clematis
When to plant clematis?
- Botanical name
- Clematis
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
Clematis is planted from September to May.
Clematis is a woody perennial.
Clematis through the year
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
this week
Planting
Spring-flowering
Early-summer-flowering and late-summer-flowering
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- planting
- pruning (spring-flowering)
- pruning (early-summer-flowering and late-summer-flowering)
In short
Planting
from September to May
week 36 to week 22 of the next year
Pruning cut (spring-flowering)
after flowering
Pruning cut (early-summer-flowering and late-summer-flowering)
while dormant
Growing conditions
☀️
Sun
full sun
💧
Water
moderate water
❄️
Frost
overwinters outdoors
⚠️
Toxicity
toxic to people and animals, toxic parts: leaves and sap
Pests and diseases
Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.
Aphids
pest- Signs
- Colonies of small aphids sit on the shoot tips and the underside of the leaves. The leaf curls and puckers, and sticky honeydew is left on everything below. The viruses they carry are more dangerous than the feeding itself.
- Prevention
- Go easy on nitrogen, because soft sappy growth is what aphids are looking for. Encourage the predators (ladybirds, lacewings, parasitic wasps). Use a reflective mulch, which puts them off settling, and a strong jet of water to knock the colony off the tips.
Clematis wilt
disease- Signs
- A shoot wilts and blackens suddenly, often just before flowering and without any gradual decline. Cut across, the stem is dark inside. The root usually survives and new healthy shoots come from the ground or just above it.
- Prevention
- The disease hits the large-flowered hybrids above all. The species with small flowers are considerably tougher. Resistant or tolerant are Clematis alpina, C. montana, C. viticella, C. macropetala, C. tangutica, C. orientalis and C. integrifolia. Deeply worked and mulched soil, which spares the roots drought stress, lowers the risk.
- What to do
- Cut the wilted shoots back to healthy, unstained tissue and remove the cuttings at once, so that they do not infect the soil. Do not dig the plant out too soon, because new growth often comes from ground level.
Powdery mildew
disease- Signs
- A white, floury coating spreads over the leaves, first on the lower and older ones. The leaf under it yellows and dries up. The fruit stays small, because the plant loses leaf surface.
- Prevention
- Plant resistant varieties, leave an airy spacing and sun, and clear the debris at the end of the season. Unlike most fungi it is not helped by wet foliage, since it spreads in heat and high air humidity, in a dry summer too.
Vine weevil
pest- Signs
- The half round notches along the leaf edges in summer are the work of the adult beetles and do the plant little harm. The larvae are the danger: white grubs with a brown head eat the roots, the plant suddenly drops its leaves and dies, most often between autumn and spring.
- Prevention
- Most at risk are plants in pots and troughs. In a bed the damage is rarer. At repotting check the roots and the compost and pick the larvae out. You find the adult beetles in the evening with a light, when they crawl over the plants.
- What to do
- Pick the adults off in the evening, set sticky traps indoors and change the compost, removing the larvae as you go. There is no insecticide. As biological protection, water beneficial nematodes into the compost at the end of summer, while the larvae are still small.
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Related plants
The plant below is in the same botanical family (Ranunculaceae).
Sources about the plant: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Royal Horticultural Society, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: Clemson Cooperative Extension, KGZS, UF/IFAS Extension, University of Illinois Extension, University of Maryland Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Utah State University Extension.