International
Clematis
Society
wishes all Clematis lovers
a happy and prosperous
New Year 2012
.
Chris Graham - 1951 to 2012
From Peter Keeping in Canada I have received news that Chris Graham, past member and early Council Member of this Society, died suddenly on 14th January 2012.
Chris Graham worked at the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG), Ontario, Canada for nearly 30 years, rising to the position of Director of Horticulture. The Royal Botanical Gardens was a member of this Society from very early days and Chris became their representative. He served the Society as a Council Member for a number of years.
Raymond Evison, our founder, says that he believes it was Mrs Anne Harvey, one of the founder members of this Society, who brought Chris and him together by encouraging their interest in Clematis. Her Clematis Collection was eventually donated to the RBG and Chris Graham created the Mrs Anne Harvey Clematis Garden to house it.
Unfortunately the Society lost contact with him around 2002/3, around the time he left RBG.
He was known at RBG as a passionate plantsman and gifted speaker. He continued giving lectures and speaking at garden clubs after he had left RBG and was a favourite choice for all venues. Over the last number of years he was also developing a collection of special plants at Kimberley Cottage Garden.
The Society sends our condolences to his family and friends.
[Editor's note: I would like to thank "The Hamilton Spectator" for allowing use of information in their obituary, also for use of their file photo.]
January 2012 Newsletter and Membership Renewal
The January Newsletter was posted to all members of the Society in mid January and the majority of our members should have received their copy by now. A reminder that the Society has changed its Banking and PayPal accounts. Full details will be published with the January 2012 Newsletter, expected to be posted in the first two weeks of January. Please do NOT pay money into the previous Bank Accounts of the Society or use the previous Paypal Account.
China 2012
Registration for China 2012 has now closed. At the last count there were over 30 attendees for this meeting, a very good number considering the destination.
Those of you who have signed up may now wish to consider booking your flights. Information on filling out your visa application will be supplied within the next couple of months or so.
As has been said before, this will be a very different event to our "normal" annual meeting. We may have to make programme changes at very short notice, so attendees must be prepared for the unexpected. However for those who do choose to attend I'm sure it will be a very rewarding experience.
Our garden this month
There is not a lot of colour in our garden at the moment. C. cirrhosa 'Freckles' continues to do well and is a very garden-worthy plant, though it pays to think carefully about where you plant it, the cream outside of the flowers can tend to get lost amongst the browns of winter and a stronger contrasting background is better.
Our C. tangutica seedheads are still looking good, especially with backlighting from the occasional winter sunshine. Although Fiona pruned this clematis before the new year, she just cut the stems low down and left them in place as a display and also as nesting material for the birds. The feathery seedheads make a lovely bed for small birds, we've often found them when we've cleared out our nestboxes.
So have you guessed what I've chosen to feature this month? It's C. urophylla 'Winter Beauty'. A native of Japan, the "Winter Beauty" clone was selected and named by Wim Snoeijer and Jan van Zoest. But I have to own up, whilst we do have a plant of our own, the one I show you here belongs to our neighbour. It is planted straight into the ground, on the south-facing side of their garden shed. Although only planted last year (2011) it is approximately one metre high by one metre wide and has around 30 blooms. It's a very healthy looking plant!
Clematis Nomenclatural Standards List by Wim Snoeijer
Wim has now provided an updated version of his Clematis Nomenclatural Standards List and this is now available both on this website, with a number of images of selected standards, and in downloadable format. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Nomenclatural Standards you may wish to read the article by Win Snoeijer that was published in Clematis International 2010.
Belarussian translation
There always has been a great interest in clematis in the eastern European countries, just look at the number of clematis that have originated in this part of the world over the years. So when I was contacted by Martha Ruszkowski to ask if she could translate parts of this website into Belarussian, I was pleased to agree. After all, we are an international Society with a remit to promote clematis worldwide.
She has published this translation on her blog site at http://blog.1800flowers.com/international/clematis-society-be/. So if this is your language, please visit her site.
