Growing Clematis From Seed

PROPAGATING CLEMATIS (continued)

FROM SEED
Growing clematis from seed is not really a method of propagating clematis which GardenAction would recommend for the amateur gardener. The main reason for this is that clematis grown from seed may well take up to two years before the seedlings emerge and they will only have a reasonable chance of success if you have a cold frame or unheated greenhouse . In addition to this, the failure rate of clematis seeds is high even in ideal conditions.

The final reason for not recommending propagation from seed is a two-edged sword. Hybrids and cultivars from seeds will not reproduce the same plant when grown from seed, nor are you guaranteed that any clematis will reproduce the same plant. It will of course be a clematis, but not the same one! The good news is that there is a remote chance that you will produce a hybrid which is better than the original and an even remoter chance that it will be accepted as a new hybrid altogether - exciting.