Clematis are one of the most cherished flowering vines in the gardening world, prized for their stunning variety and versatility. With so many types of clematis—from compact container-friendly cultivars to vigorous climbers that span fences or trellises—it’s easy to find a variety that suits your space and style. These long-blooming perennials come in a dazzling range of colors, flower forms, and fragrances, making them a favorite among pollinators and plant lovers alike.
If you’re working with a small garden or patio, some types of clematis are perfect for pots. Explore our guide to growing clematis in containers to find compact varieties that thrive in tight spaces. In this article, we’ll showcase 40 beautiful types of clematis, offer planting advice, and help you select the right one for your garden goals.
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Featured Clematis Varieties: Highlights to Inspire Your Garden
Choosing from the many types of clematis can be overwhelming, so we’ve highlighted standout cultivars that gardeners love for their beauty, reliability, and adaptability. Whether you prefer bold colors or subtle hues, climbers or compact growers, this list offers something for every garden style.
🌸 Rosemoor
This newer variety is a showstopper with rich reddish-purple blooms and a remarkably long flowering season from May through September. It performs well in full sun with shaded roots, and its compact vigor makes it a solid choice for both fences and trellises.
❤️ Rebecca
Known for its intense scarlet-red flowers, Rebecca clematis blooms twice—once in late spring and again in late summer. It thrives in rich, alkaline soil and brings striking contrast to green backdrops. Named after breeder Raymond Evison’s daughter, it’s a personal and visual standout.
💜 Bijou
Don’t let its small size fool you—Bijou is a compact plant with large, ruffled amethyst blooms that deliver garden drama. It’s ideal for containers or groundcover use and reblooms in fall. A perfect pick for patios and balcony gardens.
🎇 Fireworks
True to its name, Fireworks bursts with bluish-purple petals highlighted by cerise bars. It’s a vigorous grower that blooms heavily in early summer and again later in the season. Its twisted petals add a dynamic touch to vertical garden spaces.
🔔 Roguchi
This Japanese variety stands out with fragrant, deep violet bell-shaped blooms and a weaving habit that doesn’t require support. A pollinator favorite, Roguchi blooms continuously from early summer into fall and is prized for its wild, natural look.
🔵 Sapphire Indigo™
A unique semi-climbing clematis, Sapphire Indigo™ has velvety blue-purple flowers that make it a standout in borders or containers. Its ability to sprawl also makes it useful as a groundcover. Extremely low maintenance and loved by butterflies.
🤍 Guernsey Cream
Creamy white flowers with pale greenish bars and golden stamens define this elegant bloomer. It’s compact but showy, with two waves of flowers—perfect for brightening up shaded or small garden corners.
🌸 Pink Anemone
This vigorous vine features mauve-pink flowers with a delightful vanilla fragrance. Ideal for covering trellises or fences, it also attracts butterflies and other pollinators, making it both beautiful and beneficial.
🌑 Warsaw Nike
A deep, velvety violet-red variety that thrives even in shadier spots. With a long bloom time and minimal care needs, this award-winning clematis adds elegance to north-facing walls or woodland gardens.
☁️ Blue Angel
This prolific climber produces soft sky-blue ruffled flowers from early to late summer. Award-winning and visually calming, it pairs beautifully with warm-toned plants in cottage or mixed-style gardens.
🤍 Hyde Hall
An elegant white-flowered clematis with semi-double blooms and chocolate-colored anthers. Perfect for patios or trellises, Hyde Hall adds a touch of shabby chic sophistication to any setting. Blooms appear in late spring and can be enjoyed up close or from afar.
🌿 Sweet Autumn Clematis
This late-season favorite delivers clouds of fragrant, starry white flowers from late summer into fall. It’s a vigorous grower, ideal for covering large areas or creating privacy screens. Bonus: pollinators love it, especially migrating monarchs.
