Before starting to combine roses and clematis, you need to learn a few things as not all clematis and roses work well together.

Do you ever find yourself questioning the information you read about plants? So often I have read that Clematis like their heads in the sun and their roots to be in cool shade. Where did that little gem of wisdom come from anyway? Is it something that some plant expert said once and gardeners like myself just pass along? When you stop and think about this little nugget of information, it makes good sense. Most vines stretch up out of shady undergrowth to reach for the sun. Clematis are no exception. They like their top growth to receive six hours of sun, while the base of the plant is shaded by other plants. To have success with them, all you need to do is keep this preference in mind. Clematis also like fertile well-drained, somewhat alkaline soil. If you are planting a clematis for the first time this spring, remove the plant from the pot and soak it in a shallow pail of water for 10-15 minutes before planting. Place a generous layer of well-rotted manure or compost at the bottom of your planting hole. Plant it deeply: the top of your Clematis's root ball should be placed about 5 cm (2.5 inches) below ground level. Back fill the hole with soil that has a generous amount of compost and a few handfuls of bone meal. Water thoroughly and frequently until your Clematis is established. Clematis are a popular choice for so many reasons. They have diverse flower forms and colors. They can be grown on walls or fences, up tree trunks or through climbing rose bushes. Some cultivars are quite vigorous, but they aren't vines that is hell-bent on taking over the world. It is also possible to find a Clematis that will bloom in just about every month of the growing season. What's new in the world of Clematis? Patio Clematis! These are compact vines were bred by famous English nurseryman Raymond Evison to grow to a height of just five to six feet. Unlike the traditional Clematis, which bloom at the end of each stem and side branch, these vines bloom on all leaf axils all the way down through the plant. These new cultivars are heavy feeders, so use a slow-release fertilizer following the manufacturer's instructions. Prune these new Patio Clematis to 12 inches above soil level in spring. I have several of these shorter Clematis and have really come to love them. Most of the fence running the length of our backyard is too shady for Clematis, so up until now I have been rather limited in the number of Clematis I have been able to grow. The new shorter heights have allowed me to place Clematis out in my sunny flower beds on simple supports like this tomato cage. This white Clematis 'Hyde Hall' was just gorgeous last May. Pruners at the ready a nervous gardener stands before the thin brown tangle of clematis vine in early spring. It flashes into her mind that there are three main groups of clematis vines, all needing specific regime of pruning. The plant tag, that might have helped her identify the clematis in question, has long since gone the way of the Do-do. What happens if you do nothing and don't prune a Clematis? A Clematis that has been neglected may still flower, but it will produce fewer blooms than it would have if it received appropriate care. They can also get leggy with all of the new growth and flowers coming near the top of the plant. Pruning a Clematis stimulates strong new growth. It also clears the tangle of stems allowing air to circulate lessening the chances of wilt and other problems. The first thing our anxious pruner needs to do is not to stress. It sometimes worries me that more people are so terrified of making a mistake, they don't garden at all. Gardens are actually quite forgiving. If you get your pruning wrong, you might go without Clematis flowers for the growing season, but there is always the promise of next year. If you are uncertain about the variety of clematis, hold off pruning for the summer and note when your clematis blooms. The bloom time will help you identify when it is appropriate to dig out those pruners. The Three Pruning Groups: Group 1: Clematis that bloom in early spring, do so on the previous years growth. Do not prune a Clematis that blooms in early spring until after it flowers. Pruning it after it flowers will encourage new stems that will carry next spring's flowers. Some Group 1 Members: C. alpina, C. macropetala, C. montana Group 2: These Clematis bloom in early summer on the previous season's growth and sometimes later in the season on the current season's growth. Remove all dead or weak stems in March (April here in Ontario). Then prune the entire plant by about a third (approximately 25cm above ground level). Look for a healthy green bud and make your cut above it. Some Group 2 Members: 'Bees'Jubilee', 'Henryi', 'Nelly Moser', 'The President' Group 3: This final group produce flowers in the late summer and fall. These Clematis bloom on new growth each year and are easiest to prune. Cut back all vines to 30 cm (12 inches) high each spring. Some Group 3 Members: 'Ville de Llyon', Perle d'Azur', 'Jackmanii', C. viticella, C. texensis. Clematis in a private garden in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Isn't it gorgeous? What happens when you don't support a clematis properly? It can flop over on itself. I can speak to this from experience. There is a purple clematis by my front door that is in desperate need of better support. Fixing the issue is high on my spring to-do list. Clematis in a private garden in Mississauga, ON This is a perfect example of a clematis that has flopped. It looks pretty, but the growth underneath the fallen top section of the vine won't get any light or air circulation. You may get away with this, but you run the risk that the delicate stems will snap and break in the wind. Most of the cultivars you'll find at your local nursery will grow to 8-15 ft, but some Clematis vines can reach a height of as much as 20-30 ft. Check the plant label before you make your purchase. The Clematis on the front picket fence. I purposely allow this bell-shaped purple clematis to fall forward and drape over the picket fence in my front of the garden. My clematis shoots straight up and looks a little silly when it sticks up over the top of the fence each June. Gradually I bend it forward over the white pickets, so the somewhat fragile stems don't break. If you want a clematis to cover a fence, you will need to provide some extra support. On the left, a metal trellis sits in front of the fence. On the right, eye hooks hold a wire grid in place. Private garden Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. I thought that his was a rather interesting way to deal with a Clematis that grows higher than a typical fence. This Clematis is supported with a wire grid and is espaliered along the length of the wire. All Clematis has woody stems that are quite brittle. To replicate this you would have to encourage any fresh green shoots to spread out horizontally down the length of the wire. The Toronto Botanical Garden's Trial Garden It you have one of the newer Patio type of clematis, a pretty obelisk might be all the support you need. Private garden, Mississauga, ON. I thought that this was a novel idea. There is no fence between these two neighbouring properties, so to create a bit of privacy a partial fence was constructed with a couple of fence posts and 1x2's laid in a grid. As a finishing detail, the whole thing was stained grey. Sadly the view of the Clematis vines are not equally splendid on both sides. The side you are looking at here is in shade. The two vines favour the sunnier side of the fence, which can be seen in the next image. Birdhouses in Donna's garden in Halifax, N.S. In my friend Donna's garden, Clematis clamour up the poles of two birdhouses. Donna tells me that, "Eye hooks are fastened to the four corners of each birdhouse and two eye hooks are placed at the bottom of each post. Then wire is strung from the four corners to the bottom of the pole. This seems to work well for us." As a final word, it worth mentioning that the seed heads of Clematis can be quite ornamental. Their fuzzy pompoms can be almost as pretty as their flowers.

