‘Sweet Summer Love’ clematis blooms throughout most of the summer and into fall. © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
A new clematis has stolen my heart.
It’s hard not to be amorous over ‘Sweet Summer Love’, which has been blooming since late June and will continue into September, or maybe October.
This is a new version of the fragrant, sweet autumn clematis (C. terniflora or C. paniculata) without all of its bad habits, such as smothering nearby trees and shrubs and self-slowing, as if there’s no tomorrow. Originally from Asia, this clematis’ overabundance of seedlings and smothering habit landed this white-flowering vine on Indiana’s invasive species list.
‘Sweet Summer Love’ is a fragrant, vigorous vine, and that’s about where the similarities end. It does not self-sow and being true to its name, blooms most of the summer.
‘Sweet Summer Love’ clematis flowers are about 2-inches wide and fragrant.
The flowers are very different, too. Instead of the numerous, but small, 1-inch wide blooms of sweet autumn clematis, ‘Sweet Summer Love’ is flush with 2-inch wide cranberry-maroon flowers. It was introduced by Proven Winners.
This clematis gets 6-10 feet tall and wide, but what I’ve been doing is weaving it back and forth among the arrowwood viburnum branches (V. dentatum) I’m using as a trellis. I removed the viburnum last fall, but saved the nice straight-as-an-arrow branches for reuse in just this manner.
‘Sweet Summer Love’ does not get clematis wilt, a soil-borne fungus disease that affects the larger-flowering clematises, such as ‘Jackmanii’, just as they burst into bloom. (Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about the wilt, except cut the plant back. It will regrow and may possibly rebloom.)
Grow ‘Sweet Summer Love’ in full to part sun with average soil. Give it a good drink of water periodically, especially during dry spells. If needed, cut back in late winter, leaving at least two buds on stems coming out of the ground.
As you can see, there’s a lot to love about this clematis.
