Clematis 'Spring Joy'

The clematis 'Spring Joy' arose as a chance seedling at the Dutch nursery J. van Zoest B.V., is credited to breeder Wim Snoeijer, and was introduced in 2015. Its 4–6 cm flowers open fragrant and pure white, with four, occasionally five, sepals, white filaments, yellow connectives and cream-coloured anthers.

'Spring Joy' flowers abundantly from May to June, reliably even in its first years. A special trait: it produces little new growth while in flower, giving it an unusually homogeneous, compact and bushy overall shape — uncommon for the Montana group, which otherwise tends to grow more loosely. At around 400 cm tall, 'Spring Joy' suits trellises, pergolas and larger supports, and is one of the few Montana varieties that also thrives in containers. It tolerates sun to partial shade in any aspect — keep the root area cool and shaded, for example with ground cover plants or flat stones.

'Spring Joy' is reliably hardy (zone 7, down to about -17.7 °C). Cut the plant back to about 100 cm in June after flowering; this keeps it compact and encourages dense, bushy growth.