If you watch the seedheads, they will turn brown and you will know that the seeds are ripening when the Goldfinches cling to the heads and start picking off seeds. They eat them in tidy little rows. I try to harvest some of the seedheads before the finches get them all, and store them in the garage. Then I tape up a bunch of them to one of the bird-feeding poles for the Finches to eat during the winter (they love 'em). Despite the finches eating most of the seed, the Echinacea still self-sows abundantly in the gardens, too much even.

Sissylougal, it really depends on the clematis you are talking about. Generally speaking, yes deadheading can prolong flower production in clematis. If I deadhead my Petit Faucon, it will flower from April until late August/early September. Other clematis you can deadhead and the plants may or may not rebloom. What I have found to be the best way to keep clematis in bloom is to cut the plants back by 1/2 to 2/3 after the first flush of flowers, water and fertilize the plant well, and it typically reblooms again in the fall. Also a point to note, just because the flowers fade and fluffy plumes start forming does not mean that the clematis is going to seed. Some clematis are sterile and can never form seeds, for example Purpurea Plena Elegans. Others have eggs that are fertile but their pollen is sterile, such as Betty Corning. To see if the plant is actually going to seed, you have to look past the fluffy plumes and look at where the styles attach to the stem. If you start seeing roundish objects forming there, then the plant has been fertilized and is producing seed. If you see this happening, then definitely cut them off since seed production zaps a lot of strength out of the plant. Some examples of fertilized seeds on the plant. Also, take note that seeds of different clematis are of different sizes.

No clematis do not need to be deadheaded. I generally do it on young plants just so that any seeds that develop get removed so the plant can concentrate its energy on its own development rather than the seeds. However, there is no need to do so on most clematis once established. This is especially true if you want to grow clematis from seed--where would you get seeds if you deadheaded them all?

Clematis mystery...Last year what I think was Comtesse de Bruchard(sorry about the wrong spelling)developed some problems, which I assummed was clematis wilt. I started to digging it out and though I was digging to China! I have a new clematis that I purchased this spring adn it is marked as H. F. Young. It has had a slow start but this week presented me with a purple bloom. I had wanted the dark purple like jackamani but this is Group 2..about 2 ft. from where I had dug up the other clematis, a new one has started and I've put bird netting on the downspout and it has presented me with a bloom but it is not like what I dug up. I had a Westerplatte planted further away but in same flowerbed that I dug up because it didn't perform well, and I know the color of that one but it is not the mystery clematis. I need to get my camera out and take some pictures. Hadn't used it in a year, better check the batteries! the mystery clematis bloom looks like it is be a faint pink color but small flower with veins that look like they are on the bloom. Wierd, I know.