I can cover them with clematis?
When these beauties are going full tilt they’re as spectacular as a fireworks display. Currently ours are climbing our brick mailbox but I want them in a hundred more places at the Nest.
I’ll attempt to expand our herd this year.
To propagate clematis, cut about a 3-inch section from one of the vines. Make sure it has a couple of leaves. Dip one end into rooting hormone and stick into a 3-inch pot full of damp soilless mix. (Or use an empty yogurt container or other suitable piece of flotsam floating around your house…we always seem to have plenty of yogurt containers awaiting reuse in the recycle bin.) Place a plastic baggie over the cutting and pot. Secure with a rubber band, then place the whole thing out of direct sun in a moderately warm spot. We use the north side of our house for our experiments in propagation.
We’ll see if I have any luck. Keep your fingers crossed for me. By the next Independence Day, we’d like to have these explosions of color all around our home.
NestOfSquirrels 
We’ve gained an arch at our garden and the first thing I did was buys clematis. They are very lovely.
I’ll bet your garden arch covered in clematis is spectacular! Great idea!
I love your first sentence, Benjamin – I have that sort of philosophy too!
It was a fantastic year for clematises at our house. I think that’s a Nelly Moser you have in the picture–I have that one too, and it gave me a solid trellis full of blooms late in the spring. Jackmanii is another prolifically blooming cultivar for most people. I just planted one on a brand new wall, so I can’t wait to see what it does next year. I’ll be interested to know whether you have any luck propagating them.
Thanks, Kimberly! I believe you’re right, it is a Nelly Moser. And now I’ll have to try a Jackmanii! I’ve always heard plant the roots in the shade and the vine in the sun…have you ever hear that?
Yes, I’ve heard that, and I do mulch the base of the plants pretty heavily with grass clippings every summer. Seems to work well for me. My former land-lady would place an upside-down white plastic pot over the base of her clematis to keep it shaded and to reflect the sun rather than absorb it, and that worked for her.