By Monjardinlra
Limousin,
France 
ID query, please!: Does anyone know what clematis this might be? (see photo) I inherited it on arrival here 5 years ago, it flowers prolifically from May-July and tries hard to climb further than its rickety trellis (8ft or so high) at present permits ... Dies back to brown tangle during (harsh!) winters, however - so far - as you see, recovers fine... I prune it ruthlessly almost to base in Spring but never having grown clematis successfully before, I don't know if this is correct. Also it has two (exceedingly ugly!) concrete blocks upright at its base, someone said not to remove these as they shade the roots - is this true? Thanks everyone for all the help I'm already receiving (I joined your site, yesterday!)
1 Jul, 2012
Answers
I also think its Ville de Lyon. Also, I would leave the concrete blocks to give the roots some shade, it doesnt seem to be causing any harm.
1 Jul, 2012
Hurrah! Just taken the laptop outside to compare with the flower, and it is definitely 'Ville de Lyon' ... (I know it's been growing perfectly well for the last 5 years without me calling it by its name, but, hey... And at least I now see that I've been pruning it correctly!)
I know nothing about clematis, they always died on me in Norfolk - should I be feeding this one? Not that I want it to become any more exuberant (at least not without replacing the wonky trellis first!) But it's working so hard I'd like to reward it if necessary!
(By the way, it's on a south-facing wall in a very dry bed under some overhanging eaves, so presumably the shading blocks at its roots are indeed important).
many many thanks Inverglen & Cinderella for your prompt help on this...
1 Jul, 2012
Do not feed it while it is flowering. Later in the year and early next year you can feed it regularly ( or occasionally) with any general purpose fertiliser like Growmore or Tomato fertiliser. A friend of mine uses rose fertiliser . But stop feeding when its about to flower because oddly enough that can shorten the flowering period
1 Jul, 2012
Thanks again! I'll do that.
1 Jul, 2012
Previous question
« July 1st and there's a lone flower on my magnolia. Isn't that strange???
I think it might be Clematis "Ville de Lyon". Ask Google for Ville de Lyon and see what you think.
1 Jul, 2012