Clematis Tumaini

Clematis Tumaini (EviGsy151) is a clematis with a climbing but compact habit, perfectly suited to small gardens, patios, balconies or terraces where it will be easy to keep in a pot. In spring, it offers two good months of abundant flowering, producing large star-shaped flowers of a beautiful light purple. This repeat-flowering, recent variety produces flowers again in September. Not exceeding 1.20 m in height, this attractive climber can be grown in a pot or in the garden in open ground. It is hardy and requires little maintenance.

Clematis are part of the Ranunculaceae family, which includes about sixty genera, many of which are ornamental, such as Hellebores and Buttercups. The Clematis genus includes no fewer than 300 species, mainly climbing ones, with a few exceptions, such as Clematis integrifolia, which behaves more like an erect perennial. The variety Tumaini comes from the species Clematis patens due to breeding work carried out by the breeder Raymond J. Evison, whose nursery is located on the Channel Island of Guernsey. It was named Tumaini in honour of a humanitarian fund primarily active with orphans in Tanzania. 
This compact cultivar forms a clump 90 to 120 cm tall and 50 to 75 cm wide, which is perfectly suitable for growing in a pot or on a small trellis. The plant develops deciduous, deep, medium to dark green foliage, which highlights the flowering well. From late April, large star-shaped, 10 to 12 cm diameter flowers appear to bloom regularly in May and June. Most of the time, a repeat flowering occurs in September, slightly less abundant but just as attractive. The six sepals that make up the flower are elongated and pointed at their tips, and are coloured a beautiful light to medium purple. Each carries a central vein of a dark pink, further enhancing the starry appearance of the corolla. The centre of it is brightened by a bunch of pale yellow stamens with dark purple anthers. The numerous flowers will create a superb flowering pot when this Clematis is planted in a container. Its ornamental qualities have earned this cultivar a place on the shortlist of the Chelsea Plant of the Year (plant of the year of the Chelsea Flower Show, a world-renowned horticultural event organised by the highly respected RHS, Royal Horticultural Society of London). This semi-woody perennial Clematis is deciduous; its leaves fall in winter, when it should be pruned back to regrow the following spring.