Hi Damn, I'm emailing you! would love some seeds, take a look at my list! Maryann

I live in your area and here's how I approach pruning - it's not the most conventional method but it works well for me. I have too many clematis and of different types to worry about too many specific pruning methods, so I either prune or I don't prune! Type 1 or those that bloom before May - armandii, montanas, macropetalas and alpinas, etc., I don't ever prune except to control size and then as soon after blooming as I can manage. Type 2&3 get pruned the same by me - 2's are generally most of the large flowered hybrids and bloom beginning around mid-May. 3's are late blooming clematis and start around the end of June. Some will continue to produce flowers until frost, others (like SAC) bloom the end of August into September. I cut all these back hard around the same time I prune my roses, about the beginning of March. By hard, I mean down to 3-4 fat buds. This more uniform, all-the-same pruning method does delay the flowering a bit on the 2's but not significantly so. I also fertilize them well at pruning time. I have rabbits and use their manure but tomato or rose fertilizer works well, as does a good heaping of compost, which helps to conserve moisture at the root zone as well as supply nutrients. These are not precisely the guidelines outlined by the experts, but then the methods they advocate are just that - guidelines - and can be adapted as you see fit. And as I stated this pretty uniform approach works great for me and you don't need to worry who's who. If you purchased your new F&G show Nelly from Clearview, it is still a tiny thing and needs to be grown on for a season before planting out. Pot it up in a larger, 1 gallon pot with a quality potting mix and provide lots of TLC. This time next year, plant in its permanent location.

yea i pulled them out and looked... i very carefully removed the plant and soil from the little drinking cups i have them in so that i could carefully remove the soil in case there were roots... i just did this with a bunch of them because im trying to keep some sort of log... i recieved almost all of them on the 4th and they were potted up the same day, im so sick over my black dragon though because im in LOVE with its leaves!!!! if it doesent root than the first time i have money (probably birthday time in dec.) im gonna be buying one or going on the waiting list for one... depending if Joni has any available at that time... ill probably put in a order for some other pubicalyxs too because i feel like i gotta have em all, lol. i have pubicalyx 'red buttons' and 'pink silver' that was grown from seed... and if my black dragon makes it than i have that one too... i really want pubicalyx 'hawaiian purple', pubicalyx 'bright one' and i think i want a 'pink silver' that wasnt started from seed just so i can see if there are any differences... and i know there are other pubicalyxs out there calling my name... lol

I have to agree with Bullthistle. Small plants (pint or even some quart sized pots) and bareroots do much better if potted up in one gallon sized pots, grown out for at least the current growing season, and then planted. You can give the plants the water and fertilizer they need and know that you are giving them enough by the water running out of the bottom of the pot. In the ground, you really can't see if the roots are getting enough water or not. When potting them up, plant them several inches deeper in the new pots than they were in their original pots since this buries dormant nodes which can give rise to new vines out from the crown of the plant. Do this also when you plant the clematis in the ground. As far as pruning goes, both type IIs and type IIIs should be treated as type IIIs during the first year or so that you have them. This allows the plants to develop a strong root system, stimulates more dormant buds to break and gives you more vines, and really helps to get the plants off to a good start. After the first year, you only have to trim type IIs to contain their size or trim out deadwood. However in my zone 7a garden, I have treated some of my type IIs as IIIs their entire lives and they have generated more vines out of the crown than those treated as tradtitional type IIs. I also will treat some of my type IIs as type IIs early in the spring (no trimming back) and then in midsummer when they typically brown out in the heat and humidity, cut them back by half or so, keep them watered and fertilized, and gotten a second flush of blooms late in the summer or early fall. The thing to remember is that the pruning rules are not written in stone and are general guidelines to be followed until you determine what works best for you in your zone.