Clematis are long-blooming vines that come in various colors, including white, blue, violet, purple, pink, red, or bicolor. They are hardy plants that can be trained to climb a wall, trellis, arbor, or other fixed structure. A wall or trellis covered in blooming clematis provides an architectural showpiece to any landscape or garden.
Clematis grows best in locations where it gets some full sun and some partial shade. It prefers areas where its roots are shaded and the flowering vines are in full sun. Well-drained, alkaline to neutral soil is ideal for successful growth.
Clematis varieties are divided into groups based on blooming time and other characteristics. When and how you prune depends on which group your clematis is from.
- Group 1 – Spring bloomers
- Group 2 – Repeat bloomers
- Group 3 – Summer or fall bloomers
This article covers 7 varieties of clematis that come in varying shades of yellow.
1. Clematis tangutica ‘Bill Mackenzie’ (Group 3)
Clematis tangutica ‘Bill MacKenzie’ is a large, robust climber that loses its leaves in the fall. It has beautifully toothed green leaves and produces beautiful lantern-shaped, yellow blooms with scarlet anthers throughout summer and fall. It makes lovely seed heads with a silk-like appearance in the late fall and winter.
The dainty flowers on the ‘Bill Mackenzie’ bloom from the middle of summer until October, making it an excellent choice for creating a screen and camouflaging ugly structures, fences, or arbors. They look particularly magnificent when allowed to sprawl across thickets of bushes.
2. Clematis tangutica ‘Golden Tiara’ (Group 3)
The Clematis tangutica ‘Golden Tiara’ is a robust deciduous climber with leaves that are split pinnately. Flowers on a ‘Golden Tiara’ measure up to 1½ inch wide with prominent purple stamens. It blooms early in the summer and lasts into the fall, followed by velvety textured seedheads.
The ‘Golden Tiara’ cultivar is a relatively lightweight climber that is less likely to damage whatever it grows over. It often grows over 9 feet tall and can reach up to 23 feet under the right conditions.
3. Clematis tangutica ‘Helios’ (Group 3)
Clematis tangutica ‘Helios’ has 2 to 4-inch coconut-scented flowers. When they first emerge, the yellow flowers have a drooping and lantern-like appearance. As they unfold their petals, they flatten. They usually bloom between June and October.
Flowers are followed by attractive seed pods that may be used in dried flower arrangements. ‘Helios’ is perfect for use as a screening plant or for growing over big shrubs. Like other small-flowered clematis, it does not need regular pruning. It only needs pruning when it begins to outgrow where it is planted.
4. Clematis rehderiana (Group 3)
Clematis rehderiana is a big deciduous climber distinguished by its mature mauvish-brown stems and leaves pinnately split into serrate, oval leaflets. Sweetly fragrant, velvety bell-shaped blooms of a light yellow color have reflexed ends, and greenish-brown stamens are born in panicles less than 1-inch long
Rehderiana, with its dainty flowers, blooms from the middle of summer until October, making it an excellent choice for creating a screen and camouflaging ugly structures, fences, or arbors. They look particularly magnificent sprawled across thickets of bushes.
5. Clematis ‘Pixie’ (Group 1)
The ‘Pixie’ cultivar has dark-green leaves that are finely split and is a trailing or spreading compact plant. In the late spring and early summer, it blooms with a profusion of tiny flowers that are yellow-green to greenish-white in color and have a purple tinge to their stems. The flowers have a pleasant perfume that is reminiscent of elderflowers.
Clematis’ Pixie’ can thrive in differing planting environments, including beds and borders, containers on patios, or tiny gardens.
6. Clematis tangutica ‘Lambton Park’ (Group 3)
One of the largest tangutica varieties, ‘Lambton Park’ has charming seed heads over 2.5 inches in diameter. The spherical, bell-shaped blooms are composed of four succulent, lanceolate, vividly yellow sepals with slightly upturned edges. When they open fully, green-yellow anthers on brown filaments are visible, emitting a faint coconut aroma.
‘Lambton Park’ is a fast-growing clematis that blooms from mid-summer to early winter.
