Evey or anyone -

Help! I don't know how to determine which clematis would be good for containers? Would any of these work?

viticella venosa violacea
crystal fountain
josephine
Rosemoor

Thanks for any advice!

Rooguchi is a very nice one if you like blue. It doesn't get more than 8 feet. I'll try to remember to post a picture I took at a garden tour last year.

On Evey's site, there are a lot of Evison's cultivars that are shorter and good for containers but I noticed a lot of the other ones she carries are also shorter. Lots of yummy choices!
http://simplyclems.com/

Not sure about the ones on your list, if they are not on Evey's site, this is most likely a good site that lists the heights, http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk....

Evey, Kathy, and Sue - Thanks for so kindly helping me! I checked on the ones I listed and see that Rosemoor can be planted in a container. I was wanting a red/dark pink one to go with light pink climbing roses. I know it takes about 3 years to get both the clematis and roses growing from small plants. Which is what I have.

I understand that clematis do well with rose fertlizer? Is that true? Do they like blackcow compost like roses do?

I finished up two more cattle arbors today. That's it for the arbors in the yard for now. LOL! I love making cheap vine supports! LOL! They should look really nice once the vines and roses get mature ... or morning glories that I also intend to grow again this year start vining up both sides. And everything will be grown in containers of course. Gotta keep those nasty nematodes away from my plants! Grrrr ...

Becky, it shouldn't take three years to see a good performance from a clematis from a reputable vendor. The plants should already have a year or more of growth on them before shipping, even in the 2-1/2" size. Most 3-1/2" to 4" plants have two years of growth. They will creep for you the first year in the ground, but they should take off the next year. Also, don't be fooled by the majority of the gallon size plants you see in nurseries. Many of those start out the season as 2-1/2 or 3-1/2" plants and are just repotted to gallons in February or March. It gives the plants room to spread out and also gives the nursery the convenience of trellising... plus it gives the illusion of an older plant.

What size roses are you starting with? I've found my tiny roses take quite a while to get going, but my gallons typically give good performance within a season here in our warmer climate.

Evey - My roses came from the recent co-op from Chamblee's Roses. Being on a very limited budget this year, I had to buy them small, as I have to do with the small 2 year old clematis plants also from a co-op. But I have other roses that came actually smaller from a co-op two years ago and they grew pretty quick. I have to prune them several times a year. Everything is doing well in containers. I potted up the new roses into 1 gallon pots with some compost and potting soil and they have really put on the growth already. Some are even blooming. I heard the climbers I got can grow pretty quick. We shall see ...

The roses I got were:

2 - Climbing Cramoisi Superieur
2 - Climbing Old Blush
1 - Knock-Out Sunny
1 - Knock-Out Rainbow

Both climbers cultivars have light pink blooms. So one of them will look good with Rosemoor clematis.

The four climbers will be going into pots to grow up some of my arbors. And those are the ones I was thinking of growing with clematis. Do you think the climbing roses will do okay in the containers? I don't need them to get huge. I am hoping that pruning them will help keep them manageable. My biggest concern was the root growth. I know clematis can put out some pretty extensive roots. So ...