Clematis '' Arabella''

Clematis ''Arabella''
Semi-nodding, flowers which start out deep, purple-blue but which lighten with age to reveal pink-mauve veining and bar. Cream or creamy-yellow anthers. Named for the wife of Lieutenant General John Kiszely, MC - the daughter of Lord and Lady Herschell.

Group: Integrifolia group
Approximate height: 1.5 - 2.0 metres
Flowering period(s): Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Pruning: Hard prune (Group 3) To alter the flowering time of:- - Pruning group 3 – (identical to C). Pinching out takes place in April/May, when the new shoots have reached about 20-30 cm in length. These young, very soft shoots are shortened by half and then, 2-3 weeks later, a great many more shoots appear which will bear flowers later. If you pinch out at a later date, the flowering period will, accordingly, be even later. You could even pinch out those already shortened shoots for a second time and delay the flower by a further 3 weeks! A five year old established clematis could have one part pinched out, followed by another part a few weeks later and, finally the remaining part even later still. By forcing additional flowering intervals (stages), means that the clematis in question will bloom for a noticeably longer period. There are some clematis that belong to the pruning group 3 which start to flower in June (e.g. Hagley Hybrid or Rouge Cardinal), and these can be brought into flower for a second time. After the main flowering period is over, about the middle of July, reduce the plant right down to just 60 cm above the ground, and a second show of flowers will appear in September. Pruning group 3 – (identical to C) Month: November/December (or late February) Cut back radically, leaving only about 20 – 50 cm of stems above soil level. This applies to many hybrid varieties and wild species which only flower in the summer. All these varieties and species produce long shoots at the end of which are masses of flowers. Included in this group are all herbaceous clematis, C. viticella and, the well-known, C. Jackmanii hybrids.