I am somewhat confused on Huldine. It was mentioned on this post that it was type 2,however, I thought it was considered type 3 so checked Clematis on the Web and they state is hard prune type 3. Guess the main reason I am interested is that the Huldine I planted about 3 years ago has not really bloomed well for me, in fact last year it wilted and I cut it back and it did start growing later in the season but only produced a few blooms.Type 2's don't do that well for me so maybe that was the problem. Just curious.Lois

ay, boy am I a picky girl when it comes to color talk. The only REAL way to successfully discuss flower color is with a reference chart like the RHS color chart (Royal Hort Soc, those clem-crazy Brits!) Raymond Evison named Rebecca for his oldest daughter and he feels it is the best true red clem. I have ordered Alita; she looks lovely, but she is not red to me. Many of us have certain colors that we dislike. For me, the most painful color is the red purple of the common rhodos that you see in front of millions of New England homes. And unfortunately, that color is very common in clems. Also, IMO, gg48 is right on the money about this. In light w/ that, my opinions of varieties I have grown: --Niobe is my fav for her deep wine color; I haven't found any others to match her color --Julia correvon is not maroon (I wish) but a cerise/blue red Same w/ Rouge cardinal and Bourbon. -- I adore Avante Garde but she is not burgundy; she is more dark cerise/hot pink. Annette, when you told us about your 2 Rebeccas that do not resemble @ other, did you double check the placement of the photos? Because when I look at the rightmost top row clem, and the 2nd from the Left on the second row- they both look exactly the same to me, and they are identical to Evison's photo. What makes clem. colors all the more difficult to agree on - are light and growing conditions( and how old the flower is) AND the variation in color blindness amongst individuals! btw, ay, Rebecca is also sold by Klehms/Songsparrow and it seems they send 2 quart plants. I have an order w/ them; has anyone bought clems from them before? (I bought peonies from them 30 yrs ago.)

A tangutica of some kind (yellow) would provide late interest. They get quite large and would no doubt survive the greedy thirsty roots of surrounding shrubs. Could the shrubs take it though is the question! They have gorgeous seedheads at this time too. Take a look here: http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=513 Here are the seedheads of mine, taken this week. I also love Anita, which you can find on the same website.

One more I forgot, Venosa Violacea has purple and white flowers. Again, CotW says it will get larger than I see it in my garden, up to 4 meters, but it stays below 12’ in my garden. I will post some photos of these in my garden when I can with my slow internet Rebecca (red), Piilu (pink), and C. recta ‘ Seriuos Black’ (nonclimbing white with darker foliage) in year 3 in my garden. Little Bas growing into Hydrangea paniculata Quickfire