Family Ranunculaceae
Originating from Japan.
- Inky blue and green-tipped flowers bloom all summer.
- Abundant, healthy foliage backs vibrant, intricate blooms.
- Vigorous and easy to grow in light soil or pots.
Clematis ‘Taiga’ a Vibrant Climber for Your Garden
Wildly flamboyant flowers adorn this clematis, their complex inky blue tepals add intricate detail, ideal for viewing close up on Norfolk patios. Clematis ‘Taiga’s large, 12cm-wide blooms have a rare ‘true’ blue colour, their slender central petals tipped with apple-lime green, curling like tiger claws from purple bases. Furthermore, its hardiness makes it suitable for any UK landscape.
This deciduous climber, reaching 2.5m high and 1.5m wide in 2–5 years, thrives in Suffolk’s sunny borders. Its crazily structured blooms are unique amongst clematis. They shift shapes and hues through summer, set against a lush backdrop of healthy, dark green foliage. Unusually for a deciduous variety, its outlandish character suits modern, contemporary outdoor living spaces.
Vigorous and adaptable to traditional and exotic garden styles, it flourishes in light, well-drained soil and in pots. Ideal for Suffolk country garden trellises, it supports itself using its twining leaf stems. If planting on pergola posts add slender support such as wires or canes no more than 15mm in diameter.
Care Tips for Virgin’s Bower
- Soil and Sun: Grow in light, well-drained soil; full sun ensures abundant blooms.
- Planting: Set in spring; soak roots and add support for climbing stems.
- Watering: Water newly potted plants regularly in their first year at the base of their stems. Do not soak its new surrounding compost at every watering; this will encourage its roots to spread. Tolerates occasional dry spells once established. Water occasionally, allowing it to dry out between waterings over winter.
- Pruning: Cut back previous season’s growth to 30cm in late winter.
The complex, vibrant flowers of Clematis’ Taiga’ have diverse petal (tepal) shapes, surrounding a central dome of showy stamens. Their abundant display is set against a backdrop of rich green leaves, from June to September. Borne on vigorously growing stems, with healthy lush foliage it’s striking, distinctive, a standout for any UK garden.
Planting Suggestions for Virgin’s Bower
Flamboyant and fearsomely formed, this variety can be forgiven for its winter absence and lack of scent, so special are its blooms. However, its deciduous growth and medium size allow it to be planted to ramble amongst other climbers that have its missing qualities.
It will not swamp Trachelospermums jasminoides, ‘Variegata’ or ‘Theta’. Likewise, their steadily growing woody stems will not obscure Taiga’s growth either. Their powerfully scented flowers and evergreen foliage make them perfect trellis companions.
Hardenbergia violacea f. alba and Billardiera heterophylla grow more vigorously, adding deciduous blue and white floral displays at a higher level. They occupy the crossbeams of pergolas and the arches of arbours, leaving space for Clematis ‘Taiga’ to adorn the upright posts or trellises.
