Clematis prefer much the same growing conditions as roses - deep, organically rich soil, regular watering during summer and similar nutrient requirements. That's one of the reasons they make such good planting companions. Some clematis are quite shade tolerant but most will prefer at least 6 hours of sun daily to bloom well. Bicolors or ones that have colored bars in the petals and some pinky colored ones can bleach out if in full day sun, so some partial shade, especially in the hot afternoon, may be best for these varieties. It depends on the clematis type as to how and when they bloom. Some bloom once only in early spring, some bloom in midspring, some may bloom then and then produce a small rebloom later and some don't bloom until midsummer or into fall. When you want the flowering will determine which varieties to choose from but it is possible, in mild climates, to have some type of clematis in bloom virtually every month of the year. 'Snow Queen' produces its primary bloom flush in mid to late spring on growth produced the previous year and it can produce a later, lighter bloom in late summer or early fall on the current season's growth. Clematis cannot be allowed to dry out. Neither do they like soggy soil. The often repeated suggestion that they need their roots in shade is really just to encourage a cool and evenly moist root run. Water enough to keep the soil at the base evenly moist - not too wet, never too dry. Containerized clematis need even more attention - a confined root system and not very much soil will necessitate daily watering in hot weather, perhaps even several times a day. And frequent fertilization, as all that watering removes nutrients that must be replaced. In very warm or dry weather, some varieties may experience dried lower foliage. This is not unusual and really not much of a concern, although not the most attractive look. Clematis wilt is a serious issue that affects primarily the large flowering hybrids - species clematis and those hybrids very close to the species (like the viticella hybrids) tend to be immune to it. There is some debate on what exactly is the cause, a fungal organism or just a phenomenon of very rapid topgrowth that the fragile stems cannot fully support. In either case, it is seldom fatal and just requires the plants be pruned back hard and then given normal care. You can often short circuit wilt issues by careful planting (deep, so that 2-4 inches of stem are buried) and hard pruning for the first couple of seasons. This encourages a better developed root system and more stems being produced from the root crown, so increased resistance to this problem. The good news is that most plants will outgrow a tendency to wilt by their fifth year. For someone new to clematis, the viticellas often are suggested as a good place to start. They are tough, vigorous vines that bloom from midsummer through to fall. They tend to have smaller flowers than the popular but more finnicky large flowered hybrids (like 'Snow Queen') but they are produced in profusion over a long season. They are resistant to wilt and are the most easily pruned, cutting back hard each spring to around 18" or to the third set of buds if a very well established vine.

I try to group them by pruning type to make pruning easier. I try to put ones that are type 1 & 2 where I don't have to look at them in the winter since the dead vines aren't too decorative. The areas I see in winter get type 3's since I can prune them back in early winter and just have the trellis or bare-branched shrub that it is growing on to look at.

Blackie, so it is...Thanks. I have it listed wrong on my chart. Suzy, Good memory. They promised scaffolding (and is one reason why I picked them), but they did not come through. They did temporary ladder to ladder scaffolding from time to time, but there was still constant ladders in and out of all the beds. The tri-clematis wall was the tightest space and got the most damage, but I'm hoping the plants will be back to normal next year. They also stepped on an emerging martagon lily that suffered a lot. And some emerging hosta tips got bent resulting in torn foliage. And this was with them being extra careful where they stepped due to the obsessive gardener/homeowner in their midsts! If we could have done it in March as planned, it would have been fine. The timing was super close. Mounting the painted trellises back up on the wall was the very last step. Niobe was growing in leaps and bounds those last few days. The bottom of the trellis was covered in Niobe as soon as it was mounted. The bad part about the painting job is that they might have to come back in the fall to redo some spots that the primer did not adhere to well and got some blistering. I think I would rather take the risk of the paint peeling than have to deal with painters again :-)

Everywhere is going to offer different growing conditions and that's going to affect the timing of flowering as well. Here it is almost September and my triternata 'Rubromarginata', 'Sweet Summer Love' and 'My Angel' are showing no signs of flowering yet. Durandii is my only 3 that is currently flowering and it will continue until October without any need to cut back. I will say that up until late July, our summer had been unusually cooler than normal but since then, we have had stretches of very warm - for us - weather with a higher percentage of upper 80's - low 90's than typical. If you have group 3's flowering as early as June, then by all means I would see if you can encourage a rebloom by some moderate pruning. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to cut back too severely. Wouldn't hurt the vine at all but I'd be afraid of eliminating any rebloom.