Clematis crispa

CURLY CLEMATIS, MARSH CLEMATIS, BLUE JASMINE, SWAMP LEATHER FLOWER, LEATHER FLOWER
Family: Ranunculaceae
Pronounced: KLEM-uh-tiss KRISP-uh

 

Quick Jumps

Growing Guide
Rainy Side Notes

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GROWING GUIDE

Origin:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennesse, Texas and Virginia.
Plant Group:
Vines.
Hardiness:
Sunset zones: A2, A3, 2-11, 14-24.
USDA zones: 5-11.
Heat zones: 9-6.
Mature size:
Height: 6-8 feet (2.5 m).
Width: 3 feet (1 m).
Flowering period:
Midsummer to autumn.
Flowering attributes:
Single, fragrant, nodding, bell-shaped flowers, with a white base and 4 reflexed sepals that have wavy margins of varying colors of violet, purple, pale lavender to pale blue, and sometimes two-toned, with yellow to pale green stamens.
Leaf attributes:
Each mid green leaf has serrated margins and is arranged as nine leaflets on a stem.
Light:
Full sun.
Soil:
Fertile, moist, humus rich, neutral to acidic soil.
Feeding:
Mulch well with composted manure or compost. Feed once a month with a complete organic fertilizer during the growing season.
Propagation Methods:
Recommendations* say the best plants come from seed.
Layer branches in late winter.
Basal and softwood cuttings in spring.
Division in spring.
Semi-ripe cuttings in early summer.
Pruning Methods:
In winter, prune the stems down to 6 inches.

 

Rainy Side Notes

The Delicate stems of this vine hold the utterly charming, bell-shaped, reflexed petals that have variable colors in the wild. You can train this vine to be a shrub, which helps protect its delicate stems. This has a long bloom time, from summer to fall in cold climates, and from late spring into fall in mild winter climates.

This southern native charmer passed its sweet tangerine-like fragrance on to the vine's progeny, C. 'Betty Corning'. Two of its common names—marsh clematis and swamp leather flower—is a testament to where it grows in its native habitats; it is the only clematis that can take wet soil.

Its epithet, crispa comes from the sepal’s wavy or crisped margin. In Illinois where they commonly call it blue jasmine, it’s an endangered species, and in Kentucky where they commonly call it blue jasmine leather-flower, it’s a threatened species.

More Clematis.

Planting and Care of Clematis.

Photographed at Joy Creek Nursery.

*Mary Toomey and Everett Leeds An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Clematis, Page 64.