I bought this at my local Kroger last season for $9.99. It didn’t do a lot, couple blooms, didn’t get very tall. I hoped it would come back. Look at it now!!! Wow! Those flowers are so vibrant!
Pretty sure it is a Clematis X jackmanii (Jackman's Clematis) but there are so many dark purple Clematis it might be a different one....but it is a Clematis, deciduous and will return every Spring getting a bit larger each time.
It is gorgeous Ronni! I agree with Toni, it might be a Jackmanii. If so, they are among the hardiest of clematis. Very reliable & beautiful to boot. BTW, it just occurred to me, you might know what kind of clem it is. Do you?
No, I don't. I mean, I knew it was a clematis, But when I bought it at the Kroger (total impulse buy, I wasn't looking for plants, and if I had been I wouldn't have shopped at Kroger for them!) the only signage on it was that it was a Clematis. No idea of color, or type. But I knew that clematis climbed and that's what I wanted, and I was tired of planting a new mailbox plant every spring. It certainly exceeded my expectations!!! Is there anything I need to be doing with or to it? Stake it maybe? At this rate it's going to get so tall it will tip over, though it looks like it's already sort of bent over and come back on itself.
Ronni I just googled jackmanii's. If that is what it is, it'll grow to be 12 feet tall. How tall is you mailbox? I wager not 12 feet! Hmmm...a bit of a problem, huh? Maybe add a hanging plant hook? But that gets you back to having to put something in the pot every year that hangs from the hook! Maybe you could just let it be & see what happens. That's what I tend to do. BTW, clems like cool feet (ie, their roots shaded). I suggest you put some compost around the roots, then some bark mulch. Especially since it is close to a cement sidewalk.
I have a Ville de Lyon that will grow 10' if it had the support. Because it does not, the vines grow back on themselves making the foliage look thicker. Somewhere I have a picture of it looking in the mail box....somewhere among 50,000 pictures Jerry
We have a very similiar clematis on our mailbox. I learned they like a more neutral pH so we have to use a little lime in addition to the compost.
Wow, great mail box. 49,999 pictures later I found the sneaky Clematis had opened the door but lucky for us the mail had not arrived. What?!! No mail!! ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Jerry
If it is the jackamani it should bloom a few times throughout the summer. Beware though, they like to eat up the space they are given and take over more. All with pretty blooms throughout the summer. Enjoy