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Rosa, the queen of gardens and parks, will never refuse such a representative of her court. Clematis Niobe is a worthy courtier of her majesty: tall, slender and noble, dressed in bright purple clothes, bordered with green velvet, not a single garden charm can resist him.
Description
Clematis (clematis or willow) belongs to the Ranunculus family – it is a perennial herbaceous plant whose habitat is countries with a subtropical or temperate climate. Our Country also became one of these countries after the Polish breeder Knoll developed winter-hardy varieties of cultivated varieties of clematis that can survive in our difficult weather conditions. Clematis Niobe belongs to such varieties.
Characteristic features of the Niobe variety:
- this is a perennial herbaceous plant with vine shoots growing up to 2-3 meters, with the help of strong tendrils growing on the stems, the plant is able to stay in a vertical plane clinging to supports;
- leaf plates are trifoliate, saturated green;
- flower petals are painted in many shades of red: burgundy, raspberry, purple, in the center of the flower there are elongated stamens of predominantly bright yellow color, along the edges of six petals there is a slight curl;
- flowers of large diameter, the largest specimens reach 15 cm;
- the flowering of clematis Niobe begins in the third year of planting and lasts from early summer to late autumn;
- the plant prefers neutral or slightly acidic fertile soils, well fertilized, loose;
- the landing site should be illuminated by the sun for most of the day;
- clematis Niobe reproduces vegetatively, that is, by rooting part of the young shoots and cuttings;
- to strengthen the long and heavy vines of climbing clematis Niobi, special supports are required, depending on the artistic composition conceived by the designers, they can be very diverse: high fences that need to be hidden, bare tree trunks, pergolas and peculiar arches.
Varieties of all clematis are divided into three groups according to the method of pruning, Niobe belongs to the third of them:
- The first group – the formation of flower ovaries occurs only on last year’s vines.
- The second group – flowering on the growth of the current year and partial on the branches of the previous year,
- The third group – flowers bloom only on vines grown in the current year.
We will tell you more about the methods of pruning clematis Niobe a little later.
Landing
Clematis are grown in gardens to decorate them, creating compositions according to the plans of landscape designers or the owners of the site themselves. Large plant sizes require adequate space, but if there is not a lot of it, gardeners have to choose their planting site more carefully.
Choosing a place and time for landing
It is necessary to choose a place for planting this plant, taking into account the many nuances and features of the plant:
- Clematis Niobe — it is a perennial plant, in one place, it can successfully grow for about 30 years;
- creeper stems clematis grow quickly and reach heights greater than human growth in just one season;
- the plant is light-loving, when shading, flowering is short-lived and the size of the flowers is significantly reduced;
- the soil in the area where Niobe is supposed to be planted should be light and ennobled.
Planting of young seedlings is carried out in spring or autumn.
Selection of seedlings
The first rule when choosing clematis seedlings is to buy them only from those nurseries that specialize in the production of ornamental climbing plants. Varieties and varieties of perennials should be chosen taking into account the territorial capabilities of your garden. For a small area, clematis with lower stems is suitable. Also pay attention to the group of pruning varietal clematis.
In the video, a representative of the nursery where clematis planting material is prepared talks about the assortment available in their store (data from 2014):
Soil requirements
The structure of the soil under Niobe clematis should be loose, pass air and moisture well. Frequent watering compacts the earth, so it must be loosened, weeds removed, and in spring it is good to mulch with compost, tree bark or sawdust.
How is landing
Clematis Niobe, like all types of these plants, requires deep planting in the soil. Planting holes are made quite deep (30-40 cm), plant seedlings should fit freely in them to a height of up to 10-15 cm above the root system. In order for the plant to start growing, and, therefore, to begin to bloom at an earlier date, they are first planted in separate containers, see the attached video for how to do this correctly.
Care
Clematis care takes a lot of time only during the planting period, when you need to install trellises, supports and pergolas, and in the fall when trimming vines and preparing them for the winter period. The rest of the time – this is the usual care, as for all plants in the garden: top dressing, loosening the soil, removing weeds, preventing diseases and harmful insects. One main nuance – Clematis Niobe loves moisture very much, it will have to be watered more often than other flower plantings.
Additional fertilizing
The main part of fertilizers: a large amount of organic matter and mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil in spring. During the period of active growth and flowering, clematis is fed with complex additives containing the necessary elements: phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen.
Loosening and mulching
You need to loosen the soil under the bushes regularly, this ensures good aeration of the earth, which is important for any garden plant.
Watering
Clematis is watered often, as soon as the ground on the surface dries out a little, so that the water does not stagnate at the roots for too long, the site is equipped with drainage.
Trimming
Clematis Niobe belongs to the third pruning group, its flowering occurs only on the shoots of the current year.
In autumn, all shoots of the current season are pruned, leaving 2-3 pairs of the lowest buds (see diagram), since there is no need to save them until the next season.
The cut plant material is crushed and sent to the compost heap, this micronutrient-rich waste will still serve as a good fertilizer for spring plantings.
In the spring, the buds will start their rapid growth and will bloom until next autumn, until the next annual pruning, which is done once, so there is much less trouble with Niobe clematis than with other varieties.
Shelter for the winter
Clematis Niobe is winter-hardy, withstands sub-zero temperatures up to 30-40 degrees, but for insurance, you can use winter insulating shelter in the form of a thick layer of sawdust (20-25 cm) and a layer of peat up to 10 cm.
Fighting diseases and pests
It cannot be said that clematis are resistant to all diseases and pests, they, like all plants in the garden, can be struck by a sudden disease or invasion of harmful insects. The most effective remedy is preventive treatment in the spring with special-purpose chemicals: Fundazol, Aktelik, copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture.
Reproduction
Clematis can be propagated 5-6 years after planting. There are many ways and methods of reproduction, the main ones are cuttings, dividing the bush and rooting layering. Clematis variety Niobe is propagated mainly by cuttings. In this case, cuttings up to 20 cm long with 3-4 healthy buds are cut from an adult bush in spring or early summer and planted in a separate place or in a container for rooting. In autumn, the cuttings are well covered for the winter, and in the spring they are planted in a permanent place.
Application in landscape design
For its beauty, its gorgeous combination of green leaves and large bright red flowers, Clematis Niobe has become popular with garden landscape designers. Masters of their craft skillfully use its excellent qualities in creating multi-tiered compositions to decorate gardens and parks.
Reviews
Conclusion
It can be difficult to start any business, but over time, learning more and more about clematis, about the Niobe variety, you will gradually get used to the requirements of this picky, create all favorable conditions for it and achieve annual abundant flowering from this sometimes rebellious handsome man.
