Must be a "your zone will vary" thing. Here in Zone 5 we have no problem with it. We grow ours over a pergola to add to the shade. Other clematis will not grow fast enough to do that. The flowers all face up, though. But my daughter, whose room is over the pergola, has the view in the daytime and the scent at night (which she likes). We donÂt find the scent heavy: not like oriental lilies, for example. But the reactions to scents are so individual. Twice now it has been killed by rabbits gnawing the bark over the winter, and both times we went right out and bought another one. But itÂs not easy to find around here, and expensive too. Maybe you who want to get rid of it should put out little bunny placements and table settings to invite them to dineÂI wonder if thereÂs rabbit attractant you could spray on it, LOL.

I would like to have some of the Sweet Autumn clematis. We had a really long hard winter here in Missouri and mine did not come back up. I have had it for years. I would either do a SASE or I have Clematis 'Henryi' for trade. Thanks! GardenPrincess

Suzy, in my experience with most seed, the seed does not have to be completely brown for it to be mature. As the seed is developing on a plant, it is still maturing and obtaining nutrients from the mother plant, that is why seed production is such a drain on the mother plant. Once it has finished obtaining its correct size and internal organs (so to speak), the seed is mature but it still has to dry out. As the seed dries out, the exterior color of the seed goes through different stages. It first loses its green color and begins to take on a light tan to yellowish color and then the seed turns various shades of brown and eventually possibly even black. The seed can be picked when it is first beginning to turn any of the colors mentioned previously since the seed is developed and no longer dependent on the mother plant for it's nutrients. The mistake most people make when they pick seeds early is that they immediately wrap them in some impenetrable substance like plastic wrap or put them in plastic baggies or even in some sort of vials. When that is done, the residual moisture in the seed can cause the seeds to develop mold or mildew and that ruins the seed. In all seed I collect, I allow them to air dry on a flat surface before doing any sort of packaging. I am NOT (emphasis here to make sure I am not misunderstood)saying however that you can't leave the seed on the plant to fully dry out. However, if you wait until the seed is completely dry on the mother plant, and you end up having a bad wind and/or rain storm, the seeds you have so patiently waited for to dry on your plant, can be lost and blown away. I know since that is what happened to me last year with some seeds that I was going to collect from my Julia Correvon. The seeds of the wild viorna that I collected last year and distributed to various people and the seeds I am collecting this year for distribution were all collected well before they were completely brown but after they had turned from their green immature stage to at least a pale yellow/light tan color. Another way to help ascertain if seed is mature is when the seed tails begin to fluff out. On my viorna, crispa, and glaucophylla plants, the seed tails begin fluffing out long before the seed are completely brown and the seeds readily come away from the seedhead.

Just be aware that they can be invasive in warmer climates, seeding into gardens and wild areas in an unrestrained fashion. You may want to check how they behave in your area, or plan to cut them back soon enough after bloom to prevent seed ripening. It isn't an issue this far north since the seed hasn't enough time to ripen since they are a late summer bloomer.