defining ambient light is near impossible with words .... you can have trees limbed up 40 feet .... be in total shade.. and have to wear sunglasses for the brightness ... or it can be so dark.. you need a flashlight at mid day ... 2 hours of direct light is very borderline, as you suspect ... but the amount of ambient light for the remainder of the day is determinative ... the only real solution .... GIVE IT A GO .... what is it.. a 10$ investment.. maybe 20 ... frankly .. all other things proper .... lack of sun simply reduces vigor .... it rarely kills ... you can always move it later if it isnt growing to expectation ... i planted a AC in full sun .. in the third year .. it covered a split rail fence for 15 feet in every direction ... if in 3 years.. your is only growing 3 feet .. then you have to think about moving it ... also .. since they bloom in the heat of summer.. you better have no fear of bees .... though the scent will help overcome such.. lol ... they are extremely busy on the plant.. and frankly .. unless provoked.. they would prefer to concentrate on the flower .... but some peeps just cant take the risk .. or have nerves of steel ..... ken PS: greenery is usually very capable of adjusting to reduced light... its the flower production that will be limited by lack of sun .. which may defeat the entire reason to buy this .... PPS: all that said... there is a clematis forum.. go figure .....

The term clematis paniculata as used by Bluestone is incorrect. Sweet autumn clematis is clematis terniflora. Clematis paniculata is an evergreen clematis native to New Zealand. See link below. Clematis terniflora can be found at most nurseries and is something that if I could purchase locally, would do so over ordering mail order. Not all clones of terniflora are scented so it is better to purchase a plant in bloom to make sure that it will be fragrant. Terniflora is very vigorous in my garden and is a mad reseeder. Some people consider it to be a weed and invasive due to its seedy nature, while in other people's gardens it is not as seedy. Whether it would do well under maple trees is unproven since maples are notorious for sucking moisture and nutrients out of the soil. The shade they cast may also hinder the plant's ability to thrive. My best suggestion is to see if you can purchase an inexpensive plant and see how it does. You will have to provide the plant some support to get it to climb into the limbs of the tree since the plant won't be able to climb the trunk of an older established tree due to the diameter of the trunk. Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis paniculata

RetroLady - I tried the silver lace vine, too. Bought it at Horn's as a very nice size plant. Made it 2 years and then died for some unknown reason. Anyway, I replaced it with S.A.C. and porcelain vine - both of which I really like. I plant a lot of things for my birds, and they love the berries on the porcelain vine. I bought a female bittersweet this year to go with my male and hope to have berries next year for it. I also have the Virginia Creeper (which is actually in my neighbor's yard, but the birds love the berries on it, and the sphinx moth cats I have found on it make it more than worthwhile to me. If you really want a fast growing, but not invasive vine, I would grow one of the clematis viticelli hybrids, like 'Polish Spirit'. It is easy to keep within bounds because you cut it down almost to the ground each spring and it rewards you with wonderful growth and flowers all summer. Most of the flowers occur in spring, but it continues to flower sparsely all summer long. It doesn't reseed at all, like SAC. The blooms are smaller than the bigger clematis in the jackmanii family, but it blooms so prolifically in spring, that it makes up for the bigger blooms. I have mine interspersed with C. tangutica, which blooms small yellow nodding blooms later in the summer, and passiflora 'Incense'. The 'Incense' is for the gulf fritillary caterpillars, and the blooms are outstanding. Have fun vining! Susan

Dazed77 -- Sweet autumn clematis has 1/2-2/3" white flowers that bloom late August/September. Looks like this: Not sure what your clematis might be -- there's a huge world of them! This is one of the most common, a Jackmanii: If you really want to track down what type it is, post a picture or a description on the clematis forum. They're experts!