Nursery Membership
The Society offers a second category of membership - Nursery Membership. So far we have been very pleased with the support that many nurseries have given by renewing as Nursery Members. We thank them all.
These Nursery Members can be found on a special Nursery Members page on this website.
The Society hopes you will recognize that, as members of this Society, these Nursery Members have a particular interest, knowledge and love of clematis and can be expected to provide a range and quality of plants, and informed knowledge, not usually available in non-specialist outlets. Please check this page regularly for additions.
Whilst it is now too late for your nursery details to be included in Clematis International 2011, any further Nursery Memberships will be published on this website as they are received and also in the List of Members when it is reissued at the beginning of next year.
Clematis for Beginners List
The Society's Clematis for Beginners List gives a list of cultivars that are very suitable for clematis novices around the world. It is available online and in downloadable versions from our Clematis for Beginners Download section, in English, Dutch, French or German. All the clematis on the list are easy to grow, easy to look after and resistant to common pests and diseases, and whilst there are no absolute guarantees where gardening is concerned, most people should have success with all of these.
The online version of this list now contains more information about each clematis featured within it, along with a simple menu bar to let you see each group and then pick the clematis you're interested in.
The downloadable version is very suitable for taking with you when you visit your local nursery or garden centre!
Clematis Cultivar Group Classification with Identifying Key and Diagrams, by Wim Snoeijer
Wim Snoeijer, renown clematis expert, enthusiast and clematis breeder with the dutch clematis nursery of Jan van Zoest, will be known to many members of this Society from articles published in our journal, talks that he has given and the visit to the van Zoest nursery during our trip to the Netherlands in 2003. He has self-published a book about Clematis Classification, detailing his research, thinking and conclusions in this area.
A short description of this book was published in Clematis International 2009. A more comprehensive review will be published in Clematis International 2010.
The book is only available from Wim Snoeijer. For further details, please visit Clematis Cultivar Group Classification book by Wim Snoeijer.
Trialing New Clematis
An example of a Clematis Trial contract, mentioned in the article in Clematis International 2008 about trialing new clematis by well-known clematis breeder, Wim Snoeijer, can be downloaded by visiting the A.O.B. (Any Other Business) page accessible from our Information, Answers and Questions section.
The International Clematis Register
I have mentioned a number of times how invaluable I find the The International Clematis Register and Checklist 2002, published by the Royal Horticultural Society. A total of three Supplements have now been published and are available, both in paper form and electronically from the RHS website. For details on ordering from the RHS, please visit the RHS web site.
There is, of course, still a need for all Clematis breeders, both professionals and amateurs, to register your Clematis varieties with the Registrar to continue to keep the International Clematis Register up to date. If you want a copy of the form, information about it is available at the Clematis Registration Form section. Once you've filled it in and signed it, please send it to Duncan Donald, the International Clematis Registrar.
Clematis on the Web International Survey
If you're already a convert to growing clematis, have you joined the Clematis on the Web International Survey yet? Clematis on the Web, with the assistance of the University of Hull, is undertaking a major international survey of clematis. This survey seeks to gather accurate information about all clematis in cultivation around the world at the beginning of the 21st century. Use the link above and you can read more about the survey, its aims and objectives, register and input your contribution all from this site. This is a long term project, it will take a number of years to complete, but its success starts with the collection of data. So please, take a little time out to visit the site and play your part in this major exercise that will help all of us.
And finally ....
The ethos of the Internet is to be an open forum for ideas, views and opinions. Sites should encourage visitors to link to other sites, it's a two-way process. So if you've got a few moments, why not look at our Clematis Links page and follow up one or two. You may find a lot more than you were expecting!
For any non-members visiting this site, have you considered joining the Society? With plans for some very interesting meetings over the next few years there couldn't be a better time. For details, visit our How to Join page.
Last message - for any new visitors. If you cannot see a set of menu buttons down the left hand side of your screen your link to this site may be incorrect. Please re-visit by calling www.clematisinternational.com.
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