Clematis 'Wadas Primrose'

'Wada's Primrose' descends from a wild selection of Clematis patens from East Asia (found around 1933 in Manchuria) and was brought to Europe in 1965 by the Japanese Wada nursery; botanically it carries the name Clematis patens 'Manshuu Ki'. Its six to eight pointed sepals, overlapping at the base, open in a delicate creamy yellow with greenish ribs that fade paler with age, together with pale yellow anthers on cream filaments; the large flowers are pleasantly scented. In the 1970s the variety was for a time confused in England with the similar 'Moonlight' and wrongly sold as Yellow Queen, until the mistake was corrected in the 1980s.

'Wada's Primrose' flowers twice - from May to June and again from July to August. At around 250 cm in height, it suits trellises, espaliers and pergolas well, where it can find support from neighbouring plants or a wall. Its position may be somewhat shadier than for many other clematis hybrids, since the variety flowers reliably in part shade too, and its delicately textured, mostly ternate leaves are spared from too much sun.

The variety is hardy to zone 6 (-23.3 to -17.8 °C) and, like most patens hybrids, flowers on last year's wood. Accordingly, 'Wada's Primrose' is only lightly pruned - cut back to around 100 cm in June after the first flush, as is typical for the light pruning group 2, never in spring.