Clematis viticella ‘Mary Rose’

purple clematis ‘Flore Pleno’ A large, vigorous, profuse-flowering, deciduous climber with mid-green leaves. The elegant, mid-purple, double flowers, up to 8cm in diameter, have a rich, velvety appearance and a semi-nodding habit. Each flower has four to six broad outer sepals surrounding an inner cluster of smaller ones to give a rosette-like appearance. Flowers mid to late summer

Synonyms

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Size

Ultimate height

Time to ultimate height

Ultimate spread

Growing conditions

Moisture

pH

Colour & scent

Position

Aspect

West–facing or South–facing or North–facing or East–facing

Exposure

Hardiness

Hardiness ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

• H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
• H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 – 15)
• H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 – 10)
• H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
• H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
• H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
• H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
• H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
• H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates ( < -20)

Botanical details

Family Ranunculaceae Native to the UK No Foliage Deciduous Habit Climbing Potentially harmful Skin irritant. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling Genus

Clematis can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs or herbaceous perennials, mostly climbing by twining leaf-stalks, and often with showy flowers. Some have attractive fluffy seedheads in autumn

Horticultural Group Viticella Group are deciduous climbing shrubs with usually pinnate leaves, and nodding, single to double, open-bell-shaped flowers of small to medium-size, produced on the current year’s growth in summer and early autumn

How to grow

Cultivation

Plant in a moisture-retentive, well-drained soil, with the roots and base of the plant kept cool and shaded by other plants or a layer of pebbles at the base. Plant with the crown 5-8cm deep to encourage new shoots to grow from below ground level. See clematis cultivation

Propagation

Propagate by layering or semi-hardwood cuttings

Suggested planting locations and garden types

• Cottage and informal garden
• City and courtyard gardens
• Wall side borders

Pruning

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, snails and caterpillars; petals may be eaten by earwigs

Clematis ‘Mary Rose’

Viticella clematis usually have pinnate leaves and nodding, single or double, open-bell-shaped flowers. The flowers of Clematis ‘Mary Rose’ are fully double and grey-purple. It’s thought that the cultivar is very old, and was known as C. peregrina purpurea ‘Flore Pleno’ in 1623, and the ‘double purple virgin’s bower’ in 1629. It was reintroduced and renamed in 1981 by Barry Fretwell after one of Henry VIII’s warships, which sunk in 1545.

Grow ‘Mary Rose’ in a container where you can train it up an obelisk, or allow it to scramble though a shrub or small tree in the herbaceous border.

Being a summer-flowering clematis, ‘Clematis ‘Mary Rose’ is in Pruning Group 3. Simply cut stems back to the lowest pair of buds in February or March.

Plant calendar

Clematis ‘Mary rose’ and wildlife

Clematis ‘Mary rose’ has no particular known value to wildlife in the UK.

Is Clematis ‘Mary rose’ poisonous?

Clematis ‘Mary rose’ can be toxic.