Cutting them back only delays flowering. It doesn't stop it or harm the plants. In fact, cutting them back makes them fuller and invigorates them. Better to cut them back than not. If you've got brown growth with new shoots cut all the brown growth back to the lowest buds even though they are dormant. It will sprount out more vines. All Clematis, no matter what variety they are should be hard pruned the first few years.

I thought mine had died in the pot after the temps dipped but I yanked it out to reuse the dirt and it looks to be alive and just dormant. The roots curled into a loose ball (looks like a tarantula) and have color on them. My question is how do you know when to divide them? Do they put out obvious side shoots like Cannas?

We had a business on a busy highway, and I planted iris, daylilies, cannas and hollyhocks near the ditch in a raised bed. We had to relocate because the highway expanded this summer, and after our building was gone, I saw people there digging out the iris. I was happy to see other people think like I do and want to "rescue" plants, and also grateful that I didn't have to do all the work of digging! I had given away all I could before we had to leave. I'm looking for another highway beautification project for next year! I agree with Laurie that nursing homes are great places to donate iris, as are schools.

I have five kids (eldest is almost 12, youngest is almost 2) -- they are fantastic, incredible, wonderful creatures :-) We have four sons and a daughter, and our home is filled with the sounds of giggling and arguing and jumping and running and chitter-chatter. My husband and I go to bed every night thanking one another for the family we have. The first two boys (26 months apart) each arrived 11 weeks preterm (29 weeks' gestation) and required months of hospitalization in the NICU, including multiple surgeries, ambulance rides and long nights of wondering if they'd survive until morning. They finally became healthy little toddlers and I had my tubes tied, thinking there was no way I could bear to bring another baby into a terrifying scenario like that again. Time passed, and the yearning got only stronger for more children...I discovered the source of my obstetric problems (a congential gynecological defect) and underwent a grueling seven-hour surgery to repair my tubes and correct my dysfunctional anatomy. Went on to have three more scrumptious kids and now I have five healthy, gorgeous children. It's exhausting, yes. It sometimes causes a bit of financial juggling (I'm a SAHM). The volume in my house is often very high with clamors for my attention or frustrations among the siblings, but it's nothing compared to the joy of hearing them laugh uncontrollably during an afternoon of goofing off as a family. I don't worry about the teenage years -- we've done our best to lay the groundwork to raise our kids with enormous self-respect and self-esteem. They'll make mistakes, I'm sure of it, but hopefully they'll return to their core values and continue to grow into fine adults. Until then, we have years of baking cookies, chasing the dog around the backyard, monitoring homework and tidying up mountains of Hot Wheels and multi-colored wooden blocks with these sweet, funny little kids we're so lucky to call our own. It's all good. Create the family you want, and then pour your heart and soul into enjoying your blessings. If you already feel sad about *no more babies, ever* and the vasectomy hasn't even happened yet, you're clearly not ready to move on -- you'll know in your heart which path is right for you and your family. Warm regards.