Plant Doctor Archive

Clematis from seed

I HAVE saved seed from three hybrid clematis. What are the chances of them being true to colour and when and how do I sow them, please? The climbers are 'Neelie Ineser', 'The President' and 'Ville de Lyo' and all are growing fairly close to each other.

GROWING plants from seeds is always a great challenge, however, as the clematis are hybrids, the plants you get will not be true to form. I'm not sure what flower colours you will get, but you may get something like the parent flowers of pink or purple.

The hybrids you have are certainly wonderful ones, but it would be normal practice to propagate these clematis by either cuttings or tissue culture.

Try sowing some of the seeds now in spring, and perhaps try another batch in the autumn. Sow the seeds in Black Magic Seedraising Mix and then transplant them later when they have a few leaves.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.