Vertical Gardening - Clematis 'Perle d'Azur'

A long time ago, well before the digital age of e-mails and texts, I wrote a letter to the leading authority on the genus Clematis (his book 'Clematis' was the definitive text then), the owner-occupier

and gardener of Great Dixter, the exuberant Christopher Lloyd.

 

I seem to recall bemoaning the fact that, having just visited the walled rose garden at the famed Sissinghurst Castle & Garden in Kent, how could I possibly come close to their spectacular show of 'Perle d'Azur' if I had no curved wall to match the theatre I had just witnessed. The reply was terse and direct: "Grow it up a pole!"

So here is my plant, supported by a rusty 9ft narrow obelisk, still performing OK after many years, and with the yellow daisies of Inula Magnifica for company around the base that shimmer in the wind.

 

Here's the Sissinghurst showcase (possibly 4 plants? maybe more?) >>

nl.pinterest.com/pin/440860250999928218/

 

Both my two main Summer clematis 'Victoria' & 'Perle d'Azur' did very badly last year, both covered in mildew just as they were about to open. So I improved the air circulation around them (by lopping off lower branches of surrounding trees), was more meticulous about other plants grown much too close, and mulched very heavily in early Spring. I'm sure the recent rains have helped too, for better,

for worse.

 

 

Done