Ooh La La!! - Plant of the Moment

18 March 2020 | Pete

Clematis OOH LA LA™ 'Evipo041'
A very compact and extremely free-flowering plant, great value-for-money!

What she lacks in size she makes up for in quantity.

This is one of my favourite clematis and has been since I first set eyes on it back in 2008.
Ooh La La™ was bred by Mr Raymond Evison of Guernsey Clematis Nursery and was officially introduced in 2009 at Chelsea Flower Show. The plant was first shown to the public at a one off event held in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society and The Inner Temple Gardens where the event was held.
We also exhibited at the event, so that was the first time I saw the plant and Mr Evison had them in small pots, but really full of flower.
I was immediately captivated by the plant and have been ever since.

Order your Ooh La La Here!

Clematis OOH LA LA™ 'Evipo041' a mail order plant in the summer.

For a clematis to catch my eye so quickly is rare and what I particularly liked about it was the striking flower colour. With large blooms of 4 - 5 inches across and a vibrant pink bar down the centre of the mauvy-pink flowers, you can hear people say out loud "Wow look at that"!
The flower colour matures as the flowers age and the margins that start out quite crimped and wavey become less so as they get older as well, so each bloom has a fascinating journey of development.
We have used Ooh La La on our show exhibits for many years but one of my favourite occasions was Malvern Spring Festival 2019 when we planted Ooh La La™ and Olympia™ together in a container. Their habit and pruning requirements are the same so care is easy and the two are excellent companion plants.
See the picture below to see what a great combination they make together. Click here to find out more about Olympia

Clematis OOH LA La™ 'Evipo041' with OLYMPIA™ 'Evipo099'
Photo taken at Malvern Spring Festival 2019 (Silver Gilt Medal)
Ideal growing together for a summer of flower.

Pruning is best carried out in the mid spring each year, cutting all the stems down to around 6 - 12 inches from the soil, just above a new shoot. If you find you need a little more height to the plant you can prune less severely than this but you can expect strong growth each year of about 3 - 4 feet.
The flowering period is going to start in June and be semi-continuous through to September so long as you cut off the dead heads from the first few weeks of flowers. Keep a fortnightly liquid feed of tomato fertiliser going from mid April to the end of her flowering period to avoid her running out of steam.

Close up of the wonderfully velvet like flower centre and pollen.

Ooh La La™ was specifically cultivated for use in patio containers, however as a garden plant it will perform very well. Indeed I have found uses for these compact patio clematis within the garden that seem to suit them very well. I find that to place them in the ground at the base of a climbing rose will give them a good natural support to climb up and they also cover the bare stems at the bottom of the rose.
Ooh La La™ has a preference for a moist but free draining soil condition, so much the same as your roses will like, meaning they will co-habit well together.

Mature flowers and new flowers below. A charming progression of dark through to a paler colouring is very subtle.

Buy Your Beautiful clematis Ooh La La Here!

A mass of flower and long flowering period. It truly does make you want to say
OOH LA LA !!