Clematis Golden Harvest

Clematis 'Golden Harvest' stands out for its long-lasting and truly extraordinary summer flowering. This climbing plant produces bright yellow, pendulous bell-shaped flowers that open fully, upside down, with a beautiful cluster of purple stamens. Silky and silver fruits follow the flowers, playing with the light. They are long-lasting on the plant and coexist with the new flowers that form in successive waves. Very hardy and unique, it is perfect for hiding a building or climbing a fence.

The Clematis genus belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. 'Golden Harvest' (also known as C. serratifolia 'Golden harvest') is a horticultural creation classified in the group of Tangutica clematis. It is a climbing plant with woody, fibrous roots and twining stems, hardy, vigorous and floriferous. It is one of the clematis that flowers until autumn on the current year's shoots. It forms a mass that can reach 3 to 4 m high and 2 m (7ft) wide, quite rapidly. Flowering begins in July and is renewed in waves until September. The flower buds are solitary or grouped in cymes and carried by long peduncles at the axils of the leaves. They are spherical and greenish-yellow, tilted towards the ground. They open almost flat, 4 to 6 cm (2in) in diameter, composed of 4 light and bright yellow tepals. The centre of the flowers has numerous visible purple to reddish-brown stamens. The flowers are followed by silver, silky feathery seed heads like very decorative pompoms. The deciduous foliage is composed of leaves divided into several toothed, light green, leaflets which darken when mature. This clematis should be pruned quite short in March.

Clematis 'Golden Harvest' is perfect for dressing up old walls, fences or trellises. It is also very beautiful climbing up large bushes with dark foliage (Black Lace Elder, Royal Purple Smoke Bush...) or beautiful autumn colours (winged euonymus, Persian ironwood, or witch hazel). It can easily dress up a neglected slope, with a  variegated periwinkle for exapmle. The unique beauty of its flowers, the duration of its flowering and the appeal of its seed heads make this clematis a star of the garden, as well as the terrace. It can be planted with a climbing rose, preferably a perpetual one and in yellow or orange like 'Ghislaine de Féligonde', or cream to white like 'Iceberg'. Plant perennial geraniums to cover its base, which tends to become bare over time.

Tips : Avoid excessive fertiliser application that stimulates foliage at the expense of flowers. Do not mulch to avoid excessive moisture that promotes clematis wilt.