Evergreen clematis Armandii are just coming into bloom where you live. These are a type one clematis and are not pruned unless they need their size reduced, which is done right after flowering. They are not a good clematis for container growing because of their vigor and pruning type. I have one in full bloom now 20 feet up my cheery tree and another on an arbor just coming into bloom. Al

HI, I'm new. I'm also new at planting. Just 3 years ago my husband and I moved, and I have my first garden. I want to tell you that this site saved my clematis. If it was not for research, I would have just pulled it out. One day soon I'll upload an image of my gorgeous Armandi. Anyway, I planted it in September of 2003. It bloomed a little in May 2004 and then this year. The blooms were all over my fence. Absolutely gorgeous! Then in June the leaves started to turn yellow at the tips. Then brown. Then the whole plant started dying. I was frantic. The woman at the nursery was no help. So I followed the instructions to cut it back. MY CLEMATIS IS REVIVED!! I cut it back up to 1 foot from the ground. Around July 1st I saw the little sprout, and now it 5 feet high! I'm so excited. I hope you can save yours to. I'll probably post this on another thread.

Clematis armandii and clematis terniflora (aka sweet autumn clematis or SAC and formerly known as clematis maximowicziana and incorrectly as clematis paniculata) are not one and the same. They are two drastically different clematis that are generally as you described. Not sure what nurseries you are seeing them listed as one and the same plant in, however I would tend to shy away from them as sources if they don't know the difference between the two. One other thing is that sweet autumn clematis and clematis texensis are also two different clematis. In fact, clematis texensis is a native species clematis from Texas with reddish blooms that blooms midsummer and clematis terniflora is a late summer/early fall blooming species clematis from China/Japan that has white blooms. Realize that C. armandii may not be totally evergreen here in NC depending on where you live. In the Kernersville area, I had one at a previous house which would often drop quite a few of its leaves in bad winters and if planted where it received a lot of northerly winds, the leaves could scorch and drop off. This clematis can often be found at farmer's market and at some of the major big box stores such as Lowes or Home Depot. Chalk Hill is no longer in business as retail seller of clematis. Dan at Brushwood Nursery normally carries it but he is out of it now. He might have it back in stock in the spring. Joy Creek has it but shipping might add prohibitively to the cost of the plant unless you have other things to order from them. I would check around your local big box stores and farmers markets and see if they have one or see if Dan at Brushwood Nursery is planning on having it available in the spring. Here is a link that might be useful: Armandii at Brushwood

A couple of months ago I tore down an existing arbor that had a large established C. armandii on it. I rearranged the Clematis on a vertical wall after cutting most of it off, leaving only the larger vines that I tied up to the wall/trellis. It grew back like gangbusters with beautiful new growth. I'm thinking I will cut it back severely after blooming whenever it gets ratty.