I got this Clematis at a plant sale several years ago. The person that brought it didn't know anything about it except it was a bush clematis. It started blooming about 3 weeks ago and the bloom is starting to go. If you cut the fading flowers off it will re-bloom. It's about 28-30 inches tall and spreads wider every year . It is self supporting.
Blooms


Bush

I am thinking Clematis recta. A friend's here is almost finished blooming.

Rick, does your friends need staking, because I have another one that someone gave me that I think is Recta but it gets about 4 feet and I have to put a cage around it or it would be crawling. This one is a lot wider than the tall one and the stems are a lot stronger, it doesn't need any support. Maybe this one is recta and the other one is something else?

Regarding Clematis recta: the species is quite variable. I don't know of any other variety in the trade other than purpurea, so with everything being seed grown, I would expect the species to be variable in commercial trade, too. I can tell you that I have a 2.5ft purpurea in a pot left over from our plant sale that does not need staking, and I have another internet friend that has had a lot of rain this season, and hers grew to 6ft. She is expecting it to flop any moment now.
https://www.nargs.org/sites/de...

Thanks Rick! I'm excited to identify it. I wondered if that was a possibility because they are so similar but the size and floppiness of the one and not the other made me question that. I appreciate your confirmation.