September 04, 2008
Sweet Autumn Has Arrived
Sweet autumn clematis has arrived at my house that is, bursting into a cloud of fragrant white flowers. I know that some people consider sweet autumn clematis (clematis ternifolia) an invasive species, but I have never seen a seedling sprout at my house. I have mine trained up a hurricane scarred Southern sugar maple, and the surrounding bed is a favorite afternoon napping spot for my two dogs. It could be the dogs create an environment too hostile for seedlings to survive.
I enjoy the froth of small, white flowers that cover the entire vine as well as the fragrance which reminds me of vanilla.
I prune mine every spring, usually late spring. I take all the old stems back to about 6- to 12-inches high. My vine is about five years old and handles this severe pruning well. By the middle of the summer, it will have stretched itself six to seven feet up the tree, twining up a section of hog wire that I have attached to the maple as a trellis. The vine gets plenty of sun, but I make sure to give the roots a thick layer of mulch to keep them shaded.
Sweet autumn is often confused with virgin’s bower clematis (Clematis virginiana). But there is an easy way to distinguish between the two. The leaves on virgin's bower clematis will have jagged teeth, while the sweet autumn clematis has rounded leaves.
Clemson Extension has this information sheet on a number of clematis. If you are interested in adding vines to your landscape, check out this publication from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.