Clematis 'Lemon Dream'

Clematis alpina 'Lemon Dream' was bred by Polish breeder Szczepan Marczyński and launched in 2012 – a year later it won second prize in the novelty competition at the Chelsea Flower Show. Its bell-shaped, nodding flowers open lemon-yellow with lime-green buds and pale stamens on purple pedicels; with age they lighten to creamy white and give off a pleasant grapefruit scent.

'Lemon Dream' shows its main flush from April to May and often flowers again in July. At around 300 cm, this compact alpina hybrid is well suited to trellises, arches and containers on balconies or terraces; it tolerates sunny as well as semi-shaded positions.

'Lemon Dream' is remarkably hardy (zone 4, down to about -34 to -29 °C) and reliably copes with harsh locations too. As it belongs to pruning group 1 and flowers on the previous year's wood, avoid heavy pruning – simply cut the shoots back to about 100 cm after the first flowering in June to encourage vigorous growth and a good second flush.