Hi Everyone!

I just stole a clematis from my neighbor. Well, not exactly, because he was standing there watching me, but I've been trying to get the plant since he bought it a couple of months ago. It is still in it's pot, and about 1/4 dead, so I actually saved it. It's Madame Julia Correvon. I saw it in bloom when he first got it, and it was stunning.

I got it for the side of my house, where I have another clematis growing that doesn't get tall enough. I have no idea what the name of it is, but it only gets about 4 feet tall, and it is covered in pink blooms. The tag, which I've lost, said it should get 8 feet tall, which was perfect. I planted it there so that it would grow over the arch that I have, wanting it to mingle with the Jackmanni that I have growing on the other side. That never happened.

Now I want to remove the short clematis, and plant this new on in it's place. But, I'm not sure if clematis transplant easily or not. The short one has been in the ground for about 5 years, but I don't know what the root system is like.

Any suggestions? I've got plenty of trellis on my fence that I can plant it next to, but I'm not sure if it's worth trying or not!

Are you sure you want to remove the short one, Natalie? I think Clematises look great in pairs. Planting the taller one right next to the shorter one would also solve the occasional problem of "bare knees" on the taller one.

It's a great idea, but would be way too crowded. It's a small arch that it has to climb up, maybe 12 inches wide, and I can barely keep the shorter one on it. I do like the idea of hiding the "bare knees", but I have lots of other plants in the area that make it so that I don't even notice it

Then I'll let someone else advise you on digging it up and moving it. I've had fairly rotten luck with transplanting, so I'm clearly doing something wrong.

Zuzu, hopefully someone can help both of us then! I've never transplanted one, so I don't know if it can be done successfully. Either way, the short one is going/moving because I'm not happy with it!

Unfortunately I've had bad luck transplanting established ones too.

Looking around on the web, this is totally the wrong time to be transplanting a clematis, but I'm going to try anyway. I've got to get the other one in the ground so that I don't lose it, and I'd much rather lose this short one than the new one. I thought the tag was long gone on the short one, but I found it today when I was ripping out the stonecrop that is growing at the base of the clem. It's Little Duckling, and the tag lists it as 6 feet tall, but it's been half of that. After 5 years, I would have expected it to reach 6 feet, but it's not close. I said earlier that it was about 4 feet, but I just measured, and it's only 3 feet. It really is pretty, so I'd hate to lose it, but it has to be moved! I have horrible luck with clematis in general, so I'm surprised that this one has done so well. Now let's just hope it does well after being moved!

If you think you can nurse along the potted one for a couple of weeks you might try root pruning the one you want to move first. Dig around the plant, severing some of the feeder roots, give it a shot of root stimulator and allow it to start growing new feeder roots before you remove it. Then, you can just transplant as you normally would.

Good to know Chelle! Thanks!

(Sounds like an "idea" you should post for everybody!)

I can do that. It sure won't hurt the chosen (picture) plant to grow some new roots. I just have to get out there and do it, come some cool morning.

Chelle, that's a great idea, but it's too late. I moved it tonight, and the new one is planted. The new one was really root bound in the pot, and about 1/4 dead, so I was afraid to wait any longer. It really looked like it needed to get in the ground, and I didn't want to risk losing it. Oh well, we'll see what happens. If I lose the transplanted one, it's no huge loss as I didn't pay much for it. Even though it did have beautiful blooms, I've always wished it was a lot taller. I put it in a spot where it can stay short if it wants, or can grow tall if it wants, and if it survives, great. If it dies, I'll get over it.

You can still give the transplanted clematis the transplant fertilizer every couple of weeks till it freezes. I'm in the same zone as you and have successfully transplanted established clematis before. Make sure it stays moist but not wet and put some mulch around the plant but not on the crown for the winter. Next spring it should come back. What class of pruning is it? I'm not familiar with that variety. In any case I would prune it to half it's height and and half the number of stems in the spring. Pruning it now may force it into new growth. I'm no expert but that's how I did it and it worked for me. The following year my clematis didn't grow much and didn't flower much but the next year it took off like nothing had ever happened to it. Good Luck!

Thanks Brian! That's great information. I did water it in well with B12, and then mulched really well on top of that. It didn't die overnight, so I guess I can be happy about that! I did trim it back just a bit on top because it had a firm grip on the arch and I had no choice, but I'll wait to prune it back in Spring. I really hadn't thought about it getting new growth with pruning, and I don't want that just yet. I don't know which group it is in, but I always forget to prune it, and it's bloomed like crazy each year. It's been very bushy, and I've never paid attention to whether the blooms were on old growth or new. Oh well, I've got my fingers crossed and I'll just hope for the best. The new one that is now in it's place looks 100 times better than it did in the pot!

Yay! That's great news, Natalie.

It sounds like it's a vigorous variety (the shorter one), so it will probably be just fine.

Do you happen to have a picture of it in bloom?

Thanks Chelle, but it's only been 2 nights! I'll be shocked if it comes back next year!

Here's some pictures of the arch that it was supposed to grow up and mingle at the top with the Jackmani. It's the little short one on the right side, and very hard to see in this photo.


Better view, and you can see how short it is


Close up of bloom. It really is pretty, but much too short! It looks really large in this photo, but it isn't. The photo above shows it's size a little better, when compared to the iris.

Thank you!

I love it! To my eye, it has a really cool bloom form and great colors. Dainty and numerous blooms are my current "thing"...must have more!

Now, I'm going to have to look for it!

You are so welcome! It really put on a great show, and if it had been 6 feet tall like I had wanted, it would have been welcome to stay in that same spot forever. I hope you can find one, and that it grows well for you! This one took off like crazy as soon as I planted it, and has always been a fantastic bloomer for me.

How long have you had the short clematis? It doesn't look very old which may be why it isn't 8 feet yet. Some take a little longer to get established before they put on good growth. The clematis I moved was not quite the size of your Jackmanni so I don't think you have anything to worry about for it returning next spring.

It was in that spot about 5 years, maybe 6. It grew really well there, but never got as tall as it should have. I've had plenty of other clematis grow their full height in the first year I planted them, so I really think this one wasn't going to ever get as tall as it was supposed to. The new one is already taller than this one is, so I'm happy!

That Jackmanni is amazing! It's got a trunk! I think it's been there about 15 years, and is very happy!

I'm so happy! I really can't believe it, but the new clematis is blooming already! I am sure that there were no visable buds on it when I planted it just a few days ago, and now there is a flower blooming, and it's covered in little buds! I had cut all of the dead stuff out of it before planting it, and it was looking so bad that I wasn't sure it was even going to survive. The bloom is much smaller than the one I saw on it when my neighbor bought it a couple of months ago, but it's still beautiful.

My question now is, should I cut off the blooms and buds? I really don't have good luck with Clematis, so I'm not sure if letting it bloom is a good idea, when it probably needs to work on building roots, instead. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated!