Old Man’s Beard

Sun or partial shade. Old Man’s Beard is a perennial clematis vine with compound leaflets, most often seen along roadside fences where its wispy plumes are a signature of late summer. Male and female plants produce different flowers, but it’s the seedheads that bear the silky “beards.”

Clematis are popular garden plants, well-regarded for their tenacious climbing abilities. Old Man’s Beard is tougher and more drought-tolerant than most, and it delivers a terrific show for relatively little effort; in many cases it volunteers on its own, easily climbing fences or nearby shrubs. Difficult to find in the commercial trade, Old Man’s Beard is easy to propagate by rooting cuttings at the nodes, or by collecting seed.

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