Clematis 'Evipo032' GALORE

Clematis of the Month for July 2022

described by Fiona Woolfenden

C. 'Evipo032' GALORE

It is summer in my London, UK, garden and Clematis 'Evipo032' GALORE is just opening as I write this article. C. 'Evipo032' GALORE was bred by Raymond Evison, in partnership with Poulson of Denmark who breeds roses. Raymond is best known for his showy compact clematis, but he has also bred a few clematis which have some viticella in their parentage, making them good garden clematis and excellent partners for other viticella types and roses. This is one of them.

C. 'Evipo032' GALORE just opening

C. 'Evipo032' GALORE with a mix of flowers opened over time

C. 'Evipo032' GALORE opens a very dark purple, but this is not the colour that is seen for most of the flowering season as the flower colour softens and fades gradually especially at the base of the sepals to be a much more interesting mix of colours. The stamens in the centre of the flowers are a creamy yellow which again adds to the colour mix and prevents C. 'Evipo032' GALORE from being a duplicate of C. 'Étoile Violette' with its golden central boss. The 5 or 6 sepals are large and gappy for a viticella type but there are a number of them which is very similar to C. 'Étoile Violette'. The flowers are generally described as 3 inches or 5-7 cm across, but my current early flowers are 4.5 to 5 inches or 11-12cm across. The plant grows to about 10 feet or 3 m.

C. 'Evipo032' GALORE growing with C. 'Emilia Plater'

C. 'Evipo032' GALORE growing on a fence

Placement of dark purple clematis require some thought before planting in the garden. Planting against the light or with a dark background makes them difficult to see. My plant grows with blue C. 'Emilia Plater' which lightens the display and makes the dark purple flowers of C. 'Evipo032' GALORE stand out. A pink such as C. 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' would also work well. Needless to say, the clematis do not always flower exactly at the same time so often there is a mass of one colour with a few of the other colour but as these overlap, it lengthens the overall time of the flowering display.

Raymond Evison also recommends in his book, Clematis for Small Spaces, planting C. GALORE with light coloured foliage or flowers planted at its base. He suggests that it could also be used to trail over grey foliage plants such as flat spreading junipers. If you would like to try growing C. 'Evipo032' GALORE you will need to keep an eye out to see if you can spot it for sale. In the USA, you may find it being grown under the alternative trade name of C. 'Evipo032' VESUVIUS. So many new clematis are introduced every year and then are no longer available despite having proved their worth after a number of years of growing in the garden by gardeners. C. 'Evipo032' GALORE / VESUVIUS is a relatively new clematis as it was introduced in 2006 at the Chelsea Flower Show but now, after having grown it for a number of years, I feel confident that I can recommend it to you.

Another good garden clematis bred by Raymond Evison and Poulson that pairs well with roses is C. 'Evipo001' WISLEY.

Fiona Woolfenden