Bringing clematis to Chelsea
Post categories: RHS Chelsea Flower Show, chelsea, exhibitions, perennials, propagation
|07:00 UK time, Sunday, 22 May 2011
Many gardeners are unaware of what is needed to create or develop a brand new plant.
At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, people can see up to fifty new plants launched each year, and it can seem as if these new plants just roll off some nursery conveyor belt.
But the real story behind these newly-launched plants is quite different. For us, a new clematis is at least 10 years in the making.
Clematis Josephine™ Evijohill(N)
Occasionally we are lucky in finding a “sport” - an off-shoot of a plant that is quite different to the rest of it. Some are poor, but some are outstanding. Clematis Josephine™ Evijohill(N), for example, is an exciting mauve-pink, double-flowered cultivar. It was found, completely by accident, by an amateur gardener called Josephine Hill as an unlabeled plant in a 7cm pot on a fruit and vegetable stand.
But that was an exception, and usually it's not so straightforward. The detailed breeding programme that happens in our Guernsey nursery is a well planned operation. Each year several hundred mother plants are selected for that year's breeding programme, chosen for their good flowering habit, length of flower, colour, foliage and outstanding characteristics.
Each year 2,500 controlled crosses are made. This gives us between 25,000 and 35,000 seeds, although only about a third germinate. This still gives us a possible 8,000-9,000 seedlings - all brand new clematis.
The seedlings take up to a year before they flower, and then the choices begin. Only a few hundred of the most promising varieties are selected from all those thousands for further trials. These are grown on for a further two or three years and then re-assessed.
At this stage more than 90% are discarded, and only the very best of the best move on to larger production numbers. Another two years, and we select the real star performers to propagate for a launch date. Almost all of our seedlings end up in a rather pretty skip and are composted!
Clematis 'Abilene' (Evipo027)
It may take a long time to bring a new clematis to market, but that is because only the very, very best are offered for sale. Even then, it doesn't always work out the way you want it to.
I remember one plant that I thought was outstanding. It had come through the trials well, and we had produced over three thousand plants all ready for the market. Then suddenly this new cultivar developed mildew, and all the plants had to be destroyed – a bitter blow.
The selection of names is important too. An outstanding white cultivar, Arctic Queen™ Evitwo(N), was named such because it is white and elegant: but even so, I failed to sell it into Alaska. Apparently the last thing they need in their gardens are white flowers!
Come and see what’s new this year at our stand in the Great Pavilion at Chelsea.
Raymond Evison has been breeding new clematis for 40 years at his Channel Islands nursery and has won a gold medal at Chelsea every year since 2003. This year he is staging his largest-ever exhibit - including one new variety, Clematis 'Abilene' (Evipo027).
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