White Clematis

The wild Clematis species native to China made their way into Japanese gardens by the 17th century. Japanese garden selections were the first exotic clematises to reach European gardens, in the 18th century, long before the Chinese species were identified in their native haunts at the end of the 19th century (Wikipedia). Spotted this beautiful plant in an Emeryville public park restroom building. One of my favorite flowers--unfortunately I cannot get it to grow in my garden.