Until you see these brilliant white-and-violet blooms in your own garden, it’s difficult to visualize their impact. They are so numerous, so intensely colored, and so lovely. An heirloom variety from the famous French plantsman Lemoine, Venosa Violacea Clematis, an 1883 introduction, is as timely today as the season it was first shown to the world.

The blooms measure 4 inches wide, with a base of white heavily overlaid with deep purple-magneta at the tips, shading to violet with spidery maroon veins. They begin in midsummer and continue into early fall, carrying the garden through one of its duller seasons with style and grace.

Venosa Violacea Clematis reaches 8 to 10 feet high and 2 feet wide, the perfect size for trellis, mailbox, lamppost, or climbing Rose. It is very, very heavy-blooming, the fresh green foliage nearly obscured by flowers at the height of the season. And most incredibly, it is tolerant of shade.

Venosa