Contact the Raleigh Rose Society for specific information Raleigh Rose Society Apex, NC David Illg, President 919-779-2969 dsillg@mindspring.com They should be able to give you the best advice for your area. Diane's comment "never "too late" but it might be "too early", is absolutely correct. Just ask all those who pruned too early last year and got caught by the Easter Freeze. Following is a link to the Raleigh RS monthly guide for growing roses the Raleigh area. Here is a link that might be useful: Monthly guide

The typical pruning rules for type II clematis are that they are not pruned back each year and when they are pruned back, it is to remove deadwood and to contain the size of the plant. That being said, clematis of all pruning types benefit from being treated as type III clematis (ie cut back to within several inches of the ground) the first and second years in the ground. This helps the plant get its root system established and causes dormant buds to break on the crown, resulting in more vines coming up out of the ground. That being said, I personally treat my type IIs as type III each and every year. Sometimes they are cut back in the winter when I cut back my type IIIs and other times I wait until midsummer when the vines tend to get brown and crunchy regardless of how much water I give them over the course of the summer. When I trim in midsummer, I typically cut the plants back by half, fertilize them with a slow release fertilizer, and keep them watered. They reward me with another big flush of blooms in the early fall. Another good reason to treat your type IIs as IIIs is that as the type IIs mature, the lower vines tend to get woody, you get less or no leaf growth on them, and you end up with a clematis with what is referred to as 'naked legs.' Treating them as type IIs, either yearly or in alternating years, helps to prevent this condition. Consider the pruning rules for all classes of clematis as basic rules that are not written in stone, but just general guidelines. Here is a picture of Proteus and Piilu that were cut back to within several inches of the ground this past winter and they are both back up to over 5 feet tall and still blooming like mad in my garden. People in colder zones may not be able to get by with treating type IIs as type IIIs since the type IIs bloom on older wood and in the colder zones, the vines may not have enough time to mature to produce the buds for flower production. Those of us in most parts of NC don't have to worry with this. Experimentation with your pruning of any type of clematis in your own garden will let you know what you can get away with and what you can't. The only downside to treating type IIs as type IIIs that I can think of is that some of the double flowering type IIs require both old wood and a winter chill to produce the double flowers. Closeup of double blooms on Proteus. Closer up view of Piilu.

Thanks Lago Mar... I live off of Great Neck... Lots of damaged ones around here, it just so sad. I have seen some that have green pushing now.. So if they would clean them up, they would look a lot better. I'm not sure of the damage to the big Sabal, but I did have one at our business and I did lose if after a few years. The trunk is peeling away, but it is looking green and lush, so I'm not sure what this is. The good news is that all of the tress in the back yard will survive including the questioned Butias.. I just need to trim the Sabals and just be patient with Mother Nature. I did have to get rid of the other Butias in the front yard. It wasn't planted very deep and was the youngest of them all.. I'm very happy tho.. Thanks for asking. I hope you didn't have any losses? Take care and have a wonderful holiday weekend!!! Laura

Hi Parker, that’s interesting you mention grafting to another rootstock. There is actually a type of citrus tree directly next to the area I’d like to plant. I don’t know if it is wild, or was planted by previous owners (+ 12 years ago). It has the trifoliate (sp?) type leaf and produces two or three perfectly golf ball sized inedible fruit. It is the thorniest tree I have ever seen, so I just prune it to six feet tall or so, to keep it neat looking. The southern blight had no effect on it. So I suppose this might be a sign that a citrus rootstock may be able to survive - I could plant the original which is grafted. Thanks.