THE Royal Horticultural Society garden Rosemoor in Great Torrington is highlighting a different plant every month, under the theme of 'Hero Plants'. By championing plants that are often taken for granted, and directing visitors to see the plant at their best, Rosemoor hopes to reignite a seasonal interest in garden plants that have been overlooked in recent years. This July the colourful Clematis is being celebrated — a fabulous group of plants often used as companions to grow up and through other subjects, such as climbing and rambling roses. At Rosemoor they are used to extend the rose season in dazzling style — the shrub rose garden shows how Clematis can be used to dramatic effect. There are more than 200 species of Clematis, the flowers of which are wide-ranging in appearance and colour. But the one thing they all have in common is their free- flowering habit. Many are scented, and the flowers are often followed by decorative, filamentous, silvery grey seedheads.