🤍 Henryi
Classic and refined, Henryi is known for its large white blooms and dark central anthers. It flowers in early summer and again in fall, making it a reliable performer in sunny borders. A true garden staple for vertical interest.
💗 Princess Diana
This unique variety features bright pink, tulip-shaped flowers that bloom from midsummer to fall. A vigorous rebloomer, it’s beloved for its upright habit and eye-catching color that honors the late Princess of Wales.
🍷 Sweet Summer Love
A rich blend of deep red and purple star-shaped flowers that bloom heavily from midsummer into fall. Exceptionally fragrant and heat-tolerant, this clematis thrives on fences, arbors, and trellises—and it starts blooming earlier than most.
🌸 Avant Garde
One of the most unusual types of clematis, Avant Garde sports deep magenta petals with a frilly, pink pom-pom center. It’s a compact climber with long-lasting blooms that look stunning on mailboxes, fences, or patio obelisks.
💜 Jolly Good™
With lavender petals streaked in purple and adorable white stamens, Jolly Good is both cheerful and charming. It’s highly attractive to pollinators and blooms throughout the summer—ideal for fences and trellises in sun or part shade.
🌊 Crystal Fountain
This semi-double beauty features layers of blue petals with a silvery stamen center that fans out like a fountain. It blooms from early summer to fall and works wonderfully in containers or small garden spaces.
💕 Nelly Moser
A clematis classic, Nelly Moser produces large, soft pink flowers with deep rose stripes. Perfect for part shade, especially east-facing spots, it provides a lush flush in spring and often a second bloom in late summer.
🌷 Boulevard® Alaina
Compact and bursting with bubblegum-pink flowers, Alaina thrives in containers and small gardens. It’s an early and repeat bloomer with vibrant color, making it a patio showpiece or ideal gift plant.
🌸 Rubens
One of the earliest bloomers, Clematis Rubens bursts with soft pink, vanilla-scented flowers and bronze-tinged foliage. It’s a vigorous grower—great for large structures, fences, or growing through trees. Its fragrance is unforgettable, making it a sensory standout.
🔔 Stand By Me
A bush-type, non-vining clematis, Stand By Me offers nodding, blue bell-shaped flowers and charming seed heads. Ideal for garden beds or borders where vertical space is limited, it grows like a perennial shrub with minimal support.
🤍 Boulevard® Kitty™
Compact, white, and bushy, Kitty™ produces rounded blooms with a pale green blush and purple stamens. It flowers twice per season and thrives in partial shade, making it perfect for patios, containers, and balconies.
🌸 Double Rose™
This compact clematis features layers of soft pink sepals with darker rose bands. Blooming from early summer to fall, it offers a long-lasting display that suits cottage gardens, container arrangements, or hanging baskets.
💜 Boulevard® Bernadine
Elegant iced lavender-blue petals surround a bright white and red center. Bernadine blooms from June through September on new growth and fits perfectly into small gardens or vertical containers.
🌸 Boulevard® Chantilly™
Pale pink with ruffled sepals and a bold red stamen center, Chantilly™ is lightly fragrant and stays tightly compact. It’s a rebloomer and adds a romantic flair to porches, patios, or trellised entryways.
💜 Jackman Superba
A vigorous climber with broad, velvety purple blooms from June to frost. It’s one of the most prolific and widely used types of clematis, appreciated for its dramatic color and winter seed head interest.
💙 Tranquilité™
This dreamy compact vine offers icy blue-lavender tones with a central white bar and purple-tipped stamens. It blooms profusely from late spring through summer and works wonderfully as a groundcover or in containers.
❤️ Regal® Charmaine™
Charmaine™ brings rich, wine-red blooms that may be single, semi-double, or fully double—all on the same plant. It blooms on both old and new wood, making it reliable and eye-catching throughout the season.
🔴 Cardinal Wyszynski
Boasting massive crimson flowers with deep red anthers, this clematis is showy and free-flowering. It’s a vigorous climber that adds a bold splash of red to vertical garden designs.
