Clematis 'Hakurei'

Clematis 'Hakurei' was bred around 1991 by Japanese breeder Hiroshi Hayakawa from the Integrifolia Group; its name means 'mountain peak' in Japanese. The roughly 4 cm, bell-shaped flowers appear in a delicate, bluish white with the four sepals slightly twisted and curled at the tips – and give off a jasmine-like scent that is unusual for the Integrifolia Group.

From June to August, 'Hakurei' shows off its abundant flowers on compact, non-climbing stems that reach around 75 cm – ideal for containers, border edges or as a low support to lean against. It thrives best in a sunny to semi-shady spot, though it still needs something to lean on, as its stems cannot cling by themselves.

'Hakurei' is remarkably hardy (zone 5, down to about -28.8 °C) and reliably survives even harsh winters outdoors. Cut the plant back hard to about 10 cm every March – this encourages vigorous new growth and abundant summer flowering. After flowering, decorative silky seed heads adorn the plant well into autumn.