subject: Clematis vines – a bit of origins and history [print this page] Clematis vines a bit of origins and history
Clematis plants are beautiful and vigorous climbing perennials or shrubs, which provide wide range of flowers colours, whole year round (flowering period depends on species).
The name "clematis" is derived from the Greek word "klema", meaning vine branch or vine-like. It is possible that even before the use of the word "Klema-tis" the whole genus was known as atragene, meaning "firecracker" in Greek.
In XIX century 230 species of Clematis has been identified, most of them were Indian, North & South American and Chinese origins, but also Javanese, Siberian, African, New Zealand. Now we know that about 108 species come from China.
So there is scientific record from XIX century, but when Clematis plants were introduced to British gardens? Well, some records say that as early as XVI century; Clematis viticella was introduced in 1569, and before it only C.vitalba, a native species with fluffy seed heads, was present in the countryside gardens.
To the end of XVI century experts introduced 4 species more : C. cirrhosa, C .flammula, C. integrifolia and C. recta.
Almost 300 years later, after introduction of C. patens, C. lanuginosa, C. "Fortunei" , C. "Standishii", the breeders of the British Isles, France, Belgium and Germany embarked upon a race to produce the best, most colorful cultivars.
In XX century plant collectors such as George Forrest and Ernest Wilson continued to bring back clematis species from China, increasing the range available until just before the First World War. Some of the most useful garden clematis brought back at that time were C. armandii and C. montana var. rubens in 1900, C. rehderiana in 1908, C. chrysocoma in 1910, C. fargesii (now known as C. potaninii var.fargesii) in 1911 and C. macropetala in 1912.
This was a period in which three men in particular made a notable contribution to the development of clematis as a garden flower: William Robinson, Ernest Markham and Percy Picton.
The plant named after Markham, C. "Ernest Markham", is a bestseller worldwide. Grown and introduced by Jackmans of Woking from seedlings raised at Gravetye after Markhams death in 1937, it has recently been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
Brother Stefan Franczak, A Jesuit priest from Warsaw, since 1960 s has raised and named over 80 cultivars (ex. Clematis "Bkitny Anio" (Blue Angel), Clematis Kardynal Wyszynski'; above) , over 60 of which have been officially registered. He has raised the biggest number of clematis cultivars of all living clematis breeders, though it is their quality and not their quantity that makes his achievement so remarkable. Many of his clematis are acknowledged to be some of the most valuable cultivars that have been selected during the last 20 years. They have been described in various articles appearing in the press in the USA, Canada, Switzerland or Great Britain, and you will not find a single book published after 1985, dedicated either to garden climbers or clematis, that would not mention at least one of his varieties.
The names of the majority of Brother Stefans cultivars are related either to eminent figures of the Polish Church (Jan Pawel II', Kardynal Wyszynski', Matka Urszula Ledchowska', Matka Siedliska', etc.) or Polish history (Warsaw Nike', Westerplatte', Monte Cassino' , Emilia Plater', etc.). As a result millions of people around the world have a chance to find out, for instance, who Cardinal Wyszyski was, or what role the Polish Army played in the battle of Monte Cassino.
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