Clematis 'Teshio'

Clematis 'Teshio' was raised by Japanese breeder Tasuku Kaneko and named after a county on the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan. Its 10–15 cm double flowers open from web-like buds into a multi-layered, pointed form in pale violet-blue — a colour that has earned it a reputation as a calm, consistently uniform bloomer.

At around 200 cm, 'Teshio' stays pleasantly compact, making it ideally suited to small gardens and container planting, as well as to trellises and supports where space is limited. The main flush runs from June through summer into September; it is happy in a sunny to semi-shaded spot.

'Teshio' is reliably winter-hardy (zone 6, down to about -23 °C). For vigorous growth and abundant flowering, cut the plant back to about 100 cm in June — a light prune typical for this group.