Corpsman Cooper, I'm in Ocala and love Venosa Violacea. This is its second year. I don't think it bloomed at all last year. The bloom lasted about a month (I think). I'm assuming it will bloom again later in the year. I'm new to clematis. I know enough to get viticella and texensis types since I'm in hot Florida, although the texensis have not bloomed for me yet. Henryi has also done well - even bloomed its first year. I mistakenly pruned him like a Type 3 this spring, forgetting that he's a Type 2, but he bloomed anyway and is blooming again now. Here's Venosa Violacea. Henryi- the flowers last a long time, but this one's a little past its peak. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

In search of Alfalfa pellets last Spring, the only thing available are bails of alfalfa ~ I ended up using Tomato Tone 'til I find some. Meantime, I took a visiting Granddau to a horse farm for some classes this summer & found they fed their horses alfalfa mix ~ they gave me a couple of small bails for a few $$. After blooming done, pruned ~ soaked & clipped the smallish bail & surrounded the base of each of my clems. Is this how it is done if using raw/dried alfalfa & not pellets? Your thoughts please? TIA

Many folks advocate using a tomato or rose fertilizer (of their choice) to fertilize clems; others rely on just a good, rich compost used as a mulch. When I still owned bunnies, I used their "leavings" to fertilize my clems and roses. Now I just use compost, as with all the rest of my garden. Except for containerized vines (or any other containerized plants) and these get treated to a CRF (Osmocote) each spring. As to pruning, some in warmer winter climates do prune in fall but I believe the majority of the responders on this forum perform this task in late winter/early spring or as new growth just begins to emerge.......at the same time many prune back their roses. Of course, it depends on the type of vine as to the exact timing, but late winter works for most. If I were transplanting a clem, I'd prefer to do so around the same time -- before new growth begins in earnest. I might suggest a higher phosphorus fert at this time to stimulate new root development -- it's hard to get all the roots when moving them -- but otherwise, the only special attention would be to keep a close eye on watering needs through the first growing season in the new location.

Generally speaking, fertilization when plants are getting ready to bloom is not encouraged since it can shorten the bloom time. I however would not be the least hesitant to ferilize with an organic fertilizer since the uptake of the nutrients from an organic fertilizer is not the same as that from a synthetic one. The main question is why do you want to fertilize now? Did you not do it earlier? Compost, especially homemade compost or even compost tea made from it, should be fine at this point IMO.