Clematis 'Andante'

Clematis 'Andante' is a selection made by the Japanese breeder Kazushige Ozawa from the species Clematis integrifolia, published in 2004 in the journal Clematis. Its narrowly bell-shaped, nodding flowers reach 4 cm across and carry four cotton-candy pink tepals with a paler margin that spread and twist slightly as the bloom ages, developing a wavy edge. Attractive, silvery seed heads follow the flowers.

From June to August, 'Andante' flowers freely on non-climbing, bushy, scrambling stems. At a compact 50 cm, it is ideal for the front of the border, as a companion for roses, and for containers and window boxes; its stems can also sprawl gently over low neighbouring plants or climb a small support. It thrives in a sunny to part-shaded spot with well-drained, moderately moist soil — keep the root area cool and shaded, for example with lower-growing neighbours.

'Andante' is reliably hardy (zone 5, down to about -28.8 °C) and belongs to pruning group 3: cut the herbaceous stems back close to the ground to about 10 cm in March, so the plant regrows vigorously each spring and flowers dependably. As an easy-care, robust herbaceous clematis, it needs little attention and proves a reliable long bloomer year after year.