Four of the most impressive new plants at this year’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show are the four new clematis raised by Raymond Evison. In my coverage of the plants at the Show I mentioned two of them in my choice of ten new flowering plants and one of those featured in my new plants video interview. But let’s take a look at the other two.
Amethyst Beauty™ (‘Evipo043’) (top, click to enlarge), on the Taylor’s Clematis Nursery stand, is a deep and sultry colour, rich dark purple and then adding dark bluish tones as the flowers mature; in the centre of each flower is a cluster of red anthers. The flowers start to open in June and continue into September.
Reaching just 1.8m/6ft in height, like many of the clematis from Raymond Evison it’s much more manageable than most traditional varieties. Just cut the whole plant back to 15cm/6in in spring.
Also on the Taylor’s Clematis Nursery exhibit is Reflections™ ('Evipo035') (left, click to enlarge). This has such cool and subtle colouring, it was much admired. The semi-double flowers are lilac blue in colour but fade gently as they age so the result is that when in full flower the plant presents a harmonious blend of shades that is really captivating. Like Amethyst Beauty, Reflections reaches about 1.8m/6ft and can be cut back to 15cm/6in each spring.
Over in my Hampton Court plants coverage you can read about the two other new clematis. Shimmer (‘Evipo028’), with a similar harmonious blend of colouring in slightly bluer shades, also features on the Taylor’s Clematis Nursery exhibit. Rather shorter, at 1.2m/4ft, is Guiding Promise™ (‘Evipo53’), with slim, wavy purple blue petals.
Clematis Guiding Promise™ (‘Evipo53’) will be available soon. The other three clematis are available from Taylor’s Clematis Nursery.
The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show closes on Sunday, tickets are still available.