Jeanne will be along to help and since she lives in your climate her answer will be more authoritative than mine, but I think either would do OK. I would go with Jackmanii.

Denise..there is NO COMPARISON..Why have clematis "Jackmanii" when you can have the stunning Clematis "Venosa Violacea"?? I love her so much I planted 3~ !!
Get it..you'll love it and thank me for it later..lol...Jeanne
{{gwi:581526}}
{{gwi:581528}}

I agree, VV is sooooo gorgeous, why have boring ol' Jackmannii.

I actually ordered both--ha! The one that goes in the hot spot is going to be next to my new Crepuscule (which Jeanne also enabled me to get):). My choice was to put Venosa with Crepuscule, but I didn't want it to get "overheated". I guess Jack will go across the yard with John Huxtable, then.

Thanks for the input!
Denise

I also like vv better. I just wasn't sure it would hold up as well in that afternoon Texas sun. My Jackmanii is in full sun and does well, but VV is in partial shade.

Bob, I thought the same thing...then I remembered I have an Elsa Spath in the same area that gets alot of hot sun and she seems to be pretty happy. I would think Elsa would be pretty delicate, too...wouldn't you? Maybe it's just because she's lavender. :)

Hey Bob and Denise..I DO have clematis "Jackmanii" and it does great..when I was ordering it Debbie asked me why I wanted that one..My reasoning was well, it is a staple in most gardens and one of the George Jackman Clems..I also have clematis "John Huxtable"..Debbie talked me into that one when I wanted the infamous "Huldine" that everyone keeps showing their outstanding pics of..and raves about it's vigor..well I did plant two last year and one is growing by leaps and bounds like my Clematis "John Huxtable" and the other "Huldine" is about 2 inches tall little poof just sitting there looking at me saying.."Ok, so I'm a dwarf and don't wanna grow!"..shesshhh..clematis are never the same!!..Jeanne
ps..My Elsa is in hot sun too and does great!!

Huldine I would like a lot if it would bloom a little lower on the vine. It is vigorous and doing well but even though I cut every vine back to 1 leaf node all blooms turn out to be at least 6 ft. high. Perle d'Azur does the same. Love the color but wish the lower part could be covered with bloom like the upper.

Oh Bob..did you have to tell me that!!..LOL..I planted two of them...Jeanne

I decided in Feb to plant daylilies in front of mine. That should help.

I like Jack because of the shear volume/mass of flowers. Venosa is great too??? Darn, which is it???? Later Gianty.

We have a couple of each of these. VV is perhaps our favorite clematis for shear appearance of the blooms but it's not as prolific as some viticellas or Jack.

Note: we rarely plant one clematis in a spot but 2 or 3. This gives a longer season of bloom and it's easy to snip here and there to keep one of them if it dominates too much.

I have both, and they are both beauties. You can't go wrong with either one. So, you'd better get both. ;^)

"VV is perhaps our favorite clematis for shear appearance of the blooms but it's not as prolific as some viticellas or Jack"
Alpiner..that is not the same experience that we Texans get with VV..maybe it's because of your colder/shorter growing season?..Mine blooms profusely and is so vigorous!!..I hard prune again after her bloom period/refertilize and get another bloom period..sometimes three!!..Jeanne

Well, Venosa went in next to Crespuscule! I think it should be pretty. I got Crepescule yesterday and when I opened the box there was a baby bloom. I set it out in the sun this afternoon while I was digging holes and it opened up and was so pretty! I think I'm going to like this rose.

Denise..VV will look stunning with Climbing Rosa "Crepuscule"!!..I planted Clematis "Ville de Lyon" with mine!!.."Crepuscule" is loaded full of buds and will share pics when it blooms..Here is my "Ville de Lyon"...Jeanne
{{gwi:581529}}

Jeanne--Your Villa de Lyon is beautiful!! What a beautiful color! Can't wait to see pictures of your Crepuscule when she blooms! How long have you had her? Can't wait to see some bloom "action" with this one! :)

Denise

I planted both "Crepuscule" and "Ville de Lyon" last fall...I am very pleased with the performance so far with VDL considering it's first growing season in my gardens!!..I have buds on "Crepuscule"..tons and will share when open..what was sooooo weird was I was standing outside on the screened in porch yesterday afternoon and saw sleet starting to come down..LOL...it accumulated for about 5 minutes and then melted..that was so weird...Jeanne

I know! We had flurries here yesterday! When I looked out the back door of my townhouse, I though someone was sweeping off their balcony at first--ha! Took a minute to register what it was--us Texans are not used to the white stuff, especially in April!

"--us Texans are not used to the white stuff, especially in April!"
Ain't that the truth..I used to live in Odessa Texas and it snowed there like once every ten years...and I saw it snow once in Lafayette Lousiana when I lived there...

I'd also be concerned about VV holding up to that absolutely blazing sun you people get down there. Despite daily waterings, last year the flowers on my VV had fried when temps rose up to 95f ... indeed what a disappointment, as the plant had thrown about 30 stems and was totally covered in bloom!

I'm not so keen upon plain old Jackmanii, THOUGH I really do love Jackmanii Superba! This one has better form, colour and substance, definitely a time tested gem!

Terry

Jeanne--how much sun does your Venosa get? Is it afternoon sun? I planted it in my west bed already, but I guess I could move it--yuk. ;)

Denise

My VV..gets about 8 hours sun and has never fried...Jeanne