Most gardeners are familiar with the cultivated non-native clematis vines with their large, showy purple, pink and white flowers, but did you know that there are several native American clematis vines suitable for your beautiful wildlife garden? In New England, the most common native clematis is virgin’s bower (Clematis virginiana) which grows on streambanks and the edges of moist fields:
The small but numerous flowers of Virgin's bower are very popular with honeybees and other pollinators attracted to the light fragrance of its single blooms. Heavy pollination means heavy seed production for this plant, so be vigilant about removing seedlings that pop up in nearby gardens.
In my central MA garden, virgin’s bower (also known as woodbine) flowers in August, a little earlier than the similar-looking Asian Sweet Autumn clematis which unfortunately, is making an appearance on invasive plant lists in warmer areas of the US.
Like most vines, woodbine is an aggressive grower, quickly covering a fence, arbor or trellis within a season, and it may heavily reseed in nearby gardens, even in cold climate gardens. If space is an issue in your garden, situate this plant where you can easily control its world domination tendencies through pruning and weeding. Or let it sprawl into a natural-looking songbird hedge, providing stopover food and shelter for migratory birds passing through in the fall. Many species of birds will pick at the seeds right into winter, and if you’re lucky, you may catch late-nesting American gold finches picking at the downy seed coverings to use as a soft material for lining their nest:
After being pollinated, flowers turn into seeds encased in soft puffballs which fly away at the first gust of wind to reseed nearby. You may need to keep watch for seedlings which can strangle nearby garden plants.
The dense tangle of summer foliage also makes wild clematis a popular nesting location for house finches, chipping and song sparrows, indigo buntings and many other eastern birds. In late summer and fall, shimmering hairs of of silver and gold cover the top of the plant:
In our household, our wild clematis vine covered with its head of crazy wild "hair" is affectionately known as Cousin Itt (from the TV series The Addams Family).
See the resemblance?
Do you have a “Cousin Itt” wild clematis growing in your wildlife garden? Share your experiences with us…
Ellen Sousa is a garden coach and writer from Spencer, MA, where she maintains a small horse farm as NWF Certified Backyard Habitat #71074. Her book The New England Natural Habitat Garden will be published by Bunker Hill Press in 2011. Visit her habitat farm website and blog at THBFarm.com
© 2010 – 2012, Ellen Sousa. All rights reserved. This article is the property of BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
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Very pretty indeed! I, unfortunately, have the aggressive asian variety. Thanks for the tip about that one!
Elizabeth Barrow recently posted..Dwarf Barbados Cherry
You’re welcome…not sure where you are located but keep an eye on that sweet autumn clematis. Reseeding and escape into natural areas seems to be a real problem with the Asian variety…and our natural areas are already increasingly being smothered by invasive species….
We have one indigenous to South Africa too, C. brachiata, Traveller’s Joy. Ours is growing slowly, no plans for world domination ;>)
Elephant’s Eye recently posted..Chocolate- cocoa and … Dombeya
Phew! Vines are nice but they can be kind of…exuberant when they are really happy or in a place where they have few natural controls…
Can I counter, in some respects? I’ve had this vine on an 8′ arbor for three years, and not once found a seedling. It is also, for me, not an agreesive grower, usually stopping itself at about 12′ (I have a pic of it on my main page). I have heavy damp clay though, so this may be part of it. Also–I posted this on my blog a few years ago–you can find both the native and foreign species in your local nursery, but they are both often labeled as the foreign species (this was my test of 6 local nurseries at the time). The difference is the Asian clematis has oval, round-tipped leaves, and the native has several pointed lobes.
Benjamin recently posted..On the Edge of Stillness
hi Benjamin, what part of the country are you gardening in? Heavy clay is probably what’s slowing the self-seeding down. Thanks for the tip on telling the leaves apart…
Eastern Nebraska. And on a calm day the scent is wonderful on that side of the garden!
Benjamin recently posted..On the Edge of Stillness
It’s a beautiful vine. Unfortunately the Asian invasive is the one found growing everywhere in my garden! It smells wonderful and looks like a cloud draped all over the shrubbery! I’ve not see the native in any local nurseries, but I keep loking! Gail
Gail Eichelberger recently posted..Dear Susans- We need to talk!
The native vine is not as strongly scented as the Asian Sweet Autumn clematis, but if you get up close to the wild vine, you’ll pick up the light scent that brings in the honeybees…
I was looking for native vines for my garden in Chicago. I removed all the non-native clematis and obtained virgin’s bower, honeysuckle vine and passion flower vine. Virgin’s Bower did cover my arbor the first season. In bloom this vine is spectacular and the decorative seed heads are also attractive. Both the other vines are also aggressive growers. I bought 15 seeds of passion flower vine, of which 6 germinated this spring. This vine has covered its trellis and even flowered the first year. All 3 are beautiful flowering vines.