I purchased and planted my clematis in February 2012, it faces south, climbing on a trellis against a 6 foot chocolate brown fence. I live in Nanaimo. In front of the plant, I planted a nepeta 'Walker's Low' to shade the clematis roots, a salvia and a rhodo are nearby. The Clematis has grown up the trellis and now reaches the top of the fence. The soil is a mixture of garden soil, some llama poop and sea soil. I have plenty of green leaves but NOT ONE flower bud. Should I get a fertilizer designed to produce flowers? If so, any brand reccomendations? Should I blame our wet June and just be patient?
Check the pruning on this one, if it came cut down low and is a type that blooms off of older stems maybe the flowering potential was reduced by this. A clematis book or other focused discussion will say where this cultivar fits. Another point: if you let it all grow straight to the top of the fence, without fanning the stems out from down low you're going to end up with a congested, squirming clot of growth trapped at the top, with mostly bareness over the bulk of the fence surface.
the clematis is a group C, so it flowers only on the new growth. Good point about fanning it out. I did this 'somewhat' but next year will do much more fanning. Shall I give it some get more flower fertilizer?
No, I would not do that. You are probably talking about a product that is built around a substantial dose of phosphorus - adding phosphorus is often not necessary in this region and can actually be detrimental.
