There is certainly more than one type of evergreen clematis available locally, although C. armandii is by far the most common. With the exception of C. cirrhosa, most of them tend to be a bit less cold hardy than do the deciduous forms but as others have noted, browning and dropping of leaves so soon after a spring purchase can hardly be related to cold issues. FWIW, Clematis armandii is not one I'd consider for container growing - it gets to be a BIG vine with an equally large root system and as also previously stated, needs to be planted in the ground. Clematis are not very drought tolerant, especially when in a container, and I'd suspect lack of water, even intermittantly either at the nursery or after purchase, is a primary culprit for its apparent failure to thrive. I'd certainly consider trying again. Once established, clematis are not at all hard to grow here, even evergreen forms (I grow 3 different kinds of EG clems). The trick is getting them properly established and that requires some effort and patience. A large, well-prepared and well-drained planting hole is key, as is siting. Keeping evergreen species out of direct wind and in a semi-protected location will certainly help. Plant deep -- 3-4 inches deeper than in the nursery pot. This will encourage them to produce multiple shoots from the root crown and influence additional root growth, both of which will protect the vine from diseases, critter damage and increase both cold tolerance and an ability to withstand an occasional lack of water. But do keep attention on watering for the first couple of seasons. The commonly held belief that clems need their roots in the shade really stems from the actuality of them requiring a cool and evenly moist root run.....tough to accomplish in a container growing situation, especially with one of the larger growing forms. And be patient :-) Vines take time to establish well and I'd not be expecting much from the plant until after its third season in the ground (even longer for some other types of vines!).

It's actually the whole floor "unit" going boingy-boing, almost like a trampoline. The joist spacing is 16" OC, give or take a tad, we can tell that upstairs by the pattern of cracks in the LR ceiling that very neatly follow the joists and crossing thingies between them! *wry grin* The joist span is not unreasonable, the joists we can see down cellar are nice big solid boards, no sign of termite or powderpost beetle, to the best of our knowledge they weren't chopped up to run plumbing or heating ducts. The floors themselves are actually almost 1 1/2" thick on the first floor - 3/4" pine board subfloor and 3/4" pine "decorative" floor (real 3/4", too, not this "nominal" crap! LOL) - the second floor has only the the 3/4" board subfloor. I plan on bringing in an engineer to look at it next year and we'd start with the least-invasive action first, which would probably be more footers and lally columns. (There's no bulkhead, so everything coming in or going out will have to go through the kitchen, what grand fun! Not.) What's aggravating is that we didn't really notice the bounce until we got furniture in and dishes in the cupboards and the rattle-bang started up, it would have been a strike against the house as would a dozen other things our home inspector (who has a good reputation around here and is supposedly clueful about old houses, we wonder if he just had an off day or what?) missed. Yeah, we've got some exterior biggies too so I sympathize, including driveway paving, although we have to start from scratch - we don't have one at all! That was supposed to have happened this fall but the buyer for the other house fell through and now we've taken a $20k price cut trying to just get the damn thing sold, so we'll be following the example of previous owners/renters and parking on the lawn when we're under snow ban. Trashy but better than getting towed. *eyeroll* That $20k was supposed to be the driveway and the bathroom, along with part of ripping out the new-but-still-horrible carpet upstairs. We had had dreams of this nice little parking area done up with those pretty brick-look pavers with a front sidewalk to match, so period-perfect you could barf, but unless we win the lottery I think it's just going to be your basic asphalt splotch. :-( Tree work is on our agenda too, some of it HAS to be done next month to prevent damage to the house from winter storms but hopefully the rest can be put off for a few years. There's one tree in the yard that we call the "grandfather tree" that's easily 6 feet in diameter that I want to have looked at so we know what needs to be done to keep it healthy, because it looks like another similarly sized tree came down in the last decade or so although thankfully it went across the gully behind the house and not on top of it!

The type of clematis is not very clear but the flowers look similar to those of C. cirrhosa. This is a type 1 or no prune clematis. Typically, this blooms from late fall through winter and into early spring although the vine at my old house would throw a few flowers all year long. Would need clearer photos of the flowers and foliage to confirm but C. cirrhosa is typically evergreen or very close to it and a very BIG vine..........7 meters plus. And as stated, it is in the no prune group of clems that bloom only old growth. If it IS cirrhosa, this species does not require the same kind of care and attention as do the larger flowered hybrids. I never fertilized mine nor did I ever prune it. But it was always fully leafed and no visible of sign of any dead undergrowth. I'd wonder why yours is looking so peaky :-) Before I decided to prune and when, I would want to confirm the species. It is not quite as straightforward with type 1's as to when and how hard to prune as it is with the other groups.

Uptown Gal-they started with home parties, then they opened the Homestead in Ohio where they sold special baskets and home goods. We go to Ohio every summer, so I made it a point to visit. You can now purchase older baskets online, at a much reduced price than they originally sold for. I began collecting in 1989 and stopped counting when I hit 100. Please don’t judge. ;) The company closed, but has now reopened with new ownership and you can buy them on QVC.