Poseidon is a compact clematis, climbing just 3 to 4 feet, with generous red-pink blooms from spring into summer. Its restrained size is the appeal: it dresses a mailbox, porch rail, obelisk, or large container without swallowing the structure.

Follow the old clematis rule, head in the sun and feet in the shade: give the vine sun and keep the root zone cool with mulch or a low companion plant. Moist, well-drained soil suits it, and bees and butterflies visit the blooms.