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Pruning Clematis Vines

Spring Blooming
 (Group 1)

Repeat Blooming
 (Group 2)

 Summer/Fall Blooming
 (Group 3)

These are the early-flowering species which generally bloom in late April to late May. Spring blooming clematis bloom on last year's wood from buds produced during the last growing season. These should be pruned immediately after blooming, but only if necessary and no later than the end of July in order to give the plant enough time to produce new buds for next year. Start by removing shoots that have bloomed. If you like, prune out some vines to control size or shape, but avoid cutting far into the main woody trunks.
These are early double and semi-double mid-season cultivars. They bloom mid June and if healthy they will bloom again around September in a smaller show of color. These bloom on the new growth that is produced from old buds produced on stems from the previous season. If they are pruned to the ground, they will bloom, but will miss the big and beautiful early flower period. Remove dead and weak stems in February or March, leaving the best of last year’s buds. Once they finish blooming, cut the plant back to 16” to encourage new growth for fall flowering. These are the late large-flowered cultivars and other clematis species. They flower in late June into August. These bloom on new wood from the current season so you don't need to maintain any old wood. They should be cut back to a living bud at about 24" from the ground in spring just as the buds swell. If you don't prune, the flowers will tend to be only up at the top of the plant and the bare stems will be unattractive below.
C. alpina
  'Burford White'
  'Columbine'
  'Franci Rivis'
  'Frankie'
  'Jacqueline du Pré'
  'Pamela Jackman'
  'Rosy Pagoda'
  'Ruby'
  'White Columbine'
  'Willy'
C. alpina subsp. sibirica
  'White Moth'
C. armandii
  'Apple Blossom'
  'Snowdrift'
C. chiisanensis
C. chrysocoma
and cvs.
  'Continuity'
C. cirrhosa
C. cirrhosa var. balearica
C. columbiana
C. finetiana
C. foetida
C. forsteri
C. gentianoides
C. japonica
C. macropetala
and cvs.
  'Blue Bird'
  'Maidwell Hall'
  'Markham's Pink'
  'Snowbird'
C. marata
C. marmoraria
C. meyeniana
C. montana
and cvs.
  f. grandiflora
  'Alexander'
  'Elizabeth'
  'Peveril'
  'Picton's Variety'
  'Tetrarose'
C. napaulensis
C. petriei
C. phlebantha
C. quinquefoliolata
C. spooneri
C. uncinata
C
. x vedrariensis and cvs.
  'Highdown'

