For reasons I won't bore you with, I was unable to plant at least a dozen clematis. Those that I purchased locally are buried in nursery pots in a raised bed. We started off winter with a great snow cover that is mostly still on the garden. For those of you who don't live in the north, good drainage and an early cover of snow gives your garden plants the best chance for surviving the long cold winter. I topped off the area with compost, some bark fines, and enclosed the bed with wire mesh to keep the dogs off the bed. I think I cut out the bottoms of the pots as well.
Five of the clematis I got through mail order are in the garage, plus a patio clem that has been in a large pot. I controlled the water in the pots hoping get that right balance of "just enough" moisture that they could survive winter in the unheated garage.
I'm sure the clematis in the raised bed will be fine. I am worried about the clematis in the garage. Others had successes and failures with potted plants in the garage, including clematis. Winter is far from over, so the clematis will probably need to stay put for another 6 weeks. After that, I will put them in a shady spot so they start thawing slowly and at the same time as the rest of the garden.
So, this is like an experiment, I suppose. Not intentional, but I will learn from it, I'm sure. Maybe I'll even learn to not buy so many clematis if I ever find myself in a similar situation that I was in last year.
