I'm rather drawn to this thread because, in my view, some underlying options( beyond clematis pairings) are being addresed : 1.what kind of landscape is the gardener pursuing. 2 what is the purpose of growing roses, clematis, peonies or as a matter of fact anything else alongside the main theme: just roses or roses plus something else. I've been trying to answer this in my own yard. I started a rose collection some years ago ( now almost 6) and I've been expanding it ever since. My rose collection is placed mainly as solely rosebushes ( let's call it the old school). Initially they were one of their kind. Many old garden roses and of these quite a few once blooming. Ocasionally a repeat specimen. I wasn't fully convinced that this was what I was searching for landscape wise, although I was very happy with my cultural practise, learning about the requirements of each variety here in my yard, preparing for my hobby breeding. So then I moved along searching landscape aspects. These past two years, under the policy of a vendor, I've purchased in groups of five per variety. This past purchase, mainly floribundas, plus some D.Austin's. I'm only this fall discovering why some suggest grouping same varieties. Roses of exactly the same kind have a very interesting visual impact. They tend to counterbalance too much diversity. There's a fine balance between diversity and uniformity to be discovered. This said in the understanding that as the blooming season advances, one needs to counterbalance lack of blooms between flushes.
First, although my collection is about 300 varieties of roses, I consider myself a gardener, not a rosarian, although I try to become an accomplished rose gardener though. The same goes towards my irises, daylilies, dahlias, Penstemons , Lewisias etc. I find clematis irresistible...
as so many more other plants....
So imho, my permanent question is how can I find beauty and harmony in my garden( s)...yes, more than one, whilst some are more thematic ( i.e roses) than others. The sheer ammount of plants quickly has overgrown my initial rose garden dimension, so now I have a spill over of rose bushes to place into my other gardens. This allows me to play with certain companions to my roses. The rose garden is particularly bare in spring. I have at least two solid months of spring season with no blooms, while the bushes are recovering from the winter dormancy ( in some cases) or slowdown. I need colour to cheer up the place. Here's where I planted spring bulbs, perhaps some auriculas and Primulas and very early daylilies, and some towering delphiniums. I'm even considering reticulate irises. Clematis montana blooms here before the first of my roses so it can become a herald for later rose climbers. I have had almost zero experience with any other clematis, but I do find that once understood the blooming pattern and their eventual size, they can continue to provide colour and garden worthy interest during all the growing season. I have placed my priority in the overall aspect of each of my gardens, so that they maintain high quality interest. Although I'm specially partial towards roses, I often find that for some reason or other, they need companions of some sort. For instance upright HT's that stand out like marching soldiers need something up front to soften their rigid countenance. I'm searching for other roses that have a sprawling pattern. But I also found that there are plenty of well behaved perennials that can also contribute to the overall aspect of harmony. One example is a front row of Munstead Wood dwarf lavender.
Summing up. I believe that clematis are very good companions to roses because of their complementary colours ( blues , violets, mauves, lilacs ,etc.). As Christopher explains much better, its just a question of finding the right option in one's particular yard/condition.
Arturo
When people talk clematis, usually, they think about Jackmanii, or Nelly Mother, or Etoile Violette. Those are old monsters, vigorous and beautiful. They can gobble up modern climber in no time. Nowadays clematis hybridization goes in the direction of producing plants for smaller gardens. Modern cultivars are between 4 to 8 feet or even 2-3' that can grow in a hanging basket with flowering season from May till frost. You can find a good match for your rose keeping in mind different parameters like height, vigor, pruning type. I have containers with rose and clematis growing together. It is third year and they still OK. When I was doing research about growing clematis and rose in the same container the answer was no no. But I like to experiment and so far so good. The book that I mention before helped me a lot.
