I'm no expert, by far, I have about 20 clemmies, most are Group 3, and range in age from 10 years to planted this past spring. For what it's worth, here's my experience from zone 5:

Wilt - only on type 2

Longest bloomers Polish Spirit (purple - 2 years old) x durandii (indigo blue - 2 years old ), both bloomed until late fall, & tanguitica Sheriffi (yellow -5 years old) til heavy frost, with heavy attractive seed heads that persist into early winter and look good backlit. I have had 1 seedling vine from sheriffi, which I have passed on to a friend.

Two viticellas - Mme Julia Correvon (dark rose pink ) & Betty Corning (light bluish lavender)- both reblooomed for me in their 1st season, pretty heavy 2nd flush on MJC, so so on Betty.

I would not worry about wilt attacking any viticella that your are likely to purchase. I'm not sure about the Type 3 large flowered ones - I've never had wilt on any of mine, but they have established slower for me than the viticellas. I have had no rebloom so far on any of them, with bloom usually lasting about 3 - 4 weeks only.

Karen, typically the type II large flowering hybrids are more prone to wilt than any of the other types of clematis. Some have reported wilt on type III clematis and even some of the viticellas but I often wonder when people say they have wilt whether it is really the typical clematis wilt or something else that is mimicking the disease.

As to which clematis are more resistant to clematis wilt, I recommend you visit the International Clematis Society Website linked below where they have the best clematis for beginners listed by category.

There are several blue-purple clematis that will fill the bill for your situation including Polish Spirt, Blue Belle, Jackmanii, Etoile Violette, and others shown on the International Clematis Society webpage where they have pictures for many of the varieties they recommend. For others you are unsure of the color of, visit Clematis on the Web and search for the varieties because they have pictures for all the common varieties you are likely to find locally. You can also search for clematis by color and the descriptions will give you the final height in meters (one meter is equal to about 3.28 feet for your info). Their website is as follows:

http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/index.html

Although you are looking for taller types of clematis, if you are into purple (and I am unashamedly am), I think you should look into Petit Faucon. It is an integrifolia which does not cling by itself but can be tied in, will get about
five feet or so in height (for me anyway) and blooms for me from late April well into September with sporadic blooms into October. Gotta love that!

Here is a link that might be useful: Best Clematis for Beginners on I Cl S Website

Just to add to Miguel's words of wisdom, clematis wilt is by no means a clearly identified pathogen. Debate has been going on for eons as to the source of the problem, with differing camps believing it is a fungal problem and others of the opinion that it is a genetic abnormality. I lean towards the second opinion, as wilt tends to be less of a problem (if at all) with species clematis but gets more prevelent the further one travels from the species and more into hybridization. In fact, as Miguel points out, the large flowering hybrids, which encompass all of group II, are most prone to it.

Karen, your experience bears out this theory - the clems you have had the best luck with re: wilt are either species clematis or those with very direct parentage, like most of the viticellas. I would not necessarily shy away from group II forms, though. Clematis wilt is seldom fatal and with deep planting and some establishment, young hybrids generally will grow out of it. FWIW, much of my clematis collection are plants returned to the nursery because of clematis wilt - proper planting, a little TLC and they have all outgrown the problem.

Those links are great! I will have to access teh second one form work for a beginner list!

I appreciate the advise of varieties that work well for you. And the fact that wilt isn't a death sentence is new info to me.

I was unable to find which type of prune schedule this " c.gillian blades" do you know?
Karen

Karen, here is a direct link below to Clematis on the Web where you can find pruning groups for any clematis under the search the database feature. Alternately, you can click on Clematis A to Z and search under the listings for G. Gillian Blades, by the way, is a type II pruning group clematis.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis on the Web search feature

According to John Howells in one of his books only the Early large group 2 are susceptible to Clematis wilt or stem rot identified by a black mass right above a leaf node. The fungus starts from a leaf (brown patches) then extends down the stalk to the node on the green stem. The late large group 3 partly repels this fungus.

I have a (very personal) opinion about wilt. I don't believe we get it very bad in California because it is not humid here. Lots of my friends on this forum have written about it but it seems to crop up most in the humid areas of the country. I have had partial wilt on a few new type 2's but the wilt never happened again the next year on any of those plants. Many clematis diebacks are actually not wilt. With wilt I think the branch or plant collapses completely within 24 hours and the collapsed leaves turn black not brown. Cut off the affected area right away and trash it, do not compost it. Here, I never worry about it and I have over 200 clematis.

Katie

You folks have been so helpful.
I can't imagine 200 types!
Ok I was able to run the beginner list thru the other site and picked out some names IN ADDITION to the ones mentioned in previous posts=THX SO MUCH

If anyone has personal experience wiht these do LMK
I'm curious if these bloom longer than 3 weeks in YOUR GARDEN and if they are fussy/wilty. Not all are type 3.

alpina
'frankie'
'Fujimusume'
'General sikorski'
'The President'
'arabella'
'Ascotiensis'

I'd like to know if the following are REALLY blue in your garden. Blue is so hard to find...I didn't know clematis even came in blue. I wonder if these are more purple than blue..I also have a blue themed garden...
'Ascotiensis'
'frankie'
'fujimusume'

thank you so much
Karen

Katie, since you live in Northern CA, I do hope you build your nursery where I can buy more Clematis. I want to add more to what I have now, only 44 so far. I don't have a big yard as yours but containers will do just fine for me. Chalk Hill in Healdsburg is too far from me and Joy Creek is even further but I would love to go see a Clematis nursery.

Dedith, I know you consider Chalk Hill too far but perhaps you could make a special arrangement. It's really worth the visit. If you already have 44 I can tell you are a complete clematis "nut", just like me!

Yes, I would love to start a backyard nursery but I don't know if it will ever get off the ground. I have over 100 duplicates in one gallon containers that I have layered over the last 2-3 years. Right now I just give them away to friends. I am trying to do a website to encourage local visitors. I hope to open my garden next spring on weekends for 4-6 weeks to encourage visitors.

Katie