Clematis urophylla 'Winter Beauty'
Sitting on the South facing aspect of the tower in the walled garden at The Garden House is one of the winter stars of this edge of Dartmoor garden.
Blooming in January, this white, bell flowered evergreen climber certainly stands out as a feature during the start of the annual snowdrop festival. In theory it shouldn't even be here. The RHS hardiness classification is H3, hardy only in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1C). This may be a little conservative. I first photographed it in situ in January 2017, my first winter as a volunteer, and this Dartmoor garden has certainly had no shortage of frosts below the -5C minimum and the plant has come through unscathed. Yes it's against a south wall - but it's not that sheltered. The soil is an acid shale, well enriched over the years with annual dressings of organic mulch, so it has the free drainage with water retentive fertility it needs. And it certainly pays for the space it occupies.
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