Polish Jesuit, Blooming Jesuit

Born in 1917, Stefan Franczak, a Polish Jesuit, began breeding clematis in the 1960s in the garden that he had created 10 years earlier at a Jesuit college in Warsaw. Brother Stefan looked for clematis "with large flowers of a bright color (red, violet, etc.) with stiff tepals and contrasting stamens," says Polish nurseryman Dr. Szczepan Marczynski.

He often named his cultivars after notable Poles or events in Polish history. One example is Jan Pawell II, sometimes sold as John Paul II, a cream-flowered cultivar with pink stripes named for the late pope, who was Archbishop of Krakow before his elevation to the papacy.

Though hampered at times by both his own order and the Polish government, Brother Stefan worked with English nurseryman Jim Fisk, who introduced the Franczak clematis into commerce.

While the clematis have flourished in the international marketplace, the same cannot be said of Brother Stefan's garden. Since 1996, authorities at the Jesuit college have reduced its size, first to accommodate the construction of a new church and then to increase the amount of lawn space.

Fortunately, his countrymen can now purchase his clematis from Polish nurseries.

Link (here)

Photo is is of Br. Stephan and the clematis is a John Paul II