Clematis Guiding Promise™

The Clematis or Clematis 'Guiding Promise™' is a new variety that stands out for its medium-sized flowers, initially purple and then violet, with long, pointed and undulate petals, giving it a particularly quaint and irresistible charm! The whole is enhanced by a very dark heart, composed of purple stamens with delicately striated white anthers. This climbing perennial develops fine voluble stems that bear light, bright green foliage, cut into charming ovate and pointed leaflets. Its dark flowering occurs from May and only fades during the summer heat before offering a new wave in August-September. Its very compact dimensions make it suitable for container cultivation and for ornamenting smaller spaces. Hardy and easy, give it a bright location in cool, rich and well-drained soil.

The genus Clematis belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. The Clematis 'Guiding Promise™' is a new English variety, introduced in 2012 by Raymond Evison. It is a climbing plant with short stems that will not exceed 1.50 m (5ft) in height with a spread of 1 m (3ft). The leaves, deciduous, fall in winter. They are bright green, composed of 3 ovate to lanceolate leaflets, 3 to 7 cm (1 to 3in) long and 1.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2in) wide, and traversed by relatively prominent veins. The single round-shaped flowers consist of 6 distinct ovate to lanceolate tepals, each ending in a long point. They are wide up to 7-8 cm (3in) in diameter. The flowers are purple, more purple at first with medians tinted with a violet that leans towards blue. The stamens are dark purple with white striated anthers. The flower colour tends to fade at full bloom, especially when the plant is grown in very sunny exposure. This clematis clings to support or host plant through voluble stems with petioles transformed into tendrils.

Plant your clematis in the company of your climbing roses or lianas to extend the flowering of your walls and pergolas until the end of summer. It is a genus rich in diversity, with flowers of all colours, shapes and sizes. Take advantage of their easy cultivation to give your garden a romantic and bohemian touch. Fearful of high heat and drying out at its base, make your life easier by planting your clematis in the shade of a ground cover perennial or a bush. Thanks to its medium to small size, 'Guiding Promise™' will easily find its place in a small garden and will be perfectly happy in a pot on a balcony or next to an entrance door, embracing a small bamboo structure to welcome visitors with its magical colours. These very dark flowers go perfectly with shrubs and perennials in golden, silvery or light variegated foliage. Consider Mexican orange trees, chartreuse flowers of lady's mantle, or golden hops. Planted in front of its base, they provide shelter for the clematis roots from heat and drought and provide a natural support for it to climb.