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Common Name: solitary clematis
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Zone: 3 to 7
Native Range: Europe, Russia, Asia
Height: 1.5 to 3 feet
Spread: 2 to 3 feet
Bloom Time: May to September
Bloom Description: Blue
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Tolerates: Black Walnuts, Deer
Culture
Grow in fertile, medium moisture, well-drained loams in full sun to part shade. Plant stems tend to be weaker and sprawl more in part shade. Roots should be kept uniformly moist and cool (e.g., apply 2” mulch).
Noteworthy Characteristics
Native to shrubby areas, meadows and stream banks from central Europe to Russia and China, solitary clematis is a woody-based, erect-stemmed, non-climbing clematis that typically grows in a dense, somewhat sprawling, shrubby mound to 12-18” tall. Solitary, violet to blue, nodding, bell-shaped flowers with recurved and often twisted sepals and creamy white anthers bloom from May to July, with continued sporadic bloom sometimes occurring throughout the rest of the summer. Each flower (to 2” long) appears singly atop its own slender stalk (pedicel to 8” long) rising above the foliage. Sessile, ovate to lanceolate, entire, green leaves (to 5.5” long) form dense foliage clumps. Flowers give way to attractive, plumose, silvery green seed heads.
Garden Uses
Best massed or in large groups. Rock gardens, border fronts, cottage gardens, wild gardens or meadows.