If you enjoy winter gardening, you must have the fantastic winter-flowering clematis, Clematis cirrhosa. This Mediterranean native makes a 20′ tall, well-behaved vine of glossy evergreen foliage topped, starting in October, with 1″ bell-shaped flowers of cream with dark speckles. The delightful seed heads remain on the plant for long periods after flowering. In midsummer the vine goes dormant but reemerges again in early fall. Clematis cirrhosa has proven much more winter hardy than many references indicate, taking 0 degrees F with no problem. Although it is native in scrubby woodlands, we have found that Clematis cirrhosa performs best in a sunny western exposure.
