Resumes are supposed to be short and to the point, but Linda Beutler considers her first book, Gardening With Clematis (Timber Press, 2004), to be the 72,000-word resume that earned her the position as first curator of the world renowned Rogerson Clematis Collection (she began in July 2007). Linda’s love of gardening began with harvesting strawberries with her grandfather at the age of three, and being given her own plot for radishes and string beans at age five. Her home garden in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon reflects her garden passions, including old garden roses, herbaceous perennials and shrubs for cutting, and her 200 favorite clematis. Linda has been an adjunct instructor of horticulture at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, OR since 1996. She is the current President of the International Clematis Society, and the author of Timber Press’ Plant Lovers Guide to Clematis (March 2016). She has also been known to dabble in Jane Austen fan-fiction!
A World of Clematis. There are 300+ species of clematis, located on all of the major continents except Antarctica. From the smallest (8″ x 8″ shrublets at the timberline of the south island of New Zealand) to the tallest (Clematis vitalba of the British Isles & Europe reaches 60′), clematis reside in steppes and swamps, in jungles, in the piney woods of Florida and the shale barrens of Virginia. Clematis are usually vines, but fully 25% of the known species are non-climbing herbaceous perennials and shrubs. With this much variety, it is amazing the taxonomists haven’t pulled the genus apart! Join Rogerson Clematis Collection Curator Linda Beutler for a world tour of clematis including the latest large-flowered hybrids.
