Diamond Ball

Clematis

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Belle of Woking'

Summary: The peduncle of 'Diamond Ball' is shorter than that of 'Belle of Woking'. The flower of 'Diamond Ball' is smaller in diameter with a smaller sepal than the flower of 'Belle of Woking'. The sepal margin of 'Diamond Ball' has a medium degree of undulation while that of 'Belle of Woking' has weak undulation. When newly open, the inner side of the sepal of 'Diamond Ball' is light violet blue with a white central bar whereas that of 'Belle of Woking' is light blue violet with red purple tones. When fully open, the inner side of the sepal of 'Diamond Ball' is light violet blue with a white central bar whereas that of 'Belle of Woking' is light blue violet with lighter blue violet towards the middle. The inner side of the inner tepal of 'Diamond Ball' is mainly white with light violet blue towards the margin while that of 'Belle of Woking' is light blue violet with lighter blue violet towards the central bar. The outer side of the sepal of 'Diamond Ball' is light violet blue with a wide, white central bar while that of 'Belle of Woking' is light blue violet with a narrower white central bar.

Description:

PLANT: climbing, weak to medium vigour, medium to dense pubescence on young shoot

LEAF: simple and ternate types
TERMINAL LEAFLET: ovate shape, acute apex, rounded and cordate base, entire margin, no lobing, medium green on upper side, no variegation, absent or weak rugosity on upper side

FLOWERING: begins early to mid-season on both previous and current season's growth
FLOWER: solitary arrangement, upwards and outwards attitude, double type, rotate shape, cross-section in lateral view is concave, absent or very weak fragrance
SEPAL: overlapping arrangement, obovate, convex in cross-section, moderately reflexed along longitudinal axis, cuspidate apex, base shape is type two; inner side light violet blue (RHS 92B-C) when newly open and light violet blue (RHS 92C, 97D) when fully open, lighter colour towards middle on inner side, secondary colour is white (RHS 155C) central bar, inner side of inner tepal is white (RHS 155C) with light violet blue (RHS 92B-C) at margin; outer side is light violet blue (RHS 92B-C) with white (RHS NN155C) central bar; medium undulation of margin, no twisting along longitudinal axis, no petaloid staminodes
STAMEN: white filament, light yellow anther
STIGMA: white
STYLE: white

Origin & Breeding History: 'Diamond Ball' originated from a discovery of a chance seedling in the Clematis garden at W. Piotrowski Container Nursery in Pruszków, Poland in 1999. It was discovered and developed by the breeder, Szczepan Marczynski in Pruszków, Poland. 'Diamond Ball' was selected that same year for its compact growth habit, double light blue flowers, abundant flowers and long flowering period. 'Diamond Ball' was first asexually reproduced by softwood cuttings in June 2001 in Pruszków, Poland.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial for 'Diamond Ball' was conducted in an outdoor container trial during the summer of 2014 at BioFlora Inc. in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included 8 plants of the candidate variety and 6 plants of the reference variety. All plants were grown from young plants transplanted into 4.4 liter containers in September 2013. Plants were transplanted into 13 liter containers on June 11, 2014. Observations and measurements were taken from 8 plants of the candidate variety and 6 plants of the reference variety or 10 parts of plants of each variety on September 2, 2014. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Diamond Ball' with reference variety 'Belle of Woking'

Peduncle length (cm)

Flower diameter (cm)

Sepal length (cm)

Sepal width (cm)

Main colour of inner side of sepal (RHS)

Colour of outer side of sepal (RHS)

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Clematis: 'Diamond Ball' (left) with reference variety 'Belle of Woking' (right)

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Clematis: 'Diamond Ball' (left) with reference variety 'Belle of Woking' (right)

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Clematis: 'Diamond Ball' (left) with reference variety 'Belle of Woking' (right)