Clematis of the Month for May 2011
This has been one of the most popular Clematis for a very long time. In every book about Clematis you find this hybrid and it is recommended as very useful in the garden. ‘The President is an old and very strong clematis with no problems with diseases.
Clematis ‘The President’ was raised by Charles Noble of Sunningdale in England in 1873. This hybrid was introduced in 1876.
The parentage is C. ‘Jackmanii’ x seedling of patens
The Published Reference is “Gardeners Chronicle”, 1873; 1406.
C. ‘The President’ is a medium-sized deciduous climber up to 2.0 – 4.0 metres. The flowers are up to 18cm in width, with 6-8 overlapping violet-purple sepals, paler on reverse, appearing from summer to early autumn. The filaments are white tinged with deep pink or purple at the base and top. Leaves are simple or ternate and bronze when young.
The flowering period is from late spring to early summer and the second flowering time on new young stems is late summer to early autumn. The best position for the dark flowers is in a shaded place in the garden. The pruning group is 2 and if you hard prune in the beginning of spring you eliminate most or all of the early blooms. Instead, groom the plant after flowering by cutting back the top one-third to one-half of some stems. Pruning keeps the plant in a good condition and form.
Plant C. ‘The President’ in a moisture-retentive, well-drained soil and keep the stems, leaves and flowers in shadow or partial sun. Before planting place the pot in water for at least 30 min. and incorporate the soil in the hole with well-rotted manure or compost and a general-purpose fertilizer.
In the garden you can make beautiful combinations with white and yellow roses or let the plant grow in a shrub or small tree with yellow or light green leaves. C. ‘The President’ is also useful for a pillar or on a pergola, arch, large trellis or obelisk.
This hybrid is hardy in zone 4-9.
C. ‘The President’ is so popular and easy that we have placed the plant on the Society’s Recommended Clematis list.
Ton Hannink