This week it’s: Winter and evergreen clematis

MOST gardeners think of clematis as flowering in late spring and summer. They are seen gracing walls, fences and obelisks where the sun’s warmth lights up the top part of the plant, while the roots are growing in the cooler, moist earth.

But this isn’t the whole story when it comes to clematis. There is a smallish, but vibrant band of clematis that dare to flower when the wind is icy cold, and the soil even colder. Many of these also have thick, leathery evergreen leaves, that clothe our walls and structures when most other climbing plants are leafless.

So let’s pay some attention to the valuable and very garden-worthy evergreen and early flowering clematis…