Clematis alpina Maria Basescu
I have been keen to try one of the Spring flowering Alpina types for quite some time. I am very pleased with our choice of the Clematis alpina Maria Basescu
Plant profile
It is planted against a narrow six-foot-high fence in the sunny front garden. Flowering started in late March, and it is still blooming in mid-May. The Clematis being keen to grow higher has tumbled over the other side of the fence where it is putting on a pretty good show.
In all these years the only Clematis we have grown in the garden is the type which requires cutting back hard in late Winter, early Spring, such as viticella etoile violette.
Pruning
If you have plenty of room for your Alpina Clematis to grow, then you can let it do its own thing for perhaps three years.
Follow group 1 pruning instructions. Alpina Clematis flowers on growth made the previous year. So, the idea is to prune immediately after flowering has gone over which will give time for plenty of new stems to grow.
In the early years, if you so wish, you could leave well alone, or reduce the stems by about 25% of their length.
After a few years it may well be beneficial to cut the whole thing back to two or three feet from ground level. You will be surprised at how much growth is made in the following months, and it will bloom again in the Spring.
Feeding
Apply blood fish and bone in early March. Throughout Spring and until mid-Summer give a regular liquid feed of a high potash fertilizer.
Flowers
From late Winter through till May, Clematis alpina Maria Basescu will put on a wonderful display of these delightful blue blooms. After flowering is over you will be treated to a display of fluffy seed heads, which you will lose some of if you prune, hmm.
Hardiness
Extremely hardy
Position and soil
Loves full sun but will do pretty well in semi shade. Grows in all reasonable garden soil as long as it is free draining.
Height
Grows to about eight feet and requires support.
Mail order
Fresh water tropical fish tank
Resurrected an old hobby of mine and with too much time on my hands in my old age, this is it. ( its fun)
When you are not sure if your location has enough sun, try out an Android app called Sun & Shade Analyzer. It will tell you immediately!
Our guppies are all male, but the platys have little platys. Perhaps I said that, struggling to remember lots of stuff these days.
You know that little verse?
Dogs have puppies, and cats have kittens. But guppies, just have little guppies!
Aquarium is time consuming Nadezda, which is fine for the likes of myself.
Your alpine clematis is amazing, Alistair. This is on my dream list. If I buy this clematis, I have to cover it up for the winter. Or plant it in a tub and transfer it to a shelter for the winter.
I have been fond of aquarium fish for 15 years. When I was feeding the fish, they gathered around the feeder and I thought they knew me 🙂 Later I didn’t have time to look after the 60 liter aquarium, so I sold all the things.
Happy weekend!
How very lovely to hear from you Joy. Definitely no heatwave here.
Hello there Alistair ! .. some how I missed your blog posts … what a pretty little clematis. Funny enough I was tying in a few of my clematis this morning .. we have had a heat wave (no rain though) so everything is shooting off like crazy .. so hard to keep them in line , looking neat and tidy. Romantika is a monster once it gets going .. Mary Clair will be arriving soon to be paired with it for a dark and light combination .. so many things you can do with pair plantings !
I think the fish tank is a great hobby and you should just relax and enjoy it .. we have gone through it ourselves , funny how watching fish can be so entertaining right ? it is peaceful !
That looks lovely! So spring fresh with those luscious, limey leaves and the delicate blue/ purple flowers! I’ve got a thing for yellow or lime leaves. I’ve got a north facing back garden and the colour really lifts it up out of dreary dullness in the winter months and before all the summer perennials kick in. I’ve teamed it with deep blue pots and barleywood on the shed and summerhouse, honestly, it positively sings! That clematis would fit in perfectly (if I didn’t have a shed-load of plants in pots that still need to be found a space!!!)