Clematis 'Blue Light' opened up properly now.

Stunning Karen.

looks great!!!

I like this one, it reminds me (different colour I know) of Duchesse of Edinburgh, but I have lost it again to wilt that is the third year running it has gone home on me I am giving up on her.

That one is a nightmare Mum....and so beautiful when it flowers. I had it at Hyndford. It flowered...once, beautifully and then went back to wilting again :(

Thanks Dawn and Pixi. It's pretty isn't it, but so many early flowering ones have gone missing this year. I am getting a bit fed up with my lovely clematis to be honest. Still, there's hope they might appear later in the year I suppose.....we'll see.

Know what you mean..my newest one has only one flower.

J...a lot of mine have just been chewed by slugs as soon as their shoots have appeared. They are now starting to put on a bit of growth, so there's hope they may do something later in the year....that's after scattering two cartons of organic slug pellets all over the ground!

Clematis don't like my garden, I have a few but they never really shrive.

Isn't it a pity when they don't grow well. I find that my later flowering ones do so much better than the large flowering early ones. I've just had to cut down almost all of my 'Paris' as it had all wilted. Two stems still on it, but they may well go as well. So annoying!

It is annoying Karen as they're not cheap to buy, are they. My Viticella Abundance is fine although it took a while to establish. The Armandii looks dead, for certain :-(

What do you think the problem is with your early ones.

Dawn, the Armandii will have been killed by cold wind I would think. I lost one of those once, one very cold windy winter. I don't grow them any more. My early large flowering ones get wilt, get eaten by slugs, and get broken by strong winds. You name it, they suffer! lol! That's why I grow so many, so I can be sure of 'some' success! :))

Julia...I'm not sure about the browning on the leaves to be honest. I think you need to ask an expert on that one. All I can tell you is that many of the lower leaves on mine seem to go brown (it's almost like black spot isn't it?). I've always just thought it was ageing of the lower leaves and not worried about it, and I have always thought that it doesn't seem to affect the flowering too much that I've noticed. I look forward to you putting it on the questions page so I can find out too!

:) I had a look in my books, but couldn't find much. But I did a blog for you J! x

I'm having more success with them in pots here. 'Corona' which really has been totally neglected is performing like a superstar compared to any I've nurtured in the ground.

Isn't that incredible...just shows you, you never know! You'd think the roots would be too warm and dry, there wouldn't be enough food...etc...etc...and yet it looks absolutely fantastic and is covered with flowers! :D

A real beaut....

Yes, must say, pleased with this one! :D It was a bargain £5 last year in Dobbies' sale.

A bargain indeed.....