 
C. florida
C. patens
Hybrids
  'Alice Fisk'
  'Andrew'
  'Asao'
  'Barbara Dibley'
  'Barbara Jackman'
  'Beauty of Richmond'
  'Beauty of Worcester'
  'Bees' Jubilee'
  'Belle Nantaise'
  'Belle of Woking'
  'Capitaine Thuilleaux'
  'Carnaby'
  'Chalcedony'
  'Charissima'
  'Corona'
  'Countess of Lovelace'
  'Crimson King'
  'C. W. Dowman'
  'Daniel Deronda'
  'Dawn'
  'Dr. Ruppel'
  'Duchess of Edinburgh''   'Duchess of Sutherland'
  'Edith'
  'Édouard Defossé'
  'Elsa Späth' (syn. 'Xerxes')
  'Empress of India'
  'Étoile de Malicorne'
  'Étoile de Paris'
  'Fair Rosamond'
  'Fairy Queen'
  'Fireworks'
  'General Sikorski'
  'Gillian Blades'
  'Gladys Picard'
  'Haku Ookan'
  'Henryi'
  'Herbert Johnson'
  'H.F. Young'
  'Horn of Plenty'
  'Imperial'
  'Ishobel'
  'Jackmanii Alba'
  'Jackmanii Rubra'
  'James Mason'
  'Joan Picton'
  'John Paul II'
  'John Warren'
  'Kacpur'
  'Karin'
  'Kathleen Dunford'
  'Kathleen Wheeler'
  'Keith Richardson'
  'Ken Donson'
  'King Edward VII'
  'King George V'
  'Kiri Te Kawana'
  'Lady Caroline Nevill'
  'Lady Londesborough'
  'Lady Northcliffe'
  'Lasurstern'
  'Lawsoniana'
  'Lincoln Star'
  'Lord Nevill'
  'Louise Rowe'
  'Marie Boisselot'
  'Miriam Markham'
  'Miss Bateman'
  'Miss Crawshay'
  'Moonlight'
  'Mrs. Bush'
  'Mrs. Cholmondeley'
  'Mrs. Hope'
  'Mrs. George Jackman'
  'Mrs. James Mason'
  'Mrs. N. Thompson'
  'Mrs. P.B. Truax'
  'Mrs. Spencer Castle'
  'My_j_'
  'Nelly Moser'
  'Niobe'
  'Peveril Pearl'
  'Princess of Wales'
  'Prins Hendrik'
  'Proteus'
  'Richard Pennell'
  'Royalty'
  'Saturn'
  'Scartho Gem'
  'Sealand Gem'
  'Serenata'
  'Silver Moon'
  'Sir Garnet Wolseley'
  'Snow Queen'
  'Susan Allsop'
  'Sylvia Denny'
  'The President'
  'Titania'
  'Twilight'
  'Veronica's Choice
  'Violet Charm'
  'Violet Elizabeth'
  'Vyvyan Pennell'
  'Wada's Primrose'
  'Walter Pennell'
  'W.E. Gladstone'
  'Wilhelmina Tull'
  'Will Goodwin'
  'William Kennett'
 
C. addisonii
C. aethusifolia
C. apiifolia
C. brachiata
C. buchananiana
C. campaniflora
C. chinensis
C. connata
C. crispa
C.
x durandii
C. x eriostemon
C. flammula
C. fruticosa
C. fusca
C. heracleifolia
'Campanile'
  'Wyevale'
C. integrifolia
  'Alba'
  'Hendersonii'
  'Pastel Pink'
  'Tapestry'
C. x jouiniana
C. ladakhiana
C. ochroleuca
C. orientalis
  
'Bill MacKenzie'
C. pitcheri
C. potaninii
(syn. C. fargesii var. souliei)
C. recta
  
'Purpurea'
C. rehderiana
C. serratifolia
C. songarica
C. stans
C. tangutica
C. tangutica
var. obtusiuscula
C. terniflora
(syn. C. paniculata)
C. texensis
  
'Duchess of Albany'
  'Étoile Rose'
  'Gravetye Beauty'
  'Lady Bird Johnson'
  'Sir Trevor Lawrence'
C. tibetana
C. versicolor
C. viorna
C. vitalba
C. viticella
  
'Abundance'
  'Alba Luxurians'
  'Carmencita'
  'Elvan'
  'Little Nell'
  'Margot Koster'
  'Minuet'
  'Purpurea Plena Elegans'
  'Royal Velours'
  'Tango'
  'Venosa Violacea'
Hybrids
  
'Allanah'
  'Aromatica'
  'Ascotiensis'
  'Blue Boy'
  'Comtesse de Bouchaud'
  'Cylindrica'
  'Edward Prichard'
  'Ernest Markham'
  'Gipsy Queen'
  'Guiding Star'
  'Hagley Hybrid'
  'Huldine'
  'Jackmanii'
  'John Huxtable'
  'Kermesina'
  'Lady Betty Balfour'
  'Mme. Baron Veillard'
  'Mme. Édouard André'
  'Mme. Grangé'
  'Mme. Julia Correvon'
  'Margaret Hunt'
  'Maureen'
  'Mrs. Robert Brydon'
  'Olgae'
  'Pagoda'
  'Perle d'Azur'
  'Pink Fantasy'
  'Prince Charles'
  'Rouge Cardinal'
  'Star of India'
  'Victoria'
  'Ville de Lyon'
  'Voluceau'
  'Warszawska Nike'
 

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