Clematis Montana 'rubens' grow well in shade?

Hello,

I need a climber for the North facing wall of our property which is in constant shade. I was looking at variegated Ivy, such as Persian Ivy but the fact it could damage the walls over time is a bit of a put off, so i'm now thinking of a fast growing Clematis, with quite a few sites saying that Montana's grow well in the shade.

Has anyone got any experience of growing these in the shade? Do they still flower? Any info would be appreciated, or any recommendations for a north facing wall.

Also, is it ok to buy one now and plant it, or should i wait for autumn/spring? I'm guessing as it's going in a shaded area it should be ok to plant now? Thanks for any info

Tree

 

Also, any 'support' recommendations would be appreciated. What is best for growing a clematis up a brick wall? Trellis or support wires? many thanks again

 

Hi treetops a local nursery to me lists climbers on their website for a north facing wall, have a look;

BlueBell Nursery - BlueBell Nursery - Climbers - 'Climbers: North Facing Wall'

Hope this helps :thumb:


Pyracantha would grow well on a north facing wall; not strictly a climber but would look good trained up a wall with the help of some strong wires :thumb:

 

Hi treetops, I had a Montana Ruebens growing up a north facing wall at my old house and it loved it.

 

honeysuckles enjoy a bit of shade and there are several species ... gtes a bit 'woody' though, but smells good for a few weeks of the year

Hydrangea grows well in shade, is self clinging but will need lots of pruning once it gets going

 

Thanks all. I went ahead and bought a Montana Rubens. One thing i have found out since my purchase is that in its first spring it should be pruned to about 9 or 12 inches to encourage new shoots from the base. It seems to have plenty of shoots coming up though, and around 4 main long ones around 18inches, does this mean that the early prune won't be necessary? Thanks for any info.

I still have the main north wall of the house for something yet, and i think the climbing hydrangea is favourite for that spot.

Thanks again for the info

Here is a pic of the newly planted montana.

 

I hope i planted it far enough away from the wall, but the better half didn't want it sticking out on the path too much. I still have to cut and relay the slabs around it.

As you can see from this pic, i had to dig out a lot of wet clay, which i read can rot the roots so i didnt want to chance it even though i'd read it tolerates heavy clay. I dug a good 3 foot down, filling the bottom with some gravel mixed soil, then a layer of compo/soil, then some top soil, i hope it'll be happy. I was scared to death removing it from its pot and planting it - seemed so fragile!

Thanks again all