You're right about the Montanas Jean...darn it! But, there are some gorgeous long blooming ones nonetheless, for our zone. Rooguchi is a dark blue-purple that blooms almost all summer. Olgae is probably my longest blooming one if I remember right and there's a nice scent to her. That one is not a climber...it's called a scrambler but I keep her in a triangular wire cage. When it's all leafed out you can't see the cage at all. I find it's a wonderful way to 'display' her. Venosa Violacea is a long blooming one and possibly my all time favorite. One that would have to be in the top five of my loooonnngg blooming ones would be Viola and it's a beauty as well. Check any or all of them out at Clematis on the web. Tanya Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis On The Web (COTW)

Thanks so much, buyorsell, for sharing your frustrations as well as your successes. I think it was only 3 years ago that I became clematis-crazed, and now that I have some experience, I'm seeing how much more experience I need! I'm having clems faint and disappear only to baffle me by popping back up with perky new growth a few weeks later; vines I thought were gone for good that had just snuck over into the midst of their neighbors and bloomed there; a viticella that should be all hardy and prolific turning out to have weak tangly stems and puny-looking flowers. I've planted them in the wrong place for their type, I've planted way too many too close together (still waiting for the dire consequences of that one, as they're young yet), I've planted very tall ones with not enough head room... and the list goes on. I had visions of solid walls of flowers, but so far most everyone (with a few happy exceptions) is looking kind of scraggly. But I still have hope! And I still love the little darlin's. Thanks for your advice. I see a whole lot more digging in my future.

General Sikorsky is up too, just about 3", but he's still alive. Of all mine, only Nelly Moser has started to bloom. I have to check on another one that has done nothing for several years - just came out of the ground and that's it. A few weeks, ago, it was up a few inches. When weeding around it last fall, i put a small trellis there to mark it, and it seemed to be climbing a bit last time i looked. I can't remember its name - might be Anne Jackman.

What about strangulation by those tapes you still have on the poor stems? You wouldn't believe how often I've seen that occur. You shouldn't change your watering practices upon anyone's guess unless you've determined that the suggestion is a possibility. Underwatering looks just like overwatering, by the way. Only you can decide if the soil has been kept too soggy or bone dry, or if parts of the potting medium volume have been allowed to become hydrophobic. In other words, the answer to the problem might be in the soil. Pesticide drift is the unintended movement of any pesticide particle or spray through the air to an unintended area. Herbicide drift occurs when an herbicide applied elsewhere ends up harming desireable plants.