Since TPP sort of dumped on a Clematis as a potential weed, it is only fair to highlight a pretty nicely behaved Clematis, a bush Clematis. Yes, it's not a vine, and a quite handsome addition to almost any garden providing some late summer flowering. First time TPP saw this plant it took awhile to figure out what it was although all the right things were there. TPP has two such species of Clematis, but this bush Clematis, Clematis heracleifolia. Shrub or bush, this species does have short sort of woody stems that get clipped back to the ground or nearly so each spring (look for the buds) and grows into a mound of leafy foliage. Seems quite hardy here in zone 5, but maybe not in zone 4. It can expand a bit with time as new shoots appear around the periphery, our largest cllump was probably 4 feet by 4 feet before Mrs. Phactor got mad at it for being a bit aggressive with neighboring plants. The foliage is a bit coarse, but it flowers nicely over a period of a few weeks. It handles some shade with no problems and some shade helps because it doesn't like drying out. Ours has dark blue to purple tubular flowers that get to maybe an inch across, not large but in terminal clusters. Dead-heading is a good idea to prevent seedlings. While not popular, and sometimes hard to find in nurseries, it's a nice addition to biggish perennial gardens and border beds.
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