NEW ZEALAND CLEMATIS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 125, 22 November 1935, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND CLEMATIS

PLANTS IN PERTHSHIRE

(From "The Post's1' Representative.) LONDON, November 2.

A correspondent writing to "Country Life" tells of the successful cultivation of the New Zealand species of clematis (Clematis Armandii) in Scotland. The writer protests against the general idea that the plant is a particularly tender subject.

"In my garden in eastern Perthshire," he writes, "two plants have now been growing for eight years with no diminution of flowering or growth owing .to frost either in autumn, winter, or spring. Even the devastating frosts of last May only browned the tips of a few shoots, and fresh growth appeared with remarkable speed as soon as warm weather set in.

"They are both planted against a high brick retaining wall facing due south and in full sun, in ordinary garden loam on the heavy side, which is never watered in times of drought. Possibly one of the reasons for success is that it is a retaining wall. An ordinary garden shelter wall is not always so much of a protection as might be imagined, for if it faced south a constant cold northerly wind in spring will chill its reverse to such an extent that it will not retain sun heat during the day for more than an hour or so after sundown, with the consequence that wall temperature will vary enormously during the twentyfour hours. Not so with a retaining wall or house wall, for in both cases the difference in temperature in daylight and darkness is not nearly so pronounced.

"At any rate, it is to be hoped that my experience with Clematis Armandii may induce others who live in our colder shires to try it, as it is a very worthy plant."

Colonel Esson. Earl Jellicoe had by his gracious mariner endeared himself to the people of the Dominion while he had been here, and those present were not unmindful of the great services he had rendered while he was in this country.

Those present stood in silence for a moment as a mark of respect.