Clematis 'Maria Cornelia'

Clematis 'Maria Cornelia' was raised by the German breeder Willem Straver in Emmerich-Elten, near the Dutch border, sown in 2001, first flowered in 2002 and named in 2003 after the breeder's own mother, who was called Maria Cornelia. The Dutch nursery J. van Zoest introduced the variety, and in 2006 it won a bronze medal at the Plantarium exhibition in Boskoop. The bowl-shaped, gently nodding flowers open creamy white and mature to pure white, with a striking crown of purple stamens at their centre.

Growing to around 250 cm, 'Maria Cornelia' is well suited to trellises, obelisks and pergolas as well as container growing on balconies and terraces, and combines beautifully with roses, which it climbs through freely. From July to August it flowers abundantly and reliably, remaining remarkably undemanding about soil type and site, thriving in both sunny and slightly shadier positions.

'Maria Cornelia' is reliably hardy (zone 5, down to about -28.8 to -23.4 °C) and belongs to the easy-care pruning group 3: cut back hard to around 25 cm in March, which encourages bushy growth and abundant summer flowering. This radical pruning does the variety no harm, since it flowers exclusively on the current year's growth — on the contrary, it keeps the plant compact and free-flowering.