Three new dwarf varieties ideal for small urban gardens and pots will be formally launched at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Steven Smith Content Editor and Robert Rowlands Deputy editor, money and lifestyle, content hub
15:07, 21 Mar 2026Updated 15:09, 21 Mar 2026
Clematis blooms in a park(Image: Getty)
They are lovely to look at and don’t need much room to grow. If you don’t know them already but like the look, it’s time to meet the clematis.Renowned for their ability to scale trellises, weave through shrubs and complement roses beautifully, certain clematis varieties are particularly well-suited to compact spaces, notes gardening writer Hannah Stephenson. At this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, award-winning Guernsey-based clematis breeder Raymond Evison Clematis will officially unveil three new cultivars, each reaching a modest three to four feet in height, making them perfect for container gardening in urban settings.
C. ‘Ithemba’ showcases white petals adorned with a subtle pink stripe, C. ‘Eliza’ is a large-flowered selection that transitions from soft blue to crisp white, whilst C. ‘Queens Nurse’ displays deep, rosy pink blossoms. Currently available through their website, these varieties will reach garden centres from mid-April onwards.
Container cultivation
For those with limited outdoor space, perhaps just room for a single large container in a city garden, these compact clematis varieties could prove ideal.
“They’re perfect for a small urban garden, because they’re only going to get to about four or five feet tall. Containers are perfect. You could have them against the back wall of your house or plant them in the garden as they don’t take up much horizontal space, it’s all vertical,” says Andy Jeanes, international sales and marketing director at Guernsey Clematis. The appeal of these compact varieties lies in their ability to produce blooms from the plant’s base right to the top, avoiding the common issue of bare, woody stems below with flowers clustered only at the peak. Yet these varieties boast blooms just as impressive as their taller spring and summer-flowering counterparts, reports Wales Online.
Breeders also offer distinctive types such as the Dutch-bred Clematis tangutica ‘Little Lemons’, a compact plant that bears little resemblance to its larger relatives and works beautifully in patios, rockeries, hanging baskets or generous windowboxes. Reaching just 45cm in height, it produces delicate yellow, drooping bell-shaped flowers across several months, ensuring prolonged visual interest. As the blooms fade, charming, wispy seedheads emerge.
Planting advice
“For our clematis, we recommend a minimum-size container to be 18in/450cm cubed and the container needs to have drainage holes,” says Jeanes. “Clematis hate to be wet over winter, so you’ll need plenty of drainage, good free-draining compost and underplant them with some bedding or trailing plants to go over the outside of the container.
“Water them moderately – never overwater. As soon as you see the first flower buds being produced, start feeding them with a high potash feed, something like a tomato feed, and continue to feed them until the first flowers are just about to open, then stop feeding. That will stress the plant even further, which will produce more blooms.”
Show them off in hanging baskets Dwarf clematis varieties work wonderfully in hanging baskets or even generously sized window boxes, where their stems gracefully cascade amongst neighbouring plants. In his book, Clematis For Small Spaces, Raymond Evison highlights compact options like C ‘Bijou’ ‘Evipo030’, a delicate violet blue that reaches 30-60cm, making it ideal for small to medium containers, window boxes and hanging baskets. These plants produce trailing stems, and he suggests pairing them with grey-leaved plants and mauve blooms for a harmonious display.
“They look fantastic in hanging baskets,” Jeanes agrees. “Instead of growing up, they cascade down.”
Provide support
Those trained vertically in containers will require some form of support, such as canes or an ornamental frame. “They are semi self-clinging, so they need some structure. They’ll hold on to a cane and twirl around it, no problem,” says Jeanes.
You might need to secure them to a thicker post, or attach finer materials like string to guide their upward journey, he adds.
Mix them up in containers
Combining two contrasting shades in a single pot can deliver real visual impact, he suggests. Once flowering finishes, you can tidy them up by deadheading and treating them like roses to encourage more blooms. It’s best to keep their roots shaded, so when planting in containers and baskets, surround them with companion plants to establish a micro-climate, he advises. He explained: “Mix planting in containers with foliage plants such as thyme, saxifraga or any similar ground cover or trailing plants, or bedding of any mix.”
During particularly warm summers, plants may enter a period of summer dormancy once temperatures climb beyond 27C, he notes.
“They’ll go a bit yellow on the foliage and look like they have a drought problem, but actually they’ve gone into dormancy. One of the biggest killers of clematis in the summer is people thinking that they’re too dry. So don’t overwater them.”
The most reliable method to determine whether watering is needed is to test the soil’s moisture by inserting your finger into it, he advises. As temperatures begin to drop towards the end of August and into September, clematis plants resume their growth cycle, potentially producing a second wave of blooms.
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