Clematis

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Just dug up loads of horrible old evergreen things from our small bit of front garden (rectangular bit in front of window) - it is quite heavy clay soil and am thinking of put a liner down and then shingle (as MIL always tries to park her car on it!) but want some colour.

Am I right in thinking 2 or 3 clematis plants would withstand the clay soil (not a particularly sunning spot either), wanting something very easy to grow up front of house/porch.

Any suggestions on which clematis or other alternatives? From my research the Montana species is the one I want but no idea on which are the nicest or which colours would look nice together.

when is the best time to plant them out?

Thanks for any help

Okay- here goes. The soil is not that important but you would be better to dig in some rotted mature etc first if it's really clay-like. More important is the sun/shade aspect. some clematis thrive in sun others in shade or semi shade.
They like shade at their roots and sun on the stems.

Montana is a monster and will grow to 20 feet or more- and it needs training over a doorway, arch or fence- is this what you want?

Also- do you want early or late flowers? some flower early in May, others later in July- Sept.

One very reliable one is called Wisley and it's a deep purple which grows in my garden to around 10 feet and flowers all summer.

Also rememebr clematis are mostly not evergreen, unless you go for one called Armandii so do you want an evergreen shrub?

Have a look on crocus.co.uk for a good selection of clematis. They explain things nicely, but are a bit pricey, so I look there and buy elsewhere.

A clay soil actually has lots of good nutrients in it and can make a really good garden.

Dig lots of organic material into your soil before planting or you'll just be throwing your money away. Very well rotted manure, compost, etc will do your soil the power of good. If it still seems claggy then dig in a load of horticultural grit. It seems like a lot of work but if you do it well you'll only have to do it once and you'll have nice soil that you might want to plant other things in one day - hardy geraniums work well at the base of clematis.

Taylors clematis has a very wide selection, and you can search by height/aspect/colour/pruning group.

Montana is rampant, gets very big.

I had a General Sikorsky in a damp shady spot which did really well with not very good soil (hole in corner of courtyard so couldnt even dig anything in). It has big purple flowers and is beautiful, starting with early flowers but lasted for a few months.

And it's available on Taylor's website

I have grown several dark purple varieties and find them to be tempramental. I have grown Montana twice in very different locations and would agree that it grows like a weed and needs to be pruned back hard to avoid it looking triffid like after a few years. The only downside I find with it is that it seems to have a fairly short flowering season compared to some of the other varieties.

Thanks for al your help, maybe not the montana then!! wanting it to grow up wall but not take over the whole house!! Will have a look on Taylors & Crocus websites. Thanks

had a look on the websites and the ones i've come up with are;
wedding day
multi blue
wisley
flammula
general sikorsky

(thinking the four top ones at front of house (pretty heavy soil and not in direct sun all the time, hoping they will mix together - would this work?)

Then fancy the general in the garden at rear - just cause I like it!!

It's not "usual" to put lots together- they work best singly and/or growing through trees and shrubs. You could grow 2 if they flower at different times.

The only problem with mixing them is that usually you would mix varieties which flower at different times. Ones that flower at different times of the year have different pruning techniques.
And since their stems are so stringy and dead looking it would be very hard to sort out which is which for a winter prune.

However if you choose a few which flower at the same time (they should be named either group 1, 2 or 3) there is no reason not to plant them together, in fact I think it would be lovely!

I think there is too much made of when to prune; mine get a clipping in feb and they flower really well.

Many don't need pruning at at all- it's a bit of a myth that they HAVE to be pruned- i read that you can just leave them.