The first year I had this plant the critters ate it to the ground when the vines were about 6" long. It never came back that year. The second year it had about six vines and a few flowers. I cut the vines back several times during the summer to promote root growth. The picture of the full plant is the third year. As you can see, it really paid to keep it cut back the second year!
This plant is part of the Festoon™ Evison™ / Poulsen® collection.
Chris I didn't know that cutting the plant back for the first two years would promote better root growth and ultimately a more robust plant. Bonanza is beautiful.
Thank you! Actually it's usually only the first year to keep clematis cut back, but when mine came up the 2nd year, it didn't look very strong so I did for another year.