For years I bought into the myth that Clematis wouldn't grow in my Ca. zone 10 garden. I finally bought one (Will Goodwin) and it grew "a little"...until I followed the pruning guidelines and actually pruned it.
Then it did resprout and grow, but no more than it had previously.

In the meantime, I purchased more clems. A friend suggested I NOT prune them at all...which I was leery about, but I tried it...and it worked. For the past 3 years I've not pruned them at all and they've grown and bloomed infinitely better than they ever had in the past.

Maybe it's just the climate here that enables me to have success with them by NOT pruning, but so far it works.

Any thoughts ?

I like this no pruning idea and will give it a try with some of my clems this year. I had an interesting read this summer in the Vintage Gardens newsletter. The owner wrote about a long-term research study regarding pruning and roses... the study shot down the necessity for many of the rose pruning practices that have been promoted by the "experts" for years. I was glad to read it as I am a notoriously careless pruner with my roses. I wonder if perhaps a study of clematis cultivars would result in similar findings.

Perhaps the difference is that your clems never hit full dormancy due to the warmer temps...

I now feel a compulsion to look up research on this subject. =P

The nurseries here in Sonoma County treat the clems of groups 2 and 3 exactly alike. They cut them down to about 6 inches from the ground in January. I occasionally do that, but I most often do nothing at all.

i'm in zone5, should I prune mine in the spring, or wait until fall? I'm new to growing clems.

Dog-gone, Now I don't know whether to prune or not. I was thinking of pruneing and now I don't know. But I do believe I am going to plant some flowers around it to help keep it cooler. I saw the video and really liked it.
Charleen

Jumper, I didn't want you to think we were ignoring your question. I'm working on writing an article for the Learning Center that will give general guidelines for pruning, but at the moment I'm a little swamped. I'll post a link here for you once it's done.

Thnka, Evey.