Stefan Franczak

Clematis

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Rhapsody'

Summary: The plant of 'Stefan Franczak' has medium vigour whereas the plant of 'Rhapsody' has strong vigour. The leaf and petiole of 'Stefan Franczak' are shorter than those of 'Rhapsody'. The leaf blade of 'Stefan Franczak' is ovate whereas that of 'Rhapsody' is lanceolate. The flower of 'Stefan Franczak' is smaller than that of 'Rhapsody'. The flower of 'Stefan Franczak' has six to eight sepals whereas the flower of 'Rhapsody' has four to six sepals. The sepal of 'Stefan Franczak' is shorter than that of 'Rhapsody'. The inner side of the sepal of 'Stefan Franczak' is blue violet while that of 'Rhapsody' is dark violet to blue violet. The outer side of the sepal of 'Stefan Franczak' is violet blue to light violet blue along the margins whereas the sepal of 'Rhapsody' is blue violet. The sepal of 'Stefan Franczak' has strong undulation of the margin whereas the sepal of 'Rhapsody' has a medium degree of undulation. The filament of 'Stefan Franczak' is white whereas the filament of 'Rhapsody' is medium violet.

Description:

PLANT: climbing type, medium vigour

YOUNG SHOOT: dense pubescence

LEAF: ternate type
LEAF BLADE: ovate, acuminate apex, obtuse base, entire margin, no lobing, no variegation
LEAF BLADE (UPPER SIDE): medium green, absent or very weak rugosity

FLOWERING: on both previous year's growth and current year's growth, begins early-season and reblooms mid-season
FLOWER: solitary arrangement, upward attitude, single type, rotate shape, flat to weakly concave in lateral cross-section, six to eight sepals, overlapping arrangement of sepals, absent or very weak fragrance
SEPAL: ovate, concave in cross-section, flat in longitudinal section, cuspidate apex, type two base, single colour on inner side, blue violet (RHS N88A) on inner side, colour is lighter towards middle on inner side, violet blue to light violet blue (RHS 93C-D) along margins with white (RHS NN155A) central bar zone on outer side, strong undulation of margin, no twisting along longitudinal axis, no petaloid staminoides
FILAMENT: white
ANTHER: yellow green
STIGMA: white
STYLE: yellow green

Origin & Breeding History: 'Stefan Franczak' originated from a cross conducted in 2004 by the breeder, Szczepan Marczynski, in Pruszkow, Poland. The cross was made between the female parent, a proprietary seedling coded 132-99, and the male parent variety 'Warszawska Nike'. The new variety 'Stefan Franczak' was selected in 2006 based on its growth habit, abundant flowering, length of flowering time and flower colour. 'Stefan Franczak' was first reproduced asexually by shoot cuttings in 2007 in Pruszkow, Poland.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial for 'Stefan Franczak' was conducted in a container trial from 2017-2018 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 8 plants of the candidate variety and 6 plants of the reference variety. All plants were grown from young plants transplanted into 3.8 liter containers on July 18, 2017. Both the candidate and reference variety were transplanted into 11.3 liter containers in May 2018. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plant parts of the candidate and reference variety on June 6, 2018. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Stefan Franczak' with reference variety 'Rhapsody'

Leaf length (cm)

Petiole length (cm)

Flower diameter (cm)

Sepal length (cm)

Colour of sepal (RHS)

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Clematis: 'Stefan Franczak' (left) with reference variety 'Rhapsody' (right)

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Clematis: 'Stefan Franczak' (left) with reference variety 'Rhapsody' (right)

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Clematis: 'Stefan Franczak' (left) with reference variety 'Rhapsody' (right)