Clematis atragene Octopus

Clematis Octopus (‘Zooct’) is an early-flowering variety whose flowers resemble no classic clematis. Its nodding bells are formed of long, pointed, slightly twisted floral segments in a purplish pink, spreading out like tentacles around a ruffled centre. This strange flowering no doubt inspired its name. Of moderate vigour and very hardy, it will adorn a trellis, a wire fence, or the fine branches of a shrub.

This woody climbing plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae family and the Atragene group, which includes clematis adapted to cool climates and known for their spring flowering on stems formed the previous year. OCTOPUS is the trade name of the Dutch cultivar ‘Zooct’, selected by Wim Snoeijer in 1999. Its foliage is deciduous: it appears in spring, remains green through the growing season, then falls in autumn, while the brown stems persist in winter. These climb by twining the petioles of their leaves around twigs, wires, or fine mesh. A bare wall will therefore not allow it to climb without support. The plant reaches 2.50 to 3m in height with a spread of 1 to 1.50m making it easier to integrate into the garden than the large Clematis montana. Its medium green leaves are divided into toothed leaflets and form a fairly light cover. In April and May, the nodding buds open into double flowers 8cm in diameter. The purplish mauve outer sepals with reddish-violet hues are long, narrow, and tapered. They surround several rows of petaloid staminodes, i.e., stamens transformed into small petal-like pieces. Their colour ranges from violet to whitish violet towards the centre. The flower remains pendulous, but its sepals spread and gradually curve back, accentuating its spider- or octopus-like appearance. After flowering, silvery, feathery seed heads appear and are decorative for several weeks. This clematis flowers on old wood: winter pruning would remove a large proportion of the buds. Hardy down to –20 °C, it appreciates moist, well-drained soil.

Plant this Octopus variety against a fine-mesh trellis, a narrow arch, or a wire fence where its unusual, nodding flowers can be admired up close. It can also weave through the branches of the climbing rose ‘New Dawn’, which takes over in early summer; guide their stems separately to facilitate pruning. On a nearby support, Clematis ‘Albina Plena’ will flower in spring with creamy white blooms. To cover the ground, plant, for example, lungwort ‘Blue Ensign’, with deep blue flowers, and Lamium maculatum ‘White Nancy’, a robust plant with silvery foliage and white flowers. These low-growing plants will shade the base of the clematis without competing with its roots.