An Old Married Couple

I planted a purple flowered clematis on the coyote fence in back the first year we were here. It takes clematis a few years to get going, and I have to add an extra year for everything to establish in this climate, since new plants seem apopleptically gobsmacked by transplant here and shrink the whole first year before deciding whether to persist. 

So although some skinny stems did flower, I don't have much to show as of last summer. But I will.

It's an old favorite that did really well for me back east. It is Clematis 'Jackmanii'. In full sun against lurid greenery it was brighter and more vivid.

But in the shade of the garage wall here the flowers seem a bluer purple and they don't stand out against the brown fence. 

So I decided to lighten things up with a bright white clematis, grown together so they entwine, making a purple and white show as if one plant. And I found the perfect companion for 'Jackmanii' -- same size, same pruning group, similar looking flower and leaf shape . . . . 

      Clematis 'Mrs. George Jackman.'

Example of white 'Mrs. George Jackman'
growing with purple 'Jackmanii'

George Jackman was one of a family of British nurserymen in the 1800s, who hybridized clematis plants, giving us some classics that are still stars in today's gardens. His standout hybrid was the purple  'Jackmanii' in 1863. It remains a reliable and common best seller in garden centers everywhere to this date.

He named a large white flowered one after his wife, 'Mrs. George Jackman' in 1873. 

I ordered the white clematis and will plant it right next to the purple one this spring to eventually grow together and cover this rough fence.

If I am going to have two clematis plants twined together on my coyote fence, how could I not choose to plant these two -- a centuries old married couple.

When I plant the new white clematis I'll bring out a bottle of champagne to toast the marriage of mr. and mrs. in my garden. I hope you'll join me in the celebration. There may be dancing after.

🍾