💜 Boulevard® Zara™
Among the most charming compact types of clematis, Zara produces soft lilac-blue, semi-double blooms that stand out in containers and small garden spaces. This repeat bloomer offers exceptional ornamental value and is a top pick for urban gardeners or anyone working with limited space. For more small-space inspiration, don’t miss our best potted plants for your porch to pair with compact clematis like Zara.
💗 Boulevard® Sarah Elizabeth™
Candy-pink flowers with a deeper stamen center adorn this cheerful climber. It reblooms on both old and new growth and thrives in containers or borders. A great choice for pollinators and visual impact.
💕 Boulevard® Volunteer™
Volunteer™ is one of the most inspiring compact types of clematis, offering star-shaped lavender-pink blooms with darker central bars and a soft yellow stamen center. This free-flowering variety is not only prolific and space-saving—it was also named in honor of everyday heroes. Perfect for patios, borders, or containers, Volunteer™ adds vibrant character to small garden spaces. For more space-savvy ideas, explore our guide to the best potted plants for your porch.
Clematis by Growth Habit and Flower Type
While individual clematis cultivars each have their own charm, organizing the different types of clematis by growth habit and bloom size makes it much easier to choose the right variety for your space. Whether you’re planting in a perennial bed, filling a decorative container, or covering a fence with vibrant blooms, there’s a clematis perfectly suited to the task. Need help with vertical setups? Don’t miss our DIY garden trellis ideas to get started.
🌄 Clematis Montana Varieties
These early-blooming types of clematis are known for their vigorous growth and masses of small, fragrant flowers. Perfect for covering fences, pergolas, or even scrambling through trees, they quickly create a romantic, untamed look in the garden. Varieties like ‘Rubens’ are especially popular for their soft pink blooms, sweet vanilla scent, and bronze-toned foliage. If you’re looking to maximize vertical space, explore these clematis trellis ideas for creative ways to showcase their beauty.
Best for: Large gardens, quick coverage, early spring color
Bonus: Scented and fast-growing
🌸 Large Flowered Hybrids
These are the garden superstars—big, showy blooms in an array of colors, often with multiple flushes of flowers throughout the season. These large-flowered types of clematis, including popular cultivars like ‘Nelly Moser’, ‘Henryi’, and ‘Jackman Superba’, are typically what gardeners envision when they think of clematis. To help them thrive and bloom to their fullest potential, see our guide on how to grow and care for clematis.
Best for: Garden focal points, trellises, and obelisks
Bonus: Many rebloom with proper pruning
🌼 Small Flowered Clematis
More understated but often more fragrant, small-flowered types of clematis like ‘Roguchi’ and ‘Sweet Autumn Clematis’ are admired for their wild, natural charm and extended bloom periods. With flowers that may be bell-shaped, starry, or nodding, these varieties effortlessly blend into cottage gardens or naturalistic designs. For additional ideas on designing with shade-friendly vines, check out our roundup of 20 stunning flowering vines for shade.
Best for: Pollinator gardens, naturalistic borders, low-maintenance planting
Bonus: Highly fragrant and adaptable
🌿 Herbaceous Clematis
These non-climbing types of clematis, such as ‘Stand By Me’, behave more like perennials than traditional vines. They die back in winter and re-emerge in spring, producing charming blooms on upright stems without the need for a trellis. Perfect for flower beds, borders, or mixed perennial gardens, these herbaceous varieties are ideal where climbing support isn’t practical. For more inspiration on mixing clematis with other perennials, explore our list of 25 perennial flowers that bloom from spring to fall.
Best for: Flower beds, borders, and mixed perennial gardens
Bonus: No need for trellises or climbing support
🌱 Groundcover Clematis
Certain compact types of clematis, like ‘Bijou’ or ‘Sapphire Indigo™’, grow outward more than upward, making them excellent choices for trailing over garden walls, spilling from containers, or serving as living groundcovers. These low-growing varieties offer vibrant color and rich texture in spaces where taller climbers may be impractical. If you’re working with pots or tight spaces, don’t miss our guide on growing clematis in containers for tips on care and placement.
