Clematis 'Taiga'

Clematis 'Taiga' was introduced in 2016 by Japanese breeder Shigeaki Ochiai and won a silver medal and the press prize at the Plantarium trade show; in 2017 the English nursery Thorncroft Clematis brought the variety to a wider audience at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Its 10–12 cm flowers are always fully double and undergo an unusual transformation — spiky-looking buds develop into rosette-like, eventually fully double blooms in intense blue-purple with green-white tips on the tepals.

From June to September, 'Taiga' produces its extraordinary flowers in great abundance. At 200 to 250 cm, it is well suited to trellises and climbing frames on sunny to semi-shaded walls, but also makes a fine container plant on the patio — it does, however, dislike hot, full-sun positions.

'Taiga' is reliably winter-hardy (zone 6, down to about -23 °C); if grown in a container, give the root ball extra winter protection with horticultural fleece. Cut the plant back to about 25 cm in March; it flowers on the new growth.