Reluctantly my trip to Yorkshire is over and it's back to work. Regular followers will know I am obsessed with cottages! 'Oop North' in the Pennines which span Yorkshire and Lancashire, where these photos were taken, cottages are made from stone hewn from the hilly landscape. No cute thatched cottages here. These cottages would originally have housed local weavers, the main industry sadly now all but died out. The walls are very thick to keep out the bitter Pennine winters. Local cottages are mostly terraced with little or no front gardens - many beautiful decorated with tubs and pots of flowers. These days, in the pretty villages of Heponstall, Hebden, and Haworth where these photos were taken, they are more likely to be occupied by many of the artists and writers that live in the area - although people in the cities, Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds, still refer to Pennine residents as Woolybacks! Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath lived locally and Sylvia is buried in Heponstall. (See how people have paid their respects by leaving pens - very touching don't you think). There is an English saying - 'It's grim up north'. Looking at these pictures I think like me you'll disagree!

These step-by-step instructions show how to take clematis cuttings to grow new vines. It’s a simple propagation method using softwood cuttings.

Bush Clematis 'Stand by Me'. Photo courtesy of Proven Winners® This is not a sponsored post, so I feel free to say that I have m...

These step-by-step instructions show how to take clematis cuttings to grow new vines. It’s a simple propagation method using softwood cuttings.

It seems incomprehensible to me that I have given basically no thought to container plantings this year. By this time of the year I usually know exactly what I’ll be doing in all of my containers, but I’m just first starting to think about it now. Certainly the weather is partly to blame, but I’ve […]

As a vining plant, clematis is one of the most beautiful I have ever grown. Its color is so pretty glowing in the garden against the dark green or smokey green color of its leaves.

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Enjoy more photos from this reader's New York garden, with cheerful purple clematis in a variety of locations in her yard, including a tree.

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This 1-2-3 guide shows you how to know which clematis type you have and if or when it will need pruning. No need to be overwhelmed! These beautiful vines are delightful in the garden.

These step-by-step instructions show how to take clematis cuttings to grow new vines. It’s a simple propagation method using softwood cuttings.

Klematis og klatreroser skal matches – du vil elske disse planters naturlige parløb.

I know it is only January but I cannot help but fantasize about flowers and springtime. I hope to someday have a garden half a beautiful as...

Højde: Bliver op til 2 m. højVækst: Moderat voksende, slyngendeLøv: GrøntBlomstringstid:  Maj-juni, genblomstrende i juli-augustBlomster: Store, fyldte, pinkfarve blosmter, 8-10 cmPlacering: Trives i sol-halvskygge, læJordtype: Vokser i en kølig, dybmuldet, næringsrig og fugtighedsbevarende jordHårdførhed: FuldtOgså velegnet til: Pergolaer

Need some Clematis inspiration? Check out some gorgeous pictures and get some Clematis care tips for your garden!

Enjoy more photos from this reader's New York garden, with cheerful purple clematis in a variety of locations in her yard, including a tree.

