Yup, it gets lots of sun. The tree doesn't have much leaves and they're high. I'll have to double check again how long they get sun. buyorsell888, I will have to develop another McGyver solution. :) Thanks!

Ditto to what BorS says. I have yet to find one that blooms in full force all summer. The closest to that for me is Petit Faucon which is an integrifolia hybrid that is nonvining. There was another thread just recently where someone wanted something to bloom for a long period and various people offered suggestions based on experiences in their gardens. The upshot of it was that what blooms longest for one person may not be the longest blooming clematis for another. It really is trial and error to find the longest blooming one for your specific garden.

I wonder if one of the old Albas might work better as a climber for this zone. You'd need one of the taller ones, like 'Alba Maxima' or one of similar habit. If you don't have to pull it down and cover it for Winter, you can keep a Type-2 clematis in there. Here, I notice that the clematis get kinda brittle by the end of Autumn, and moving them around will likely end up in snapping them. By Spring, parts that look dead will surprise me and leaf out, and I don't snip off dead tips until I KNOW they're dead -- by snipping off anything above the highest set of leaves that develop. With the Type-3s, you wouldn't have to worry about snapped stems if you're pulling down the rose to cover it for Winter -- you just snip them down low and let them start all over again. Of course, you don't HAVE to do that, if you want it going up a tree or something. But if you do this to a Type-2, you'll lose the early wave of blooms in Spring, which come on growth that went through Winter. I've ordered many plants from Bluestone Perennials and have yet to be disappointed. As long as you understand that they come small, you'll likely feel the same. But they're bursting out of their pots when they arrive, and really take off well for me. I try to take advantage of their frequent sales, including their 50-50 Fridays through Winter. Another source for perennials I've frequented is Joy Creek Nursery. They don't seem to have sales, but their normal prices are pretty good -- higher than Bluestone's sale prices, but lower than their regular prices. So when I'm shopping for perennials, I usually start with Bluestone sales, then go to Joy Creek for anything else I wanted but didn't get. Brushwood Nursery is my go-to for clematis -- and honeysuckle and passion flowers, whenever I get around to getting some. :-) ~Christopher

AJS317 - I'm so glad you posted this question, and I'm so glad you received wonderful suggestions...because... I didn't know I needed a downspout clematis and its accompanying downspout trellis. Now I do! I have the perfect downspout, in a perfect clematis siting, just waiting to fulfill their destinies. I also want a Type III for the same reasons you posted. I looked up each of the varieties suggested by the three kind souls above and made my choice! I will dig out and enrich the planting area, order the trellis and get it attached to the downspout, and order a Venosa Violacea! It will have to arrive by mail order since the two garden centers in "town" - a 45 minute (one way) drive away - do not have them and can't (?) order them. I could call Fargo to see if any are there, but that's 140+ miles, one way. Mail order is my friend. Fellow clematis lovers are even more so. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a mail-order nursery for this particular clematis?