Clematis Guernsey Cream

I think this is my favorite of the clematis that I own.  It’s called Guernsey Cream, and it’s one of the earliest clematis to bloom.  I have this on the north side of my house, it only gets an hour or two of early morning sun.  I just love the creamy color.  The reason I love clematis is actually because most of them bloom later in the summer, after the majority of the perenials have finished blooming (unlike this one).  To get a later blooming variety, look for a type 3.  These bloom on new wood, so you prune them hard at the end of the winter and they grow very quickly, and for me, bloom in July.  This Guernsey Cream is a type 2 (sometimes called group B).  It blooms on both old and new wood, but mostly old, which is what you see in the picture.  The other feature of clematis is they grow up, and don’t take up a lot of garden space. Most avid gardeners are always running out of room. And I say this is my favorite that I own, because I’ve had my eye on a pure white one that I see every year in front of someone’s house in my town.  I’m not sure which variety it is, the flowers are very large.  This year I’m going to get a photo and try to figure it out.

~ by cindyeo on June 7, 2008.