Eggarton Cottages, Eggarton Lane, Godmersham, Kent, CT4 7DY
Tel/Fax: 01227 730242
Also known as Traveller's Joy and Old Man's Beard, this is a hardy climber - a wild Clematis. It has green-white flowers, smelling of vanilla, from June to September, changing to attractive fluffy seedheads. Found naturally in wood margins and hedges. Name comes from the Greek "klema", referring to the young shoots of a vine and their climbing nature.
French beggars used to use Clematis to irritate their skin and produce sores - presumably in the hope of begging more money! Clematis is also known as Poor Man's Friend and Boys Baca - referring to the stems being used as a tobacco substitute. However, all parts of the plant are toxic to a certain degree. Flowers were also used as a substitute for tea.
It provides food for Pug, Chalk Carpet, Lime Speck Pug, Haworth's Pug, Small Emerald, The Fern, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Least Carpet and Small Waved Umber moths, hoverflies and bees. Birds like the seedheads and sometimes use the fluffy seed tails as nesting material, as do small mammals. Dried leaves make a cattle fodder.
The plant has been associated with the Devil and witches because it was thought to choke other plants to death. Conversely it is also associated with the Virgin Mary and God because of its whiteness. In France the long stems used to be woven into baskets and beehives.
Plant out mid-autumn to early-spring and try to provide shade to the base of the plant. Prune hard in February to a foot above ground level.
To help Clematis establish well, dig the hole deep enough to bury 6 in ((15 cm) of stem below the surface. Doing this will also help to reduce any risk of Clematis wilt. However, if Clematis wilt does occur, cut back to the healthy wood close to soil level. If, after doing this, wilt recurs then the plant will need to be dug up and destroyed.
CAUTION - TOXIC IF EATEN
*This sheet is provided for information only and is in no way a prescription for use. Please seek the advice of a qualified herbalist before using*