Ourika Valley Clematis, Winter Flowering

Clematis cirrhosa Ourika Valley: Evergreen & Winter Flowering. Pot Grown Plants

Bell shaped, cream flowers with blushes of pale yellow-green, followed by seedheads. Evergreen leaves with distinctive serrations. The form tends to be slightly narrow, to 4m x 2.5m

Delivery season: Clematis are delivered in pots year round, when in stock. It is usually best not to plant out pot grown plants in winter, but to keep them until Spring, because they will establish faster in warm soil and give you better first year growth.
Choosing a size: Small plants are cheaper and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for ornamental use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our climbing plants come in standard pot sizes.

Features:

• Pale yellow-green over cream flowers
• Flowers November to February/March
• Silky seedheads
• Scented: No / very mild
• Evergreen leaves
• Height x spread: Up to 4m x 2.5m
• Type: Cirrhosa
• Habit: Climber
• Pruning group 1
• RHS Plants for Pollinators

Growing Ourika Valley Clematis

It will be happiest in alkaline or neutral soil. Clematis like a shady, cool root zone and their heads up in the sun.

Being of North African origin, it prefers a warm, sunny corner of your garden. It is fine to grow in most parts of Scotland, as long as it has sun and good shelter from wind and frost.

It won't rampage as vigorously as some other Clematis, so you won't need to tidy it much, except normal maintenance on mature plants.

How to grow Clematis cirrhosa Ourika Valley:

This variety is rated H4 (-10 to -5), hardy through most of the UK, and we would say that it is at the higher end of the rating, with better resistance to cosmetic leaf damage from cold winter snaps. Still, treat it as half-hardy, preferring a sheltered, sunny spot. In the North, it likes a cosy urban microclimate, ideally the South facing wall of a heated building. This bit of protection should keep the foliage and flowers in good condition. It may become dormant in a summer heat wave, this is normal, and it will immediately grow again when the weather cools.

• Pruning Group 1: Pruning is not essential, but removal of the dead, damaged and unproductive old stems will keep the plant healthy and encourage vigorous growth.
• It likes close to full sun on its leaves, and full shade around the base and roots.
• Keep root zone cool with a mulch, other plants or pebbles. A big slab of stone is good, but be sure that water flows under it.
• Feed and mulch after flowering.

Look out for:
Clematis slime flux. It's an uncommon bacterial infection but can be fatal. It happens when the plant has an injury and bacteria infect the wound. Signs include wilting and yellowing of the leaves, as well as the unpleasant slime in the stems where the plant is affected. Earwigs, aphids, and fungal infections can also affect Clematis. It does not suffer from Clematis wilt.

Did You Know?

The cultivar was raised from seeds collected in 1986 by Captain Peter Erskine in the Ourika Valley of Morocco, shortly after his time as a senior naval officer during the Falklands conflict.