Silver stars awarded so far to lupins, iris sibirica, and oriental poppies! Another deserving of the accolade is clematis montana - utterly hardy and reliable in my experience, they are covered in flowers during May and into June.
The regular montana can climb, quickly, to 10 mtrs or more. The variety 'Elizabeth' has the most delicious strong vanilla scent. 'Freda' has less scent but also less vigour and is more suitable for a small garden or a limited space - I have it framing a window. The regular montana arrived I think as a free gift with other plants and was left sitting and ignored. It rooted itself very firmly through the bottom of the small pot and draped itself, as you can see, very prettily over the shed. There it stays, but it will need watching....
So, a slightly thuggish tendency and a fairly short season of interest are the reasons I don't award it a gold, but for sheer abundance of flower few climbers beat it.
The regular montana can climb, quickly, to 10 mtrs or more. The variety 'Elizabeth' has the most delicious strong vanilla scent. 'Freda' has less scent but also less vigour and is more suitable for a small garden or a limited space - I have it framing a window. The regular montana arrived I think as a free gift with other plants and was left sitting and ignored. It rooted itself very firmly through the bottom of the small pot and draped itself, as you can see, very prettily over the shed. There it stays, but it will need watching....
So, a slightly thuggish tendency and a fairly short season of interest are the reasons I don't award it a gold, but for sheer abundance of flower few climbers beat it.
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