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Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’ is just past her peak in my garden right now:

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Nelly is one of four clematises in my Zone 5a garden, and the first to bloom, starting this year in late May.  Here she is on May 29:

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She is very easy to care for, really.  I planted her in fertile soil enriched with compost, stuck a trellis in the ground, and that’s about it.  In the spring I may or may not remember to top dress it with some more compost.  I mulch it well with fallen tree leaves in the late fall to protect against winter ground heave, and I leave about half of that mulch around the base through the summer to keep the roots relatively cool.  A former landlady of mine grew beautiful clematises, and she taught me that they like their roots shaded and their flowers sunny.  It works for me!

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‘Nelly Moser’ blooms on old canes, so if pruning is necessary, it should be done soon after its spring flush.  Truthfully, I’ve never in six years pruned this one!  Here, though, is a guide for pruning clematises in Group 2:  Clematis pruning: group two.

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Nelly’s color upon opening is a vibrant fuchsia, which gradually fades to a lighter purplish-pink shade.  Each of her eight petals features a deeper red-violet stripe.  Her flowers are flat and average five inches in width.  This plant has grown to cover a six-foot trellis.  Her bloom cycle lasts about two weeks, though extreme heat will shorten it.  She is likely to have a second, more modest bloom period in August.

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Once the petals fall, the center whorl remains, providing interest even after blooming.  If you want a very reliable, easy-care, beautiful clematis, I cannot recommend ‘Nelly Moser’ highly enough!

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Thanks for reading this week’s “Thursday’s Feature”!  If you wish to join in, please feel free to leave a link to your own post in the comments, and link back to this post in your own!  Next week, I will be at the beach, on a greatly needed vacation, so I will not post.  If you post next week, go ahead and link it here again!  I’ll see you again on the 23rd!