I'm in Saint Clair Shores. (further east than your daughter by about 30 or so minutes) From Farmington Hills your daughter would go 696 East the Gratiot exit. From the exit, turn right and drive approx 1 1/2 miles. The nursery is on the right-hand side just south of 10 mile road. They are open daily except for Sundays. The is another great nursery more out your way, well at least not in this direction. They do stock species clematis, but not cultivars like we normally discuss in this forum. I will include the link to their website at the bottom of this page. If the link does not work, the place is called Arrowhead Alpines and it is located in Fowlerville. For me the drive is worth it as they stock more unusual plants than almost anywhere else in the Midwest, heck they probably have one of the largest stock of plants in the country. ~Chills Here is a link that might be useful: Arrowhead Alpines

Romanticdreamer, my SAC does the exact same thing that yours does and has done so for the entire 5 years it has been in place. My explanation for why the leaves on the interior part of the plant brown out is that the leaves are so hidden from the sunlight as the amount of leaves and vines increases that the ones that are hidden from the sun can't photosynthesize and therefore they die. The problem gets worse as the season progresses and the amount of leaves increases on the top and shades out the interior leaves. It can be rather unsightly but it has never hurt my plant or its ability to bloom. As for the leaves on the backside of your plant, the same could be the reason there. If that side of the plant is in a shady area or is shaded by the increasing size of the plant, that could be the reason. Another possibility is that some clematis don't like the extreme heat and humidity, especially here in the south. Typically, my type II clematis have serious brown out problems once the temps get above 85 degrees. As I said earlier, my SAC has done this interior brown out thing for the five years I have had it, even during years when we have had cooler and wetter weather so I think the most probable cause of your interior brown out is the exterior vines of the plant shading out the interior vines and causing them to die. As for your evergreen clematis, there could be several explanations for one growing better than the other including differing soil fertility in the areas in which they are planted, soil moisture levels, amount of sun one plant gets versus the other, the amount of cold winter wind one plant may be exposed to versus the other, or even just genetic differences in the hardiness of one plant versus the other. You didn't say how long the two plants have been planted so it may just be that one plant got established quicker than the other one. One other possibility is that something is eating the roots of the slower growing plant, not enough to kill the plant but just preventing it from being as robust as the other. See if you can see any visible signs of this. Other than that, providing the smaller one with adequate moisture, mulch, and fertilization are your only alternatives at this time--that and wait and see how the less robust one performs over the long run.

I have been searching the web trying to identify a wild clematis in my yard and came across this thread. A thread that has been going for eight years. Tonight I have learned that there are several similar species and some are known by several names. Clematis terniflora has at least two synonyms:Clematis maximowicziana and Clematis paniculata. And at least three common names: Sweet Autumn Clematis, Sweet Autumn Virgin's Bower, Japanese Clematis. It is a native of Japan and in some areas is an invasive weed. In other areas it is loved like most on this thread love it. There several similar species called Sweet Autumn and virgin's bower. But, vary in number of leaflets water and light requirements. Some have no odor, some have complete flowers and some male and female flowers are on different plants. In western US the native Clematis ligusticifolia is very similar. Same rambunctious growth habit and similar scent. There are at least three cultivors of this species. One of them is naturalized here in Missouri. I am now searching to determine which I have.

Over the years I have found What I thought was large flowered clematis growing only for it to get out of control and recognize it too late for being sweet autumn clematis. How do I know early on what it is?