Clematis 'Fairy Queen'

Clematis 'Fairy Queen' was raised in 1875 by the English nursery Cripps and Son from a cross of Clematis lanuginosa and Clematis patens; its name alludes to Edmund Spenser's Renaissance poem 'The Faerie Queene' and pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth I. The 13–15 cm flowers show six to eight sepals in pink with a darker stripe that deepens towards the base, along with brownish to purplish anthers on pale filaments; the season's first flowers are sometimes semi-double.

'Fairy Queen' flowers from June to August and often produces a second flush on new wood afterwards, though with fewer and smaller blooms. At around 200 cm it suits trellises, obelisks and other supports well; since it rarely produces many new shoots from the base and grows rather slender, it benefits from an airy, open support. A semi-shaded spot keeps the stripe colour strongest for longest, as the flowers fade quickly in full sun.

'Fairy Queen' is reliably hardy (zone 6, down to about -23 °C). Cut the plant back to about 25 cm in March – this encourages the otherwise sparse new growth from the base and results in a denser habit.