Clematis 'Mrs N. Thompson'

Clematis 'Mrs N. Thompson' was raised around 1954 by the English nurseryman Walter Pennell at his nursery in Lincolnshire and introduced in 1961. It was named after the wife of the nursery's office manager, Mr N. Thompson, and comes from the same celebrated breeding programme that also produced 'Vyvyan Pennell' and 'Richard Pennell'. Its large violet flowers with a purple stripe down the centre of each sepal reach a diameter of 10 to 15 cm and carry striking purplish-red anthers on pale pink filaments. The variety is also considered the seed parent of the later cultivar 'Julka'.

'Mrs N. Thompson' flowers twice: the first, generous flush appears from May to June on last year's wood, followed by a second flush from July to August on new growth. Reaching a height of around 250 cm, this variety is excellent for trellises, arches and obelisks, but grows just as well in a sufficiently large container. It thrives in almost any position, in sun to partial shade, while the root zone should be kept cool and shaded.

This variety is reliably hardy (zone 6, down to about -23.3 to -17.8 °C) and copes well with harsher Central European winters. As 'Mrs N. Thompson' belongs to pruning group 2, only light pruning is needed: cut the shoots back to about 100 cm in June after the first flowering, so vigorous new growth can develop for the second flush in late summer. Like many large-flowered hybrids, it can be susceptible to clematis wilt, so well-drained soil and a shaded root zone are important.