Anna, I figured out that the Rooguchi didn't seem to want to climb, and that I had to train the shoots each spring. I learned that the old fowledge dies back to the ground and the new growth starts from the ground each spring, and grows like mad. So now I just cut it back each winter. I learned just yesterday while listening to "Garden Talk" on our Wisconsin public radio, that clematis like a sweeter soil, and it helps to add a bit of lime to the soil near them to sweeten it. If you are interested, this is a talk radio show that you can call in or e-mail your questions. You can listen on line too, it's on every Friday around noonish. you could go to their web site at www.wpr.org They also archive the old shows, so if there's one of interest you can listen to it.
