CLEMATIS, at times temperamental, often stubbornly defiant but when at their most content provide an injection of spring and summer flowering that is comparable to the finest of garden plants, writes TOM ATTWOOD. I find the first two years of getting them established the hardest, beyond that they’re pretty easy going.

The evergreen clematis armandii needs a reasonably sheltered site to grow as too much exposure to strong winds will put the brakes on growth and in the worst case scenario kill it off completely. It produces an abundance of simple white flowers; the leaves are arguably its finest feature and whether you have a suitable wall or fence to grow it up or indeed a small tree the maintenance is relatively high as the production of long wispy growth is very strong especially early in the season and a regular haircut may be needed. Pruning immediately after flowering is the best method with all spring clematis, but I wouldn't encourage such drastic action on more than a five to seven year cycle in the case of clematis armandii

Among the latest clematis to flower is clematis cirrhosa Freckles. It needs a south facing wall and once established will spoil you with a bevy of flowers from November onwards and a final few into April. An extraordinary feat when so many plants are in a completely dormant state.

Far more delicate and better behaved are clematis alpina and clematis macropetala. The former tend to be single or semi-double, while the latter are flurried with petals. Deciduous by nature, they like cool roots and their heads in the light. That said, they are perfectly happy on a shady wall or in dappled light.

For something more vigorous and capable of sending up a tree, it is hard to better clematis montana. The advantage of montana is there is little to no pruning necessary with the exception of any wayward stems that are going in the wrong direction or have been damaged. Again, cool roots are preferable so when planting dig a generous hole and mulch well.

Next week: planting up an insect friendly container