Description
CLEMATIS ‘The President’ is one of the most enduringly popular early large‑flowered clematis cultivars, valued for its bold, cupped blooms and long flowering season. The flowers reach up to 18cm across, with eight overlapping violet‑purple sepals that are silvery on the reverse, giving the plant a luminous quality in changing light. Pinkish to deep red stamens add contrast, making each bloom stand out beautifully on trellises, pergolas, arches, and obelisks.
‘The President’ flowers on both old and new wood. It produces a generous early flush in late spring to early summer, followed by a lighter repeat in late summer to early autumn. Its medium size and free‑flowering habit make it ideal for smaller gardens, courtyards, and wildlife‑friendly planting schemes where dependable colour and vertical interest are needed.
Key Features:
Propagation method: Vegetative soft-wood cuttings.
Substrate: Jiffy peat-free propagation Mix.
Plug Size: 3.5cm.
Production system: Grown without artificial light or heating for hardened plants.
Flowers: Rich violet‑purple with silvery reverse; pinkish to deep red stamens.
Foliage: Mid‑green, deciduous, divided leaves.
Flowering period: Late spring to early summer, with a second flush in late summer to early autumn.
Height: Up-to 250cm at maturity.
Spread: Up-to 100cm at maturity.
Hardiness: Hardy in most UK regions.
Pollinator value: Highly attractive to bees and beneficial insects.
Sensory value: Ideal for SEND gardens and therapeutic planting schemes.
Ecological impact: Grown in peat-free substrate with no artificial inputs, pollinator and wildlife-friendly.
Awards: RHS Award of Garden Merit for reliability, ornamental value, and strong garden performance.
Planting & Care:
Prefers full sun or light shade & moist but well‑drained alkaline to neutral soils.
Mulch in autumn to protect roots in colder climates.
Prune to maintain shape and encourage bushiness as per RHS’s Group 2 pruning guide.
Ideal for containers, covering fences, pergolas, arches, and Pollinator/Wildlife-friendly planting schemes.
Commercial Notes:
CLEMATIS ‘The President’ are supplied as strong, well-rooted, hardy plug plants ready for potting into pots up-to 2lt formats.
Ideal for nursery, and wholesale formats and performs well in peat-free and organic programs.
Suitable for wildlife-friendly, and sustainable product ranges.
