Clematis x viticella Happy Birthday 'Zohapbi'

Clematis Happy Birthday 'Zohapbi' is a hybrid clematis variety with a remarkably colourful flowering that changes depending on light. Its medium-sized flowers are initially dark violet in colour, before gradually turning into intense cobalt blue, with each petal displaying a more purple central area. The plant blooms all summer long. Derived from the Italian clematis, it is perfectly hardy, undemanding in terms of soil, and resistant to diseases.

Clematis belong to the Ranunculaceae family. They are found in both hemispheres, particularly in Europe, the Himalayas, China, Australia, and North and Central America. The hybrid variety 'Happy Birthday' is a robust, perfectly perennial and hardy, semi-woody and climbing plant with slender stems, which will reach 2.5 to 3m (8 to 10ft) in height, with a minimum spread of 1m (3ft). It possesses the genes of C. viticella, a particularly disease-resistant species that can tolerate calcareous soils that are quite dry in summer.

The star-shaped flowers of Clematis 'Happy Birthday' have 6 undifferentiated petals called tepals. They measure 6 to 7cm (2 to 3in) in diameter and appear on the current year's shoots, from June-July until the end of summer. It blooms without interruption if the soil remains moist. They are solitary or grouped in cymes, carried by long pedicels. They are upright to semi-upright, and have wide, leaf-shaped tepals with a pointed tip. The centre of the flower is adorned with cream to greenish stamens that are popular with bees and bumblebees. The colour palette includes dark violet, blue-violet, dark blue, and purplish-red. The flowering is followed by decorative feathery silver-grey fruits that persist until winter. The pinnate leaves, with lanceolate leaflets with acute tips, are glabrous and of a fairly deep green colour. Its leaves dry up and disappear in winter. This clematis clings to its support or the host plant through petioles transformed into tendrils. 

Plant your clematis alongside climbing roses to extend the flowering period of walls and pergolas until the end of summer. Plant it with perennials like geraniums, carnations, peonies, sage nemorosa, and phlox, which will provide the shade it appreciates at its base. It is a rich and diverse genus, with varieties in all colours, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of the easy cultivation of Clematis viticella to give your garden a romantic and bohemian touch. 'Happy Birthday' loves to weave itself into bushes. It also performs well in a large pot. Let it climb alongside a white variety like C. 'Duchess of Edinburgh', on a lilac, a Fargesia bamboo, a large shrub rose, or even in a free-standing hedge.