Clematis Bourbon™ 'evipo018'

The Clematis or Clematis Bourbon™ 'evipo018' is a recent variety prized for its chic and vibrant flowering! This climbing clematis offers a mass of large, bright red star-shaped flowers, adorned with a rounded heart of long golden yellow stamens from June to August. They fade as they age, revealing raspberry pink medians. It is a very compact variety, perfect for adding dynamism to a corner of the terrace. This queen of lianas is perfectly hardy and easy to grow. Just keep "its head in the sun and its feet cool", planted behind a bush or ground cover, in a rich and well-drained soil.

The genus Clematis belongs to the buttercup family. Bourbon™ 'evipo018' is an English horticultural cultivar, obtained by Raymond Evision in 2002.

It is a woody perennial plant with short stems that will not exceed 1.5 m (5ft) in height with a spread of 1 m (3ft). The leaves, deciduous, fall in winter. They are bright green, composed of 3 ovate to lanceolate leaflets, 3 to 7 cm (1 to 3in) long and 1.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2in) wide, with relatively prominent veins. The single round-shaped flowers are composed of 7-8 broadly elliptical, overlapping and pointed tepals. They are 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6in) wide. The flower is bright red with numerous white stamens, topped with golden yellow anthers. The medians are tinted raspberry pink, leaving darker petal margins. The colour of the flowers tends to fade at full bloom, especially when the plant is grown in very sunny conditions. This clematis clings to the support or host plant through voluble stems with petioles transformed into tendrils. This variety is endowed with good health and hardiness.

Plant your clematis in the company of your climbing roses or lianas to extend the flowering of your walls and pergolas until the end of summer. It is a diverse genus, with flowers in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of their easy cultivation to give your garden a romantic and bohemian touch. The vibrant flowers of Bourbon™ 'evipo018' would be spectacular when paired with golden foliage like that of the Mexican orange 'Goldfinger' and the small white flowers of the evergreen jasmine. Thanks to its modest size, it will easily find its place in a small garden and will thrive in a pot on a balcony or next to an entrance door, embracing a small bamboo structure to welcome visitors with its magical coloured flowering.