Clematis montana in a pot??

[jools]

I have just snapped up a bargain at our local garden centre - a very large clematis montata "Ruben" (the pink one) - down from £39.99 to £12.00. I need it to hide a bare trellis & was just wondering it it would be okay in a very large pot for a couple of years. It's currently in a fairly small pot considering its size. I was going to put in some compost & manure. There isn't any ground there for me to put it in anyway as its all paved so I'm going to have to risk it but just wondered what you thought.
Jools

[Alice]

Hello Jools, yes your clematis montana will be fine in a pot. They like to have their roots in the shade so if it is going to be standing in a sunny spot put something round it to keep the blazing sun off.
Also if you want more it will root very readily for you. Just find a straggly bit near the bottom, about 6" from the growing end press the stem into some damp compost in a pot and weight it down with something. Give it a short while to root - you'll soon see roots at the bottom of the pot. Then just cut it off from the parent plant and you've got a whole new one.

[nick the grief]

Sourround the pot with some more tubs & if there is enought space put a couple of smaller pots on top or give it a good layer of gravel ( around 3") Also plant it lower than it is growing now and it will encourage more stems to come up from the base.

[Palustris]

£12 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cripes. I can buy decent size Clematis for less than £8 and I rarely pay more than £4. That is rip off pricing with a vengeance.

[Snadger]

I think the recommended way to grow clematis is to take a paving flag out, enrich the soil and then plant. This way the plants roots travel under the paving stones and this keeps them cool. I also think they like alcaline soil so you may need to add lime to soil/compost. Maybe thats another reason the roots like it under the paving stones as flags used to be set on dollops of lime mortar?. Thats how I grew my Nellie Moser and Jackmani but if they can be successfully grown in pots, go for it!

[jools]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to put it in a really large pot rather than take paving slabs up & I'll take note of your advice.

Palustris, this is Surrey.....everything costs more here But it is a very large plant already filling up a tall trellis which is stuck in the pot. I thought it was a bargain but that's perhaps why I'm spending far too much on my garden! If only I could get into designer handbags and the like..................