Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Italian Clematis

Group/Class:  Viticella

Description:

A vigorous vine that is suitable for climbing up deck posts or draping across a wall or fence, blooms with an abundance of white flowers with interesting green tips; in midsummer the blooms may be all white; sure to make a stunning presentation

Ornamental Features

Alba Luxurians Clematis features unusual white star-shaped flowers with lime green tips at the ends of the branches from early summer to early fall. It has green deciduous foliage. The compound leaves do not develop any appreciable fall colour.

Landscape Attributes

Alba Luxurians Clematis is a multi-stemmed deciduous woody vine with a twining and trailing habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance woody vine. It is a Type 3 clematis; each spring it should be pruned back to within a few inches of the ground, as it flowers on new wood of the season. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Alba Luxurians Clematis is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Alba Luxurians Clematis will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. As a climbing vine, it tends to be leggy near the base and should be underplanted with low-growing facer plants. It should be planted near a fence, trellis or other landscape structure where it can be trained to grow upwards on it, or allowed to trail off a retaining wall or slope. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This woody vine should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in both summer and winter to conserve soil moisture and protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Alba Luxurians Clematis makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.