A photo might help, but there are a large number of light blue/purple clematis and big box stores aren't known for accurate tags. In general, the bloom time is what tells you how to prune it. When did it bloom? If it bloomed with Empress, which is a type 2 (or B) prune, then it should be pruned the same way. Type 2 plants bloom on old growth and some on new growth as well, so spring pruning should be dead wood only. Some plants bloom better a second time (usually about September) if pruned lightly right after the first bloom to encourage new growth and to remove the old flowers. I don't grow Empress, and I am too far north to get second bloom on my type 2 clematis, so I don't know if you will get a second bloom if you prune lightly. Check to see if there buds forming on either plant over the next month. Even if they don't bloom a second time this year, they may in the future as they mature and get settled in. You said "on the front porch." Did you plant them in the ground or are they still in their pots? It is much easier to grow clematis well in the ground for beginners IMO. They are heavy feeders (same type of fertilizer as for roses in spring) and have large root balls. They like even moisture, so a mulch is helpful as well. There is also a clematis forum here on GW, though as far as I am concerned posting here is fine also.

I agree with Janet and as she well knows I have beating this drum for several years now. The old adage of heads in the sun and feet in the shade is an old wives tale. Moisture is what is required and that typically occurs when the roots are shaded since it slows down the evaporation of the water in the soil and the consistent moisture is the critical element, along with appropriate fertilization. For what it is worth, I have potted up countless numbers of clematis into one gallon sized pots and left them in the sun where they get morning sun thru midafternoon sun and they have been fine. One definite advantage of sinking the pots in the ground is that you won't have to water the pots as much since the soil will act as an insulator to the desication of moisture from the potting mix. Just make sure that the surrounding soil drains well or your pots could hold too much moisture and cause root rot.

Suzy, I can very well understand that all zone 6s are not the same and that really all zone maps give you is an estimation of the temperature minimums in a given area. The maps not only don't take into account microclimates within a zone so that someone listed as being in a zone 6 could actually be in a zone 4 or a zone 7, but also don't take in humidity, temperature vacillations over summer or winter, etc.. All that taken into consideration, I was responding to your statement that people in Massachusetts can't treat their type IIs as type IIIs. I understand that in your experience with the type IIs you have attempted to treat as type IIIs, they did not do well, but that might not be the same experience someone else living in zone 6 Massachusetts may have. Add to that the fact that not all type IIs are cut of the same cloth. Some are more vigorous growers than others. Some are hybrids of more sturdy and rambunctious growers than others. Additionally, how old the plants are when they are either pruned back or nipped back to the ground by an extremely cold winter will also affect how robustly they grow next year. In my experiences in zone 7a, the type IIs that have responded most positively to either my cutting them back (intentionally or otherwise) or their getting cut back due to dieback and then responding by blooming in short order are Sunset, Proteus, and Blue Light. These can be cut back and be in rebloom within a month to a month and one half at the max. Sunset was originally purchased and supposed to be Margot Koster, a type III, so she was cut back in winter as is customary with type IIIs and came back like gangbusters in the early spring as though she hadn't been cut back at all. On the other hand, my HF Young and another unknown type II were cut back within the same time frame as the Blue Light and although they have responded by putting out a lot of foliage, HF Young has only put out two blooms so far and the other, none at all. Blue Light responded quite dramatically with 15 or so blooms. Here's what I don't quite understand about the type IIs and their growth patterns in your experience. Let's say you have Blue Light and it gets frozen back to the ground over the course of the winter (something that has probably happened to quite a few type II clematis in your zone and lower). My Blue Light survives as it typically does unscathed, blooms with double blooms in the midspring and over the course of the summer browns out. I cut it back in late July to within 6 to 8 inches of the ground and one and a half months later it is putting on its second flush of single blooms on new wood. How can your plant, which was frozen back to the ground over the winter, have all spring and summer to bloom and still not generate enough new wood to bloom? It just doesn't make sense that it would be an issue of growing season length since the plant would have from when it emerged in spring until the fall to generate new wood on which it could bloom before it would be bitten back by frost. Can you see why I am having problems comprehending why the type IIs don't respond to either intentionally being cut back in the fall or even early spring for that matter and their inability to bloom that same year--even if it is at the end of the growing season? Which type IIs have you tried this with and how old were the plants when you tried this? Have you tried this with established plants of Blue Light, Sunset, or Proteus? Thanks for your time in answering these questions, although for Taylor who originated this thread, the answer is probably mute. It sounds as if his potted clematis is in a pot under the porch and the vines have intertwined themselves in the lattice. The only way he can plant it or move it into a protected area is going to be to trim it back. Trying to remove mature vines that are intertwined in lattice will be difficult if not impossible.

I'm no expert, but have grown quite a few clematis and I've overwintered frail ones under lights in the house and also planted them out in early fall and left them to fend for themselves in our bitter winters. Both methods have been successful. If the clem has a chance to develop a good root systemÂin zone 6 that shouldn't be a problemÂthere's every reason to think it will sprout for you in the spring. I'd make a nice big hole and fill it with good soil and plenty of compost to make the roots feel welcome. Also plant it a couple of inches below the soil line (from where it was in the pot). GarystPaul