If you’re curious why the vasevine looks so different from every other clematis you’ve seen, it’s because there are nearly 300 different species of Clematis. Those species are split up into a number of different groups, and how they’re split up depends on who you talk to. The most popular clematises that gardeners plant and cultivate belong to large-flowered division. On the other hand, this particular clematis belongs to the small-flowered division, and belongs at the helm of its own group: the Viorna group.
Before I learned about the vasevine clematises, I wasn’t all that interested in the species. They’re nice, like all flowers are nice, but they’re missing something. I used to have one of the other types, though I’m not sure what kind it was. Mine didn’t get large like some others do, but I also didn’t pay much attention to it. I ended up giving it away so I could plant a redosier dogwood in its place. That’s how uninterested I was in that particular plant.
Vasevine and other leatherflowers
You wouldn’t know these are related to other clematises by appearance. All of the leatherflower clematises share these bell or urn-shaped flowers. Also, the actual flowers are inside of the bell, but they lack petals. Those thick leathery structures are the sepals. Sepals are the modified leaves making up the outer layer that protect the developing flower bud inside. On many commonly cultivated plants, you can tell the difference, because the sepals are green. Just like these flowers lack petals, some flowers lack sepals. Knowing the difference, and which one has what, is often used in helping to identify plants.
The really cool thing about the colorful sepals on the vasevine is that this adds extends the interest of the bloom period. Before blooming, as the flowers are developing, you get a show of upside-down teardrop shaped flower buds (second photo). As they near the moment they’re ready to open, their color shifts from light green to magenta/rose
They’re not all vines
Since these have easily become one of my favorite taxa (I don’t have a favorite, but I’m noticing I’m drawn to Ranunculaceae), I am hoping to collect seed for and grow all the various other leatherflowers. One thing that’s really fun is they’re not all vines. Some grow into little mounding herbaceous plants, maybe a foot or two off the ground. They have similar flowers as these, but a different form.
Hummingbirds love them
There are a number of pollinators that visit these flowers, but the ones many people aim to try to attract to their garden are hummingbirds. If you’re planting a garden to attract these lovely birds, don’t forget to check out my other “Humdingers for Hummers“! Vasevine is also popular with other pollinators, including bees and butterflies, and hosts the Plebeian Sphynx moth caterpillars.
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