How to Grow Jackmanni Clematis

Thanks for stopping by again. I just love that first picture of my granddaughter and me. I have 5 grandchildren now, and they all love to come and visit grammy and grandpa’s gardens. My granddaughter loves that I let her pick any flower she wants and as many flowers as she wants. She runs all around the gardens picking the flowers for her mommy and grammy.

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How to grow Jackmanni Clematis: My favorite Clematis is a Jackmanni type Clematis. I love it because of its beautiful purple color, it’s hardiness, and its ability to give me several months of blooms if I give it the proper care. Kind of like us. When we get appropriate care, attention, and our needs are met: we will thrive, blossom, and reward others with the beauty of who we are.

So how do you grow Jackmanni Clematis? Start by giving your Jack the proper care? Jack likes being a bit of a hot head. Find a sunny location for him. Full sun or a little shade is best. Jack loves to have his feet/roots cool and his body well supported. Let’s start with his home. Dig a hole at least twice the size of his pot. Fill the bottom 6 inches of the hole with good rich well-rotted compost or peat moss. Tip Jack gently out of his pot and put him in the hole. The top of his plant is about 3-4 inches below the top of the hole. Fill the hole with more compost and gently firm the soil taking care to not smash his legs. You will cover up the bottom 3 inches or so of his legs. Water well. Since Jack likes his roots cool, I want to plant some low growing plants in front of him so his feet can chill out in the shade. A good plant would be a yellow Stella d’Oro daylily. It’s a long blooming yellow lily that is stunning in front of the big bright purple clematis

Next, give his back some excellent support. I like SIS (simple is smart) support. Sometimes I want more sun on a flower bed so I will ask Fred to remove a tree. When he cuts the tree, Farmer Fred will leave about 6 feet of the stump, and I plant Jack next to it. If you do this make sure to girdle the stump just above the ground to make sure the tree won’t continue to grow. After about 8 years the stump will rot away and you will either have to move Jack or give him a trellis for support.

What does Jack like to eat? Lots of good well-rotted compost. I add a couple of inches of my rotted down wood chips around his base every year. Lastly, Jack needs a haircut about twice a year. Jack will start blooming in early summer and continue for about 6 weeks. When it looks like he is done blooming you can trick him into thinking he didn’t flower by removing about the top 1/3 of his growth. This makes him forget he already blossomed and he will put out new growth and a whole new set of flowers in the late summer. In late winter/early spring give him his second haircut by cutting him all the way back down to about 18 inches above the ground.

This is how to grow Jackmanni Clematis. Your Jack will thank you with lots of flowers for several months when you follow these steps.

How lovely is this beauty. My sister Lynette read this blog and sent me this picture of her clematis. This is a Kilian Donohue clematis. It has a little different pruning requirement than Jack. A Kilian can flower on new growth, but usually produces the largest flowers on stems from prior years. In spring, prune to remove ends that are damaged or not showing signs of new growth. A good rule of thumb is to cut the stem right above the highest set of fat buds that are breaking growth. You’ll also want to prune right after the first flowering period of the season. Thanks Lynette for a stunning example of a clematis that blooms on both new and old wood. Our family has more than one green thumb.

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