Dames Rocket in a vase. I was about to sit down to work on a design themed post on the subject of creating a focal point, when a long ago phone conversation that I had with my Mom flashed into my mind. Newly married, my husband and I had moved up from Nova Scotia and had been living in the greater Toronto area for a couple of years. That weekend I had gone on my first ever garden tour. Goldfish from last summer's pond tour "It turns out that you are a nobody gardener here Mom, unless your garden has a "water feature". Not a pond, mind you, that's way too country quaint! It has to be a "water feature" or it seems as though your garden is not deemed worthy of being seen by the public." Water feature! Those two words do have a kind of grand, cinematic ring to them, don't they? And here I am, all these years later, about to about wax-on about creating a garden "focal point". "Focal point" is another one of those somewhat pretentious terms that has the same flair for the dramatic as "water feature". In my head, I started to imagine readers, who are always polite and encouraging in their comments, privately regarding their computer screens and rolling their eyes, "Blog posts on creating grand entrances, pathways and now one on focal points! Really, Jennifer! I just want to grow some pretty flowers and be done with it!" Could all these years in the big city really have turned me into a garden snob who bandies around designer phrases as if I owned them? Random shot of my front border Gosh, I hope not! Honestly, I think that there is nothing wrong with a straight-forward, honest-to-goodness flower garden. Growing up, my mother's garden was both simple and unpretentious. Her garden had no carefully designed layout. There were no curved beds, no sweeping vistas, no bubbling fountain or koi-filled pond. And if you asked her about her garden's "focal point", I am sure she would have told you, that if her garden had a focal point, it was surely the flowers themselves. My mother certainly knew a lot about growing flowers. In my mother's garden, the beds were straight as arrows. One might think that this lack of artifice was unsophisticated, but actually, this simple design aesthetic was perfectly in keeping with the modern design influences of the late 60's and early 70's. My mother never, ever, bought annuals like petunias or geraniums. Having grown up in the depression years of the 1920's, she regarded annuals as an extravagance; throw-away plants that wouldn't last more than a single summer. There was also an element of snobbery in her opinion of annuals; they were common and therefore too ordinary for her tastes. Her forceful opinions extended to perennials as well. In keeping with her contemporary tastes, she saw no charm in old fashioned cottage garden favourites like bleeding hearts. Random rose shot. This is 'Clair Renaissance' which is an English Style Shrub rose that I admired in the Spargette's garden in Brampton, ON. And my mother absolutely detested roses! And as for hostas, that popular shade garden staple? Well, her garden did not have a single one! To this day, my mother who is still gardening and almost 90, dismisses hosta's as "lazy man's flowers". My mother created her garden back in the 1970's, when we moved into a Pepto Bismol colored house overlooking the Halifax harbour. (These days, you couldn't buy a car for what my parent's paid for that house!) It was the era of harvest gold appliances, spider plants in macrame plant hangers, hot pants, mini skirts and platform soled shoes. So what did my mother grow in her garden? A wide range of perennials, but her favourite flowers were poppies. She had a large collection of annual poppies. She also had big, bright, orangy-red perennial poppies. We had a vegetable garden too. It was a squarish, utilitarian patch of earth totally lacking in artifice. The vegetable garden's practical purpose was to provide the family with inexpensive food in the summer months. There were no herbs, no heirloom tomatoes. My mother grew modern, disease-resistant "Beefstake" tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, currants and common vegetables like beans and peas. My biggest gardening influence has easily been my mother. I still aspire to have a perennial border that is as beautiful as hers was in early July. I have also gone my own way at the same time. I do have bleeding hearts, roses and hostas in my garden. And I take a far greater interest in the design aspect of gardening than she ever did. Does that make my garden somehow better than hers? No! I will use an analogy to explain the way I look at the comparison. A single violin can produce the most beautiful music. So can a full orchestra. The mix of different musical instruments in an orchestra adds complexity through layers of sound, but the music is not necessarily more appealing than a haunting melody played on a single violin. My mother prefers the violin. I like to mess about with orchestral pieces. For me the design aspect of gardening adds an interesting level of complexity to more straightforward flower gardening. It is your turn to have your say. Who or what have been your biggest influences in the way you approach gardening?

This 1-2-3 guide shows you how to know which clematis type you have and if or when it will need pruning. No need to be overwhelmed! These beautiful vines are delightful in the garden.

We encounter flowers with meaning every day making it necessary to learn the meanings so that we can convey the intended message. Read more.

Threads & Blooms is a Toronto based lifestyle blogger sharing fashion, food, and flower inspiration

Martha Stewart's official blog. On the Martha Blog, Martha Stewart shares an up-close and personal perspective of her life through blog posts, photos and Twitter. - Part 19

This 1-2-3 guide shows you how to know which clematis type you have and if or when it will need pruning. No need to be overwhelmed! These beautiful vines are delightful in the garden.

White flowers lend a cooling effect to the garden, especially in summer, and combine easily with more colorful plants.

Der er gode at blande i en hvid have ...