Clematis in Seattle

Clematis recta ‘Purpurea’ showing off its second growth of plummy purple leaves in July .

Clematis recta ‘Purpurea’ is an upright plant that does not climb (the recta part of its name means erect) .  In my garden, the show starts in April, with the plant pushing fat purple buds up through the earth.  As time passes the buds elongate and stretch up and up.

By early June, C. recta ‘Purpurea’ has reached six feet and begins to open small star-shaped white flowers.

Later in June it blooms extravagantly with thousands of tiny white flowers that waft a delicious fragrance through the garden.  The weight of the blossoms eventually causes the plant to flop, but oh, so gracefully.  As so often happens with purple-leaved plants, the leaves begin to lose that luscious purple color, but there is a solution!

The reason this plant earns the status of July Clematis of the Month is that, if cut back to the ground (yes, to the ground!), it will grow a new clutch of purple buds that will quickly stretch out again, this time to about four feet (in my garden, anyway).  See the top photo above.  And now, in the first week of August, my plant even has new flower buds for a second showing of tiny fragrant white stars.  (FYI, the purple structure behind the clematis is my new bee hive.)

Clematis recta ‘Purpurea’ is a great plant choice for any garden!