Best for: Containers, hanging baskets, underplanting shrubs
Bonus: Multipurpose—can climb or spread
general Clematis Care Tips
No matter which types of clematis you choose, a few universal care tips can make the difference between a struggling plant and a garden star. Clematis are hardy and rewarding with the right setup. Here’s how to help them thrive year after year.
🌱 Soil Matters
- Clematis love rich, well-drained, alkaline soil.
- Improve poor soil with compost or aged manure before planting.
- Aim for a neutral to slightly alkaline pH (around 6.5–7.5).
☀️ Light Requirements
- Most varieties prefer full sun on their foliage—ideally 6+ hours of sun daily.
- But they like cool roots, so shade the base with mulch or low-growing plants like hostas or ground covers.
✂️ Pruning Groups (Know Your Type!)
Clematis are divided into three pruning groups. Knowing which one your variety belongs to ensures better blooms:
- Group 1: Flower on old wood (e.g., Clematis Montana)
Prune right after flowering, if needed. - Group 2: Bloom on old and new wood (e.g., Nelly Moser, Crystal Fountain)
Light prune in early spring and deadhead after first bloom. - Group 3: Bloom only on new wood (e.g., Sweet Autumn Clematis, Jackmanii types)
Cut back to 12–18 inches in late winter or early spring.
🧱 Support Structures
- Clematis need something thin to grab onto—wire mesh, narrow trellises, arbors, or even string.
- If using a wall or fence, add twine or netting to help them climb.
💧 Watering and Feeding
- Water deeply during dry spells, especially in the first two years.
- Feed with a balanced fertilizer in early spring and again in mid-summer for repeat bloomers.
🌿 Long-Term Success Tips
- Plant the crown 2–3 inches below soil level to prevent wilt.
- Mulch well to insulate roots.
- Be patient—many clematis take a season or two to fully establish, but they often live and bloom beautifully for decades.
🌿 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Types of Clematis
❓What are the best types of clematis for beginners?
Some of the easiest clematis varieties for beginners include ‘Nelly Moser’, ‘Jackmanii’, and ‘Sweet Summer Love’. These are hardy, bloom reliably, and tolerate a range of growing conditions.
❓Do all clematis need a trellis or support?
Not all! While many clematis are climbers, compact or herbaceous types like ‘Bijou’ and ‘Stand By Me’ grow without climbing and are great in containers or flower beds.
❓When should I prune my clematis?
It depends on the pruning group:
- Group 1: Prune after flowering (e.g., Clematis montana)
- Group 2: Light prune in early spring and after first bloom
- Group 3: Cut back to 12–18 inches in late winter/early spring
❓Can clematis grow in pots or containers?
Absolutely! Compact varieties like those in the Boulevard® series (e.g., Alaina, Kitty™, Sarah Elizabeth™) are bred specifically for containers and small-space gardens.
❓How long does it take clematis to establish?
Most clematis take 1–2 years to fully settle in and start blooming heavily. Proper soil prep, consistent watering, and mulching help them thrive long term.
❓Are clematis deer-resistant?
Clematis are not typically considered deer-resistant. If deer are a concern in your area, use protective netting or companion planting to deter them.
Conclusion
Whether you’re looking for vibrant blooms to cover a fence or gentle vines for a shady nook, the wide array of types of clematis ensures there’s a perfect match for every gardener. By choosing the right cultivar and following simple care steps—like pruning based on group type and keeping roots cool—you’ll enjoy season after season of spectacular blooms.
Want to go deeper? Read our full tutorial on how to grow and care for clematis to ensure long-lasting success with your favorite types of clematis. With thoughtful selection and care, these vines can become the star of your garden for decades to come.