Clematis 'Jan Pawel II'

Clematis Jan Pawel II, also marketed as John Paul II, is a popular Polish variety, with vigorous growth that offers abundant flowering in June-July, and again in late summer. Its large single corollas are white with red stamens, and a pink central zone, with the pink being more pronounced in partial shade, and in late summer. Romantic and luminous, this beautiful climber is perfect for dressing up a tree, a fence, a pergola, or a bush...

Clematis belong to the renunculaceae family. The 'Jan Pawel II' variety, obtained in Poland before 1981 by Brother Stefan Franczak, is a descendant of Clematis patens, an Asian species with large flowers of varying colours, which has given rise to numerous cultivars. It is a perennial and hardy, semi-woody climber which reaches about 3.50 m (11ft) high (sometimes up to 5 m (16ft)), with a minimum spread of 1.25 m (4ft). This 'Jan Pawel II' variety develops new shoots in spring, from buds located on older stems. Each stem produces a flower bud that blooms in June-July then a second flowering occurs on the young shoots in late summer. This variety has rounded flowers with eight petals, about 15 cm (6in) wide. The September flowers often have only six petals, but they are pinker. The corollas are erect and have a cluster of red stamens in their centre, which contrast wonderfully with the white petals crossed by a pink central line. The flowers are followed by decorative silvery grey feathery seed heads that persist until winter. The deciduous leaves are divided into 3 or more fairly deep green leaflets. This clematis clings to the support or host plant on its own through petioles transformed into tendrils. Its deciduous foliage dries up in winter.

Plant clematis alongside your climbing roses or ramblers to extend the flowering of your walls and pergolas until the end of summer. Place pretty perennials like geraniums, carnations, nemorosa perennial sage or phlox at their base, to provide the shade it likes. This is a diverse genus, with varieties of all colours, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of their easy cultivation to give your garden a romantic and bohemian touch. 'Jan Pawel II' loves to weave itself into bushes. It thrives in partial shade.