Clematis 'MON CHERRY'

Clematis 'Mon Cherry' was raised in 2003 at the Dutch nursery J. van Zoest B.V. and registered internationally under the code 'Zomonch', being introduced in 2014. The 6 to 10 cm flowers glow inside in a vivid reddish purple that shades into strong purple towards the margins, while the outside shows a deep purplish pink with greyish violet midribs that form the characteristic darker central stripe on each of the six elongated, elliptic tepals. Purple to greyish violet filaments with dark red anthers add a further accent.

Growing to around 200 cm, 'Mon Cherry' is one of the very free-flowering early hybrids and opens its flowers from June to September in several flushes. Its compact habit makes it ideal for obelisks, trellises and containers on balconies and patios, as well as for smaller gardens and trellis panels. It thrives in sun to light shade – the key is a cool, shaded root zone, for example with low underplanting or a mulch layer.

'Mon Cherry' is reliably hardy (zone 6, down to about -23.3 to -17.8°C) and copes well with colder winters. As an early large-flowered variety it belongs to pruning group 2: after the first flowering, cut it back to about 100 cm in June; in early spring it is enough to remove dead and weak shoots.