Seneca Hill Perennials

Clematis aethusifolia

A wild collection of this exquisite little scrambling clematis with ferny foliage and small campanulate yellow flowers. It came without an ID, and we were enchanted, when it grew, to see what we had. Unfortunately, we have only a few to sell, but we hope to get fertile seeds from ours in the future and keep making it available. Collected at 2300m/7475ft near Xining, Qinghai province, at the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Clematis albicoma

A charming species, native to the shale barrens of Virginia and West Virginia, but quite happy in average garden conditions as well. Like C. ochroleuca, it forms an herbaceous clump, but we find its habit a tad tidier, and its chubby, hairy, white urn-shaped flowers are really quite perfect.

Clematis crispa

One of our favorite US native species, the Marsh Clematis occurs in the wild in swampy habitats from northern Virginia to southern Illinois, and south to Florida and Texas, but it is hardier and more adaptable than that range implies. We grow ours in heavy moist, but not really wet, soil, whence it emerges each spring (it is not top-hardy here; in the wild it typically dies back part way) to scramble up an obelisk and produce its exquisite pale blue urn-shaped flowers, each with its characteristic strongly recurved and frilly-edged sepals.

Clematis fremontii

An upright clump-former with sessile, upward-angled leaves, the upper ones appearing to clasp the stem. Refined, solitary nodding purple to white bell-shaped flowers with gently recurved sepals perch on slender pedicels at the end of each stem.

Clematis glaucophylla coll. Blount Co., TN

A member of the Viorna group, C. glaucophylla has smooth grey-green leaflets and relatively large reddish-purple vase-shaped flowers. Once established, it is a reasonably vigorous climber, and mingles beautifully with larger plants. This year we are thrilled to have plants grown from seed collected in the wild in Blount Co., Tennessee. Our photo is of a garden plant, not the species in the wild. Photo copyright Carol Lim, used with permission.

Clematis ochroleuca

Native to coastal regions of the eastern US, this bush clematis makes a fairly upright clump of nonvining stems clad in ovate leaves. The fuzzy little cream-colored flowers, like pendant inverted urns suspended pertly above the foliage, are followed by spectacular golden-haired seed heads.

Clematis texensis

An enchanting US native with delicate wandering stems and chubby brilliant waxy red urn-shaped flowers with red interiors. Here in the north, it dies back completely each year, but as it blooms reliably on new wood this is something of an advantage - you never develop a messy tangle of old stems. It is, however, slow to develop, and late to emerge in a cold climate.

Clematis viorna

A beautiful American species with narrow vase-shaped flowers, in this selection deep red-pink outside and creamy pale yellow within. We thank Carol Lim for sending seeds. Photo copyright Carol Lim, used with permission.

Clematis viorna, Mt. Cuba special form

An unusual selection of Clematis viorna collected in Anniston, AL and grown at the Mt. Cuba Center. According to Carol Lim, who generously shared seed with us, botanists at the University of Tennessee have examined this plant and determined it to be C. viorna and not the closely-related C. reticulata, which it also resembles. The elongated dusty-pink flowers are lovely and distinctive. Photo copyright Carol Lim, used with permission.