THE DIVINE VINE

Sweet Autumn Clematis

This is what the vine I wrote of in yesterday's post looks like when stretched over an arbor.
If you have a fence or an arbor and need a quick grower to cover it, I recommend Clematis Paniculata , commonly called Sweet Autumn. This vine can grow thirty feet in one season and produces a fragrance ( thus the name ) that is incredible. The vine is smothered with thousands of tiny white flowers from early Autumn and can stay in bloom for a month or more.

I know that it is considered invasive in some areas due to self-sowing but I've never had a problem in my garden . To prevent self-sowing, the vine can be trimmed before it sets seeds.

My vine has never self-sown but my neighbor down the street hates it and says that it scatters itself all over her yard. Even so, I find that it is fairly easy to pull up the seedling, and even give them to friends who would like to have this spectacular vine. To me the beauty and fragrance of Sweet Autumn is worth the effort.