If you want early flowers as well as distinctive fragrance, consider two 10-year-old introductions, Sugar-Sweet Lilac and Sugar-Sweet Blue, offspring of Clematis cadmia. Mr.

The whiteleaf leather flower (Clematis glaucophylla), a Southeastern U.S. native, stands up to hot, dry summers in Ms. Olkhovska’s garden, and just keeps blooming and blooming. Alla Olkhovska ...

The 2- to 3-inch flowers are smaller than most other varieties of Clematis, but they bloom their hearts out from early summer to fall in shades of white, blue, violet, pink and red.

What to do Choosing the right clematis Choose a variety that suits your needs. For instance, vigorous varieties that would quickly get out of hand in a container or engulf a slow-growing shrub are ...