Traveller’s joy

Traveller’s joy: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Vigorous, woody climber of 10–20 m that smothers hedges, shrubs and trees; without support it creeps over the ground.

Leaf

Opposite, pinnate with 3–5 leaflets; the leaf stalks twist around supports.

Stems

Grooved, rope-like stems that peel in long strips.

Flower

Small, creamy-white, fragrant flowers in panicles, July–September.

Fruit

Small nutlets with long, silvery-haired tails, visible all winter.

Difference from garden clematis

Garden clematis have large, colourful flowers.

Flowering: July–September · Pruning: February–March

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Garden clematis: large, colourful flowers.

Why grow it?

• Quickly covers a long fence, a railing or a wild hedge.
• Fragrant flowers in summer for bees, hoverflies and butterflies.
• Silvery-grey seed heads that hang on all winter.
• Native and hardy; in spring the fluff is nesting material for birds.

Traveller’s joy: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; preferably with its base in the shade.
• Chalky, fertile soil; on acid sandy soil it grows less well.
• It climbs with its leaf stalks, which wind around thin supports: mesh, wire or branches. It cannot climb a bare wall.
• Give it space: it smothers shrubs and young trees and can make them collapse under its weight. Not for a small garden, against a house or near gutters.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

15 m tall, 4 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Hawthorn: A sturdy native shrub for traveller’s joy to climb through, in a wild hedge.
• Blackthorn: Flowers white in March, traveller’s joy in summer: together a hedge that flowers for a long time.
• Wild privet: Another native shrub for chalky soil, with fragrant flowers and black berries.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Can climb into old, large trees: english oak, scots pine, sycamore, large-leaved lime

Traveller’s joy: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in autumn or spring.
2. Plant at the foot of a fence, a sturdy hedge or an old tree, with the roots in the shade.
3. Guide the first shoots to the mesh or branches with a cane.
4. Water well after planting; after that it looks after itself.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year; after that no longer needed.

Feeding

Not needed: it grows vigorously enough as it is.

Keeping it in check

In summer, pull away shoots heading for shrubs, gutters or the neighbours.

Seedlings

It self-seeds via the fluff: weed out unwanted seedlings while they are young.

Tip: Looking for a clematis for a small fence or a pergola? Choose a garden clematis: traveller’s joy is far too vigorous for that.

Traveller’s joy: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February–March.

When: End of winter (February–March).

How:

• Can be cut back hard; it flowers on new shoots.
• Feel free to cut it back to 30–50 cm above the ground, or trim it every year to the space it is allowed.
• At the same time, remove dead stems and what is left of the seed heads.

Caution: Wear gloves and long sleeves: the sap irritates the skin.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Sowing

Sow the nutlets outdoors in autumn; they germinate erratically in spring.

Layering

In spring, lay a stem on the ground and cover a node with soil; it roots within the year.

Traveller’s joy: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• The silvery-grey seed heads hang on all winter and look magnificent on a frosty morning.

Diseases and pests

• Rampant growth: Smothers shrubs and young trees, which go bare underneath or break. Cut it back every year and pull its shoots out of the shrubs.
• Bare base: All the leaves at the top and a bare tangle of rope-like stems below. Cut it back hard in late winter.
• Seedlings: Young plants popping up all over the garden. Pull them out while young, roots and all.

Through the year

• February: Hard pruning at the end of winter.
• March: Last pruning; planting.
• May: Guide new shoots to the fence or hedge; birds collect the last fluff for their nests.
• June: Pull away shoots that go too far.
• July: Flowering begins: fragrant, creamy-white panicles.
• August: Full flower, busy with insects.
• September: Last flowers; the seed heads form.
• November: Silvery-grey seed heads; sowing and planting.

What can you use it for?

For wildlife

Flowers for insects; the fluffy seed heads are nesting material for birds.

Garden and landscape

Fast grower for covering fences and screens on chalky soil.

Caution: The sap is an irritant and the plant is poisonous; very vigorous.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Hoverflies

Open flowers for hoverflies; many of their larvae eat aphids.

Caterpillars

Host plant: caterpillars of butterflies or moths eat the leaves.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• In winter the fluffy seed heads look like a grey beard, hence its other English name, ‘old man’s beard’.
• Beggars used to rub the sap on their skin to raise sores and win sympathy; that is why one of its French names is ‘herbe aux gueux’, beggars’ herb.
• Traveller’s joy is a true liana: the oldest stems grow several centimetres thick and hang like ropes through the trees.
• In France it is also called ‘herbe aux gueux’, beggars’ herb: beggars rubbed the irritating sap on their skin to raise sores and so arouse pity.
• Vitalba comes from vitis alba, ‘white vine’. Traveller’s joy climbs like a vine but belongs to the buttercup family.